Staff & Board

Alex is delighted to have found a professional and spiritual home at The Village Temple, where he has been the educator for twenty one years. In 2004, he received his Master’s degree in Religious Education from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He is a graduate of the JTS/HUC Leadership Institute for Congregational School Educators and a member of the Reform movement’s Association of Reform Jewish Educators. A native of Ukraine, Alex was responsible for Jewish educational programming at the Israeli Culture Center, where he managed operations, curriculum development and staff for five religious schools. There he faced the challenges of re-introducing Jewish life and learning to a population that had not been permitted to openly study or practice Judaism for more than 70 years, from the Soviet revolution until Ukraine won its independence in 1991. Alex received his rabbinic ordination from Mesifta Adath Wolkowisk Rabbinical Academy in 2024. Alex, a nature enthusiast, lives in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn with his wife Alla. Alex Tansky can be reached by calling the Temple office.

Stephanie has dedicated her career to serving Jewish communities in a variety of roles, bringing creativity, energy, and heart to everything she does. An artist, educator, and community builder, she is passionate about creating meaningful Jewish experiences that help people connect with one another, Jewish tradition, and the joy of community.

Stephanie maintains a Jewish art studio where she creates ketubot and other prints, and regularly leads Jewish arts workshops for learners of all ages. As an educator, she develops arts-based Jewish learning experiences with a focus on accessibility, creativity, and making Jewish learning welcoming to everyone.

Stephanie loves collaborating with the VT team to strengthen community bonds and to have fun being Jewish!

Lina (they/them) is a native New Yorker and child of multiple diasporas. With a professional background in nonprofit space and social service, specifically helping people who have left abusive situations and face housing insecurity, serving their community and those in need is always at the heart of what they do.

Lina grew up in and currently lives in the Bronx, with their long-term partner and pet bunny. They are an animal lover, a book nerd, and an NYU graduate. 

I am passionate about Jewish music and thrilled to be working with the Village Temple Youth Choir. Music has been a hallmark of my rabbinic career in both New Orleans and New York. I was ordained from the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in 2015 and have served numerous communities across the greater New York and New Orleans areas.

Sari is excited to be working with teens this year at the Village Temple! She recently finished a year-long fellowship with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, where she advocated on behalf of Reform Jews on the state and federal level.

Originally from New Jersey, Sari graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in Women and Gender Studies, Judaic Studies and Community Action and Social Change. She is an aspiring rabbi and a huge fan of petting random dogs, doing yoga, and reading!

Santiago has been working at the Village Temple since 2002. He keeps the staff in stitches and is always at the ready to help congregants, parents and students. His loves baseball and going to the movies. He is the father of two grown children.

Husband to Susan and father of Emma. Architect specializing in renovating theaters, justice facilities and historic preservation. Story reader, listener, cyclist, sailor and barnyard carpenter.

Julie and her family have been members of Village Temple since 2015 and were drawn to the congregation’s warm, inclusive community and commitment to social justice. She has served on the Rabbinic Search Committee and Fundraising Committee and her children attend Village Temple Religious School. Julie leads Civic Entertainment Group’s consumer and entertainment public relations practice with a focus on entertainment, television and content marketing. She serves on the Executive Board for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA NY). Julie lives in Chelsea with her husband and sons Harrison and Charlie and when not exploring the City can be found relaxing in her hometown of Margate City, NJ.

Sammy, her husband William and their two children Tessa and Oliver, joined the temple in 2022. Tessa is in her third year of the children’s choir and Oliver is excited to join next year.  

Sammy was raised in Connecticut and was Bat Mitzvahed at Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison, Connecticut. She went on to be Confirmed at Beth Israel in West Hartford, Connecticut. 

Professionally, Sammy spent most of her career running Human Resources for multiple media and digital companies. She now is a life and executive coach.

Marilyn, along with her husband John and daughter Olivia, joined the Village Temple in 2009 after finding the congregation to be both warm and welcoming, particularly for their interfaith family. Olivia attended Religious School and in 2015 became a Bat Mitzvah, continuing at the Temple as a Teaching Assistant and member of the Youth Group. Marilyn previously served on the B’nai Mitzvah committee and is currently an invested member of the Temple’s Book Group and Social Action Committee. A former dancer and entertainment attorney, Marilyn now serves as Board Chair for a non-profit arts administration organization, supporting young dancers in creating their art.

David, with his wife, Rachel Glube, (board member) have been members of The Village Temple since 2004.  Their two daughters Emily and Izzy, both started religious school at VT in Kindergarten.  They also were long time members of the children’s choir and both are/were teacher assistants at the religious school.  

