Rabbi Ari Berman has served as Rabbi of The Jewish Center since 2000.

Rabbi Berman received his BA from Yeshiva University in 1991 and graduated with honors in both Philosophy and Talmud. He received his MA in Jewish Philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School in 1993. During that time, he spent a number of years studying under Rabbi Michael Rosensweig, and was a fellow in the Adina and Marcos Katz Kollel. During his tenure in the Kollel, Rabbi Berman was selected as the Rabbi Aaron Burack Fellow, and delivered an annual memorial lecture. Rabbi Berman spent four years studying in Israel under Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, from 1987-1989 at Yeshivat Har Etzion and from 1993-1995 in Yeshiva University's Gruss Kollel in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Berman was ordained by the Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1995 and was subsequently selected as a fellow of the Gruss Kollel Elyon of Yeshiva University. At the quadrennial Chag Hasemichah of RIETS, Rabbi Berman was chosen as the speaker to represent his rabbinic peers.

Following his years at the Kollel Elyon, Rabbi Berman served as a Rosh Mesivta (Professor of Talmud) at the Stone Beit Medrash Program at Yeshiva University. During these years, he also served as Rabbinic Intern, Assistant Rabbi, and Associate Rabbi at The Jewish Center where he received practical rabbinic training and mentoring from Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter.

Rabbi Berman has published articles in academic, popular, and Torah jounrals and has been recognized by RIETS for his written scholarship. He also lectures widely as a Scholar-in-Residence at synagogues and organizations throughout the country. Rabbi Berman is active in a number of organizations, including Religious Zionists of America, Manhattan Day School, West Side COJO, AIPAC and Manhattan Jewish Experience. In 2004, Rabbi Berman was recognized by the West Side community as Clergyman of the Year for his work at The Jewish Center and in the broader Upper West Side neighborhood.

Rabbi Berman and his wife Anita have four children: Shlomo, Yehuda, Binyamin and Tamar.

Yosie Levine
Associate Rabbi

Rabbi Yosie Levine joined The Jewish Center's rabbinic team in 2004. He earned a BA in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia College and was awarded the university's William F. Curtis award for outstanding oratory. A Wexner Graduate Fellow, Rabbi Levine received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and was the winner of RIETS' writing prize.He holds an MA in Bible Studies from the Bernard Revel Graduate School and recently earned an MPA in Public Policy at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School. He has served as the educational director of the Lauder Foundation's Beit Midrash in Berlin, Germany and as the visiting scholar of Congregation Knesseth Israel in Birmingham, Alabama.Originally from Los Angeles, California, Rabbi Levine and his wife Rachel now live on the west side of Manhattan.

Benny Rogosnitzky
Cantor

Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky was born in Liverpool, England, but spent his early schooling in the Netherlands and Johannesburg. At the age of nine his liturgical talents were discovered by world-renowned Cantor Johnny Gluck, and he subsequently joined his choir as a child soloist. At age sixteen he returned to England, where he was invited to lead High Holiday Services at prestigious Brighton and Hove Synagogue. At the same time, he furthered his Jewish Studies in the Manchester Yeshiva. Cantor Rogosnitzky pursued his higher education at the Royal Manchester School of Music and Art, where he earned his Masters Degree in Music Theory. He has since lectured widely on music and its application to prayer and served as a guest lecturer at the Yale Conservatory of Music in the USA. Affectionately known to all as "Cantor Benny," he also gives classes and maintains a rigorous regime of study and practice of traditional and modern liturgy and music. He has produced several concerts, performing worldwide in New York, London, Tel Aviv, South Africa and Warsaw. Cantor Rogosnitzky's interests and talents are not limited to the sphere of music. He worked closely with late international financier, Edmund Saffa, and has been instrumental in the organization of a myriad of successful charitable functions. He is also actively involved in Jewish outreach, both in the USA and Israel. He is passionately committed to making a meaningful difference in people's lives.

Ariel Rackovsky
Assistant Rabbi

Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky graduated Yeshiva College in 2002 with a Bachelors degree in Biology. A native of Rochester, New York, he studied for two years in Yeshivat Kerem BeYavneh prior to attending Yeshiva College. In March 2006, he received his Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary while serving as Rabbinic Intern at the Riverdale Jewish Center and on the Chaplaincy staff of the UJA/Zicklin Residence of the Metropolitan Jewish Hospice of New York. In the fall of 2006, he became Senior Rabbinic Intern at the RJC, and joined the Rabbinical staff of the Beth Din of America. Rabbi Rackovsky has participated in a number of Yeshiva University programs in cities across the US and Canada, and served as the director of the 2006 YU Atlanta Summer Kollel.

Mrs. Elana Stein Hain
Resident Scholar

Mrs. Elana Stein Hain joined the Jewish Center family in 2006 as the William Fischman Resident Scholar. Pursuing a doctorate in Religion at Columbia University, with a specialization in Jewish Law, Mrs. Stein Hain has enjoyed sharing some of her findings in the form of classes and shiurim here at the Center - e.g., Legal Theory and Halacha, as well as a series on Judaism and Islam.

Most recently, Mrs. Stein Hain received her Masters in Religion from Columbia and concluded three years of study in the Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS). In the coming year, she will participate in the Cardozo Program in Jewish Law and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Beyond her work at the Jewish Center, Mrs. Stein Hain is and has been active in the Jewish community at large- serving as scholar-in-residence in shuls across the country, actively co-founding Jewish Seminarians for Justice, and founding Midreshet Morasha, the summer Beit Midrash Program in Camp Morasha.

Ari Schwarzberg
William Fischman Rabbinic Intern

Ari Schwarzberg is a third year student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In conjunction with his Rabbinical studies, Ari is pursuing a graduate degree in Administrative Education at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education as well as a degree in Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School. Last year, Ari served as an inaugural Sanford Lurie Fellow, contributing to the Jewish Center's Shabbat programming while also participating in the Jewish Center's afternoon kollel. Upon graduation from Yeshiva College in May 2006, Ari received the Max and Sophie Manicoff Memorial Award for excellence in Talmud and the Chaya and Hershel Schneider Memorial Award for Excellence in Hebrew.