Jay Michaelson, Executive Director

Jay Michaelson is the founder and executive director of Nehirim.
For the last ten years, Jay has been a leading advocate for the inclusion of sexual minorities in religious communities, and writes and teaches frequently on issues of sexuality and religion. His work on the subject has appeared on NPR, and in Tikkun, Blithe House Quarterly, the Jerusalem Post, the Duke Law Review, the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, and anthologies including Mentsh: On Being Jewish and Queer (2004), Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice (2007) and Jews and Sex (2008). He also wrote the Coming Out ritual for the Human Rights Campaign.
In addition to his work with Nehirim, Jay is a writer and scholar whose work focuses on the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, Judaism, and law. He is the founding editor of Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture (www.zeek.net), a columnist for the Forward, a Ph. D candidate in Jewish Thought at Hebrew University and a recent Visiting Professor at Boston University Law School. He is the author of God in Your Body: Kabbalah, Mindfulness, and Embodied Spiritual Practice (Jewish Lights, 2006) and Another Word for Sky: Poems (Lethe Press, 2007). His next book is Nondual Judaism (Shambhala, 2009).
Jay holds a BA from Columbia, an MA from Hebrew University, and a JD from Yale Law School. He lives in upstate New York.

Sasha T. Goldberg, Assistant Director

Sasha T. Goldberg is a Jewish educator currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Judaism at The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Prior to joining Nehirim in 2007, she taught grades K-12 in Religious Schools and led Jewish teen retreats. Sasha takes a hands-on approach to integrating social justice into the curriculum of Jewish learning, teaching, and practice. She has a long history of advocacy, spanning grass-roots to board room, most recently serving on the Volunteer Action Committee board as well as the Young Adult's Division board of the Jewish Community Federation of the East Bay.

At The Graduate Theological Union, Sasha has a strong focus on issues of Chaplaincy, Pastoral Care and Grief. In the fall of September 2008, she will lead a Jewish Grief Group for GLBTQ Jews at Congregation Sha'ar Zahaav in San Francisco. Her other areas of interest include the intersections between religious and secular practices of Judaism, and finding ways to draw in the unaffiliated. Out in the queer world, Sasha has organized conferences, film festivals, presentations, and workshops, and she has spoken extensively on sexuality, gender and identity.

A native Chicagoan and a Midwesterner at heart, Sasha now happily makes her home in San Francisco. In her spare time, Sasha enjoys all things Jewish, including her girlfriend, and some things not so typically Jewish, like playing ice hockey.

Zvi Bellin, Student Outreach Coordinator

Zvi Bellin has, for the past six years, led a variety of workshops on Jewish spirituality and mysticism. He holds an M.A. in Counseling and Guidance from NYU, and is studying for his PhD in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola College, Maryland. He has worked as a therapist in a number of mental health settings, and has interned as a Psychiatric Chaplain. Zvi's most recent interests include the spirituality of "dark places" and the formation of meaning outside the "normal and acceptable." He is a co-founder of the Silver Spring Moishe House, a Jewish community house sponsored by the Forest Foundation.

Chani Getter, Bookkeeper

Chani Getter is a Motivational Speaker as well as a Certified Holistic Life Coach. She holds a BA in Human Development from Empire State College. A single mother of 3 children she has led parenting workshops. She is currently facilitating a Single-Mother’s support group in her community as well as the Ma’agal Women’s Circle. Chani has spoken on numerous panels to tell her story of growing up Ultra-Chasidic and her eventual acceptance of her identity. Chani follows an eclectic spiritual path that allows her to connect to the source of life within. In her work, she strives to create a safe space for people to explore the paradoxes in their own lives. Website.

Ri Turner, Student Intern

Ri is currently finishing up her/zir undergraduate education in anthropology at Cornell University. She/ze has been involved with LGBTQ organizing since her/zir junior year of high school. She/ze has always felt deeply pulled by Jewish learning and community, but is now only beginning to find ways to discover and build homes within Judaism. Aside from her/zir internship with Nehirim, she/ze is currently engaged with the Kohenet program, a Jewish women's spiritual leadership training institute taught by Jill Hammer, Shoshana Jedwab (both of whom are also affiliated with Nehirim), and Holly Taya Shere.


Next: Meet our faculty.