David grew up in New York City.  Having attended Nursery school at Temple Israel, the family then moved to Central Synagogue, where he became a Bar Mitzvah.   While at Central, David had the opportunity to go to Israel on a NFTY Archaeological Dig trip which was a springboard to get more involved with Judaism.  David also sometimes attended Park Avenue Synagogue where his grandfather spent many years on the board and signing the checks.  

David currently serves on the Ritual and Finance Committees.

Heather, her husband Bryce and daughter Stella (9) joined the Village Temple in 2019. They are big fans of Village Temple and find the congregation to be welcoming and kind. Stella attends Hebrew School at VT and is a member of the amazing VT Choir. Heather has been a member of the Nominating Committee since 2021 and enjoys volunteering at the VT Soup Kitchen when time permits. They all enjoy volunteering at different Community Events.

Rachel and her husband, David Friedman, have been members of the Village Temple since 2004. They were drawn to the down to earth community and spiritual religious services. Rachel and David are now the proud parents of Emily (2005) and Isabel (2008) who have attended VT religious school (since age 4) and are now active members of the Children’s Choir. Rachel has served in several leadership positions within her children’s school communities. Additionally, Rachel has professional experience in Project Management, Sales & Marketing.

Ben has been a member of the Village Temple, along with his wife Wendy (a past temple co-president), for over 27 years.  They have three sons who were bar mitzvahed at VT.  Ben has served on several cantorial search committees for the temple.  

He has spent nearly 40 years as a computer science professor at NYU and will be newly retired when he joins the temple board. He looks forward to his continued involvement with the temple community and to supporting the Village Temple in any way he can.

Heather and her husband, Seth Gordon, have been members of the Village Temple since 2016. Their son Gray (13) was Rabbi Fersko's first Bar Mitzvah at VT in September 2020 and daughter Blair (7) just finished her first year of religious school. Heather is a former litigator who enjoys tennis, travel and Duke basketball.Description goes here

Jeremy Kagan is a growth and innovation consultant, and strategic advisor to startups and digital media companies..  He is Professor of Digital Marketing at Columbia Business School, and Faculty Director of the Digital Marketing Strategy executive education program and teaches graduate and executive education classes. Kagan also teaches the Digital Marketing Intensive in the Cornell Tech MBA program, and Foundations of Entrepreneurship at New York University’s Stern School of Business.  His book “Digital Marketing: Strategy and Tactics”, the first textbook for digital marketing, was published in 2018. His new book “Designing the Successful Corporate Accelerator” was released by Wiley in 2021. 

Jeremy and his wife Kathy joined VT in 2019 along with their children Alexis (just had her Bat Mitzvah), Rose and Jacob, who are all in the Religious School.

Raised in France in Conservative Judaism and having moved to New York City eighteen years ago, Sarah found at the Village Temple a blend of Jewish traditions, modernity, spirituality and openness where she feels very much at home. Married thirteen years ago by Rabbi Koster, Sarah and her husband, William, are the proud parents of Summer and Anais – both in the Religious School. Sarah runs her own consulting practice helping nonprofits and social enterprises with strategy and business planning. She is excited to be part of the Board and looks forward to supporting the Religious School.

Katherine has been an active member of The Village Temple for the past ten years. She joined the temple while seeking an open-minded, caring community that would enrich her family through Jewish education, values, and traditions. Her daughter, Sofia, attended the Hebrew school and cherished her years singing in the Temple choir.

Katherine is the owner of KJK Jewelry, Inc., where she designs custom collections for museum stores and other cultural institutions. Katherine looks forward to serving The Village Temple and helping the community continue to grow and flourish.

Katherine Lipton is a lawyer, and she is currently the head of legal for Commercial Real Estate, within the Commercial Bank at JPMorgan Chase. She is also the Chair of JPMC’s Global Pro Bono Committee. She serves on the boards of two other not-for profits, Fountain House and Pro Bono Partnership. Katherine is married to Alex Lipman, and their children, Naomi and Sophie Lipman, are currently enrolled in the Village Temple Religious School. Katherine and her family have been members of Village Temple for about 7 years.

Jared a lawyer (originally from Montreal) and his wife Lesley (originally from North Carolina) found The Village Temple when they were looking for a religious school for their daughter Georgina (originally from NYC).  Alex Tansky and the entire religious school team do an amazing job of creating a fun environment for the littlest learners. Within a year, Georgie had decided to join the children's choir (we think as a strategy to spend more time at the place). Now Georgie's goal is to get a solo in Anita’s always amazing Purimspiel. Choosing The Village Temple has been a wonderful decision for our family.

