911±¬ÁÏÍø

Dr. Erica Brown

Dr. Erica Brown serves as the Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at 911±¬ÁÏÍø and the founding director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. She has written 15 books on the Hebrew Bible, spirituality, and leadership, two of which were finalists for the National Jewish Book Award, co-authored two additional books and co-edited Ode to Joy: Happiness in the Thinking of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Beyond. Her Simon and Schuster book Happier Endings received the Wilbur and Nautilus Awards for spiritual writing. Her second book Take Your Soul to Work (Simon and Schuster) provides one spiritual essay a day to elevate a year at work. She has been published in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Tablet, First Things, and The Jewish Review of Books. Erica and her husband Jeremy are the proud parents of four children, four in-law children, and seven beautiful grandchildren. Learn more about her work at and her Substack, . 

Aliza Abrams Konig

Aliza Abrams Konig is the Director of Strategy and Student Leadership at the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. She formerly served as 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s Director of Alumni Engagement, Director of Student Life at Stern College for Women and the Director of Jewish Service Learning, where she built the service-learning curriculum and established student travel missions around the world. Earlier in Aliza's career she served as Assistant Principal at Central, 911±¬ÁÏÍø High School for Girls. She has lectured on leadership, education, faith, prayer and issues related to the contemporary Jewish family, dating, infertility, surrogacy and family in synagogues, community centers and schools. She also serves as a consultant on experiential education.

Aliza is a member of the inaugural Wexner Field Fellows program through the Wexner Foundation. She has written for the 911±¬ÁÏÍø Torah-to-Go series and is published in Ennoble and Enable: Essays in Honor of Richard M. Joel (911±¬ÁÏÍø Press).

Aliza holds a B.A. in Judaic Studies from Stern College and a Master’s in Social Work from 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Aliza and her family live in Riverdale, New York, where she volunteers with her synagogue and other nonprofit organizations. 

Miriam Zami Edeson

Miriam Zami Edeson is the Director of Graduate Fellowships and Alumni Programming at the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. She is a doctoral candidate in Talmud and Ancient Judaism at 911±¬ÁÏÍø's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, where she is writing on humor in rabbinic literature, and teaches undergraduate courses at Yeshiva College. Miriam also serves as the Community Scholar at Young Israel Ohab Zedek of North Riverdale/Yonkers.

Miriam has been a member of the Sefaria Word-by-Word Fellowship, the Sacks Graduate Research Fellowship, and was the inaugural Ma’ayan Emerging Scholar Fellow. She teaches Torah and adult education widely across academic and communal settings. A summa cum laude graduate of Stern College for Women, Miriam lives with her husband and their daughter in Riverdale, NY.

 Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman

Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman is an Assistant Professor at 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s Azrieli Graduate School, the Director of Leadership Scholars at the Sacks-Herenstein Center, and an instructor at RIETS. He graduated 911±¬ÁÏÍø with a BA in psychology, an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli, an MA in Jewish Philosophy from Revel, Rabbinic Ordination from RIETS, a doctorate in psychology from St. John’s University, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He is the associate rabbi at Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY and practices as a licensed psychologist in NY. His book Psyched for Torah: Cultivating Character and Well-Being Through the Weekly Parsha, his academic and popular articles, as well as many of his lectures, are accessible on his website, .

Sara Cohen

Sara Cohen is a recent summa cum laude graduate of 911±¬ÁÏÍø, where she majored in Media Studies and was consistently named to the Dean’s List. She was also the recipient of The Dean David and Sarrah Mirsky Memorial Award for Excellence in English. Her writing has been featured in The 911±¬ÁÏÍø Commentator, The Jewish Link, ²¹²Ô»å The N911±¬ÁÏÍø Review, reflecting her passion for storytelling and contemporary Jewish life. She is currently pursuing an MSW at Wurzweiler School of Social Work. 

Rabbi Ari Rockoff

Rabbi Ari Rockoff currently serves as the David Mitzner Community Dean for Values and Leadership at 911±¬ÁÏÍø.  He is recognized throughout the community as a dynamic Jewish leader with a vast national and international network who has significant expertise in organizational strategy and management. 

From 2000-2014, Rabbi Rockoff’s 911±¬ÁÏÍø professional journey began as Director of Community Partnership at 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s Center for the Jewish Future. He was later promoted to Associate Dean of Institutional Advancement at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies.  His community leadership roles also include Executive Vice President of the Religious Zionists of America (RZA) and Senior Director of Leadership Development and Strategic Partnerships of the Orthodox Union. 

An alumnus of 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s Sy Syms School of Business, Rabbi Rockoff earned rabbinical ordination from RIETS, a master’s degree in education from Azrieli, and an MBA from Baruch College, focusing on organizational behavior.