Adam Jeremy Edelman (mostly known as AJ Edelman) is an American-born Israeli sliding sports athlete. He is an eight-time Israeli National Champion in sliding sport (Skeleton and Bobsled) who competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the pilot of BobTeam Edelman. AJ is the first Orthodox Jew to compete in the Winter Olympics, and the first Orthodox Jewish man to compete in either Olympic iteration.In 2023, Edelman became the first ever Israeli to take a podium in a sanctioned Bobsled race and in March, 2024 became the first Israeli to secure the overall podium on the North American Cup. Edelman is currently training for the 2026 Olympic Games with his Bobsled team.

Blake Flayton is an American-Israeli activist, journalist, and student based in Tel Aviv. His journey into advocacy began during his time as a student at George Washington University, where he aimed to build a career in progressive politics, working on Capitol Hill for his Congressman and for presidential campaigns. However, encountering antisemitism from friends and peers led him to write an op-ed for The New York Times on the biases of left-wing young people, marking the start of his writing career.

Dalia Ziada is an Egyptian award-winning writer and political analyst specializing in governance, geopolitics, and defense policy in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. Dalia studied international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, majoring in international security studies. Since April 2024, Dalia has joined the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) as a Senior Fellow for Research and Diplomacy. Since May 2024, Dalia has been roaming American university campuses, in partnership with Hillel International, to lecture on the changing geopolitics of the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. Meanwhile, Dalia is working on a research project with the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) on the threat of radical Islamism in the United States and Europe. 

Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. Dr. Wilf is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. 

The New York Times described him as one of the most nuanced online commentators on Israel and Jewish people. He is a globally recognized speaker, educator, author, and digital influencer. With an audience of over 600,000 followers across his social media platforms and content reaching more than 100 million users, Hen has become a trusted voice on Jewish issues, appearing as an expert in media across four continents, including outlets like BBC, CNN, The Washington Post, SkyNews, New York Times and more. Named among Algemeiner's Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life in 2018 and 2021, Top 50 most influential Jewish LGBT voices, Hen recently received CAMERA’s Portrait in Courage Award. His debut book best-selling, The Wrong Kind of Jew, was released in 2022. In 2019, Hen co-founded the Tel Aviv Institute, dedicated to researching and combating online antisemitism.

Howard Libit is the Executive Director of the Baltimore Jewish Council.  Prior to joining the Council, Howard served as the Chief of Public Affairs and Director of Strategic Planning and Policy in the Mayor’s Office for the City of Baltimore, overseeing the communications efforts for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the agencies of city government. For almost six years, Howard was Chief Operating Officer at Kearney O’Doherty Public Affairs, where he developed and implemented successful and award-winning communications strategies for Fortune 500 and non-profit clients on some of Maryland’s highest-profile political issues.  Howard also spent 15 years as a reporter and editor at the Baltimore Sun, starting as a suburban education reporter and writing about such other topics as state government, politics and the environment.  He served as the newspaper’s City Editor for nearly three years.  

Jewish Advocate, Influencer, Educator

Jonah’s presence as a balanced, well informed, and deeply nuanced voice for commentary and education on many topics related to the Jewish community – including identity, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, combatting Jew Hatred, and lack of Jewish representation in Hollywood - has steadily grown. He is a widely trusted source of analysis, comfort, and compassionate discourse around the world.

Baltimore-bred, Mitch holds a Masters of Administrative Science degree from The Johns Hopkins University, 1982, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Western Maryland College, 1978. Mitch and his wife Leslee have two grown children and one granddaughter. Mitch serves on the board of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore and is on the Baltimore and National Board of Directors of the FIDF (Friends of Israel Defense Forces).

Voted one of the top 10 comedians in New York City by The Hollywood Reporter, Modi is one of the comedy circuit’s most sought after performers. Featured on HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, and E! Entertainment, Modi has received rave reviews in The New York Times, Time Out NY and The New York Post.

Moran Stela Yanay was held hostage by Hamas for 54 days, after she was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023 and was released during the first hostage release deal on November 29, 2023. 

Rabbi Dana Saroken has been a rabbi at Beth El since 2007 when she became our congregation’s first female rabbi. Rabbi Saroken serves in a traditional rabbinic capacity and is also the Founder and Spiritual Director of the Soul Center. Rabbi Saroken attended rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary where she was ordained in 2004. While in rabbinical school Rabbi Saroken was a fellow at CLAL the Center for Leadership and Learning, worked for the Wexner Heritage Foundation, led services for an assisted living center and taught at Bnei Jeshurun and Central Synagogues in NYC. Prior to rabbinical school, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Jewish Studies from the University of Arizona’s Honors Program where she was a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate. 

Attorney Ran Bar-Yoshafat serves in the army reserves in combat Special Forces. From October 7th until now he served over 250 days. Starting in Gaza for the first 3.5 months, moving to the North of Israel, then Judea and Samaria, North again, and just finished his 5th call until now - again in Gaza. He is the former Project Manager of the IJC – The Israeli Jewish Congress and worked for the Legal Department of the Knesset. Bar-Yoshafat holds a Law degree from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, an MBA from Tel-Aviv University, an MA from Haifa University and is currently working on his PhD in History. Ran has published two books and is working on his third, and has published two policy papers about the United Nations. Ran speaks on TV channels including TRT, RT, I-24 and as a regular panelist on Israeli channel 14.