Laura is an executive director at JPMorgan Chase. She and her family joined the Village temple 2 years ago. Her son William attends religious school and loves singing in the children’s choir. Laura enjoys attending services and choir performances. She is also an avid college football, college basketball, and baseball fan and enjoys traveling.

Aaron, his wife Arian, and their daughters Avery and Eleanor became members of the Village Temple in 2018. Avery is a member of the Village Temple children's choir and will have her Bat Mitzvah in 2024. Aaron recently served on the new Cantor search committee.

He was born and raised in Syracuse, NY, where he was both Bar Mitzvahed and Confirmed at Temple Conchord. His grandmother, Helen, was the Temple librarian, and his father, Robert, served on the board. Temple Conchord was one of the first Reform synagogues in the US and prided itself on being one of the first temples in the US (1920) to have women on the board of trustees.

Professionally, Aaron founded the full-service production company Haymaker East Content in 2013. The company mainly focuses on producing non-scripted television. Notable titles include Southern Charm for Bravo and Floor is Lava for Netflix. Haymaker East Content has produced or is currently producing series for Bravo, A&E, TLC, Hulu, Netflix, Discovery, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus.

Julie, her husband Stuart Elliott, and their children, Sophie and Jonah Elliott, became members of the Village Temple in 2019. Sophie received her Bat Mitzvah on October 14, 2023, one week after the October 7 attacks, and remains active in the Village Temple teen programs; Jonah is at the Hebrew School and will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in Israel in 2026. 

Julie, a soup kitchen regular, is a born and bred New Yorker, and grew up attending Central Synagogue in Midtown. A journalist and author, Julie is working on her third book of nonfiction. At the urging of longtime member and fellow author, Julie Salamon, Julie and her family attended a shabbat service, where they were struck by the Village Temple’s relaxed warmth and welcoming atmosphere. There was an immediate sense of belonging, and she can’t wait to serve on the board and help others discover that same connection to the Village Temple community. 

Jamil is a private investor specializing in business work-outs and redevelopment of Brownfields properties. His daughter Lucy attended VT Religious School and is now in college. They have been Village Temple members since 2002.

Elizabeth Soqui has been a teacher for many years, and she is now a school administrator for a local nursery school. Elizabeth, and her husband Bruce Resnik have been members of the Village Temple since 2008. Their now adult children attended Hebrew school, and were Bar Mitzvah at the VT. Elizabeth has served on the Board since 2016 She has been the Religious School Chair, and enjoys volunteering for the Soup Kitchen.

David, his wife Melissa, and their children Hayley and Dylan have been members of the Village Temple since 2022. Their love of Shabbat and desire to have a strong Jewish community for their children is what brought them to the VT. You can find Dylan sitting in the front row at Shabbat services each week singing along. Hayley loves attending Hebrew school at VT and is a proud member of the children's choir.

David and Melissa met during their freshman year at the University of Michigan and settled in the Village when David attended law school at NYU. He is a practicing real estate attorney. David enjoys the warmth and peacefulness that being part of the VT offers and looks forward to helping the VT continue to be such a welcoming community.

Ross has been a member of the Village Temple community with his family for over four years. He currently serves as Chief Revenue Officer at a technology startup, where he oversees all sales functions and leads the company’s growth strategy.

Ross serves as Co-Chair of the Village Temple Education Committee and has been actively involved in supporting the Temple’s learning and community initiatives. He values being part of a warm, engaged community and contributing to its continued growth.

Jolene Travis is an award-winning communications professional who has dedicated her career to raising the public profile of forward-thinking cultural and academic institutions. As a results-oriented storyteller, Jolene is the Assistant Vice President for Communications at Pratt Institute, where she increases the institution’s visibility through developing, executing, and leading integrated communications strategies that resonate with a diverse audience. By melding her background in public relations and public affairs, she elevates Pratt’s brand through creating multi-faceted content strategies that amplify Pratt’s mission, academic excellence, cultural reputation, and its longstanding commitment to social justice and sustainability. Description goes here

Daniel and his spouse, Mary, have been members of the Village Temple for over 35 years.  They have two children.  Dan previously served as a Board member and returned to the Board a few years ago.  Both Dan and Mary have been dedicated volunteers, supporting the VT Soup Kitchen, where Mary continues as a "core" soup maker.  Dan is winding down a career in the commodity futures business, but he looks forward to helping the Village Temple maintain its place as one of Lower Manhattan's most highly regarded institutions.