Staff

Rabbi Mike is a confused and passionate Jew. He has spent time in all of the denominations and he is most comfortable talking with people who are not quite sure what they believe. Mike is originally from Cleveland, but has lived in NY, Chicago and Jerusalem. He is married to Leora Eisenstadt, an amazing lawyer in town. Outside of working with Penn students, Mike likes to bike and hike and listen to bad music (think Bon Jovi).

Debbie Yunker thinks that Judaism is fascinating and is curious what YOU think.  During the day, you might find Debbie mentoring and advising student leaders, getting to know awesome Penn students, working on the pennhillel.org website, or chatting with young alumni. Originally from Framingham, MA (the largest town in MA!), Debbie lived all over the country before descending upon Philadelphia in the summer of 2006.   She studied psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA; worked at St. Louis Hillel at Washington University in St. Louis, and received an M. A. in Higher Education Administration from New York University, where she also worked in residential life and fraternity/sorority life.   That's right.  Debbie can't stay away from college!  When she does pull herself away from the college campus every so often, Debbie can be found supporting the local food movement (buying, cooking, and eating!), running, exploring Philly, and traveling. 

Rabbi Joel loves three things – his family (his wife, Julia, and his children [Ella, and another girl due in Oct. ‘09), good food, and the Jewish people. He also loves hip-hop, the West Coast (his personal Homeland), and the great outdoors, but that’s beside the point. Rabbi Joel was recently ordained from Hebrew Union College (the Reform seminary) in Los Angeles and he is excited to be working at Penn, though as a Californian, he’s a little apprehensive about the East Coast weather. Pick a topic, any topic, related to Judaism, and he’ll be thrilled to discuss it with you.

Emily is eager to be joining the Jewish Renaissance Project and the larger Penn community; she couldn’t be more excited to be back on a college campus since she misses her days as an undergrad at Cornell. Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, and then Tampa, Florida, Emily lived in New York City for six years, beginning her career in television (her first job out of college was working for David Letterman!). After her multi-million dollar contract ended, she decided it was time to follow her passions and Emily became the Director of National Programs for Birthright Israel NEXT. She loves spending time with her new husband, swimming, traveling, dachshunds, and frozen yogurt (and will gladly join anyone, anytime for a tour of the Penn fro-yo hotspots!). 

Rachel is excited to return to Penn after getting her M.S.Ed. in Jewish Education here in 2009.  She is originally from Altoona, PA, home of the world's oldest working wooden roller coaster (although her fear of heights has prevented her from riding it...yet).  Rachel had a wonderful undergrad experience at The George Washington University, and has also studied at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.  In addition to Penn students, Rachel LOVES Camp Ramah in the Poconos, ping pong, reality television, and she is always willing to debate the pros and cons of DC vs. Philly living.

Rabbi Jonathan Shulman is the OU/JLIC rabbi at Penn. Jonathan moved to Jerusalem from Cambridge, MA eight years ago, and began his rabbinic studies at Yeshivat Darchei Noam (Shapell's). After studying at Shapell's for two years, he moved on to the Mir Yeshiva, where he studied for the next five years. For the last five years Jonathan has been working with the overseas students at Hebrew University at the Afikim Kollel, a student center for Jewish learning. He served there as the director of the overseas program, teacher and mentor. This past year, Jonathan taught talmud, halacha and parasha at Yeshivat Shvilei HaTorah, a Modern Orthodox post-high school yeshiva for boys. Before coming to yeshiva, Jonathan attended the University of Virginia. Upon graduating, Jonathan spent a year in India doing development work. He also studied yoga there, and went on to become a yoga instructor, teaching classes in Boston and Jerusalem. Jonathan worked as a restaurant manager before coming to yeshiva. Jonathan also loves to play (and talk) sports, and is an avid reader of the New Yorker and good writing everywhere. Jonathan is married to Jenny and the father of Eliyahu (5) and Chana (2), and he is very excited to be working at the Penn Hillel!

Jenny is the OU/JLIC educator at Penn. Jenny graduated from Harvard in 1999 and went to work as a community organizer in Boston. In 2002 she came to Jerusalem on a Dorot fellowship which enabled her to study at Nishmat for the year while continuing her community organizing work in Israel. In 2004 Jenny began her Master's degree in public policy at Hebrew University, concentrating on the effect of citizen participation in Israeli democracy. Jenny continued on at Hebrew University as a doctoral candidate in public policy and will be affiliated this coming year as a Research Fellow with Harvard's Kennedy School's Program on Inequality and Social Policy, and with the Annenberg School at Penn. Jenny is married to Jonathan and the mother of Eliyahu (5) and Chana (2), and is very excited to be at Penn!

Miriam is extremely proud to be both a member of the Philadelphia young adult Jewish community and a professional working to make the community the best it can be. You might find her on her laptop in a Center City coffee shop, at home rearranging the furniture for a Grad Network event, or at her office in Steinhardt Hall. In other incarnations of her adult life, Miriam has taught third grade and high school theatre, sold housewares, and reviewed children's books. Originally from tiny Fredonia, NY, and despite having lived in both Baltimore and Boston, she is still amazed by the size and diversity of the Jewish community, and that her job is to hang out with such cool Jews! Miriam loves to read, go to plays, and walk around Philly. She also loves to cook, and she and her husband, Marc, look forward to having you over for a (vegetarian) Shabbat meal soon!