Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit is a leader in spiritual and congregational life, organizational and congregational consulting and training, educational arts, writing, musical and liturgical recording (6 CDs), teaching, and performing. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and with smicha from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he has served congregations and havurot from all streams of Judaism with a regard for tradition and creative innovation. He is a Mashpiah/spiritual director and Associate Director of the ALEPH Hashpa’ah Program, author of Offerings of the Heart: Money and Values in Faith Community, and co-editor of Brother Keepers: New Essays in Jewish Masculinity. Since August 2013, Reb Shawn has been the lead rabbi at Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia, PA. www.rabbizevit.com 

Daniel Sheff, a graduate of DLTI 2, has become a core member of the DLTI staff as a teacher, shamess and soul-catcher, bringing many gifts to our collaborative work. Daniel has been a lay leader of Shabbat and holiday services, and recently founded a worship community in the greater Boston area. He is a physician who practices internal medicine and rheumatology, and is a graduate of A Society of Souls’ program in Kabbalistic Healing, a training in healing and spiritual awakening. He has homes in Lexington, MA and Conway, MA, and shares his life with his wife Hanna Sherman and their three daughters.

Rabbi Marcia Prager is a vibrant teacher, storyteller, ritual artist and therapist. She is Director and Dean of Ordination Programs for ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, and rabbi for the P'nai Or Jewish Renewal communities of Philadelphia, PA, and Princeton, NJ. Her book, The Path of Blessing (Bell Tower 1998/Jewish Lights 2003) is an exploration of the profound spiritual wisdom that lies in the Jewish practice of blessing. She is the creator of the unique P'nai Or Siddurim for Shabbat and other innovative approaches to prayer and liturgy. She and her husband Hazzan Jack Kessler travel widely to teach in an array of Jewish and interfaith settings. 

Hazzan Jack Kessler was ordained as a Cantor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and went on to have a twenty-year career serving Conservative congregations. During that time he received a Master's degree in voice from Boston Conservatory and pursued studies in composition in the graduate department of Brandeis University. In addition to his ongoing career as a hazzan (cantor) and vocal coach, he supervises the cantorial training of students in the ALEPH Cantorial Program, and directs two touring ensembles: ATZILUT– CONCERTS FOR PEACE, a duet format of Arab and Jewish musicians performing together, and KLINGON KLEZMER, which does Jewish music from other planets.

Program Assistant Hazzan Diana Brewer  is a graduate of DLTI 9 and has come on board as our new DLTI Program Assistant. She was ordained by the AOP Cantorial Program in January 2019 and earned her Master of Music in Early Music Performance at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. She is in love with what we do in DLTI!