Return, My Soul:

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Overview

In a world of rising antisemitism, xenophobia, anti-immigration sentiment, unchecked white nationalism, international upheaval, and a conflation of anti-Judaism, antisemitism, anti-Israel and anti-Zionism, many American Jews are experiencing moral injury—an invisible wound to their moral conscience or compass resulting from being perpetrators, victims, witnesses, or bystanders to acts that transgress their moral beliefs, values, or ethical codes of conduct. These moral wounds are leading individuals to ask deeply personal and existential questions about who they are, who their allies are, where their allegiances lie, where they belong, and where they can feel safe and secure.

At this one-day conference, under the auspices of the Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling HUC/NY and its continuing education co-sponsor and provider of CEC’s Psychotherapy and Spirituality Institute*, scholars and experts in the field will present comprehensive information about the experience of moral injury, provide an overview of the moral injury spectrum, and offer insights into factors contributing to contemporary Jews’ experiences of moral injury. Workshop presenters will offer Jewishly-informed methodologies for promoting healing, or soul repair.

This conference is intended for clergy, mental health professionals, chaplains, therapists who focus on wellness and wholeness, educators, and other professionals offering care and support to Jews.

Please click here for a full listing of the session descriptions.

*Continuing education co-sponsor and provider of CECs:

Attendees who meet the participation requirements may be eligible to receive CECs. Please click here and complete this form if you are interested.

CECs are available for NYSED-certified LMSWs, LCSWs, LMFTs, LMHCs, and LCATs. Acceptance for professionals licensed outside New York is determined by individual state licensing boards. PSI is recognized by the New York State Education Department Office of the Professions (Provider #SW-0252 / #MFT-0044 / #MHC-0081 / #CAT-0076).

Registration

In-person and virtual registration will close on Monday, May 11.

Meet the Speakers

Yossi Levi Belz, Ph.D.

Chair Lior Tsfaty Center of Suicide Prevention and Mental Pain Studies, University of Haifa

Yossi Levi-Belz is a clinical psychologist and clinical scientist, who is primarily interested in the psychological mechanisms that can help us understand and prevent suicide in different at-risk populations (adolescents, soldiers, ex-prisoners of war, medically serious suicide attempters, etc.). Other related key research topics include suicide survivors, specifically, the ability to grow following suicide loss in the family. Other research areas are moral injury, interpersonal interaction in both real life and in therapy sessions, and attitudes of the public toward psychotherapy. He merges clinical, social, and research work and considers the integration of these three aspects as the central value of his work.

Rita Nakashima Brock, Rel.M., M.A., Ph.D.

Scholar, Editor, Author; Past Senior Vice President and Director, Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America (2017–2025; Co-author, Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War (2012)

Rita Nakashima Brock, Rel.M., M.A., Ph.D., (she, her) is the first Asian American woman to earn a doctorate in philosophy of religion and theology in 1988. A scholar, educator, editor, mentor to women of color scholars, and award-winning author, Dr. Brock is a recognized expert on moral injury. She co-founded and directed the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School from 2012-2017, and from 2017-2025, she was Senior Vice President for Moral Injury Recovery Programs at Volunteers of America (VOA), a large social services non-profit. The educational programs she created at VOA are now being offered via the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School. She lives in Minnesota, formerly the lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples.

Rabbi Jonathan K. Crane ’03, Ph.D.

Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought at Emory University’s Center for Ethics

Jonathan K. Crane, Ph.D., Rabbi, serves as the Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought at Emory University’s Center for Ethics. A Professor of Medicine, Crane is a past president of the Society of Jewish Ethics, founder and co-editor of the Journal of Jewish Ethics, and author or editor of Narratives and Jewish Bioethics; The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality; Beastly Morality: Animals as Ethical Agents; Eating Ethically: Religion and Science for a Better Diet; Judaism, Race, and Ethics: Conversations and Questions; Modern Jewish Ethics Since 1970: Writings on Methods, Sources, & Issues; and Immoral Medicine: Defending Scandals of American Research Behind Bars (forthcoming).

Rabbi Cantor Shayna Burack

Shayna Burack was dual-ordained as a Rabbi Cantor from Hebrew Union College this May. She is honored and humbled to begin her service as Rav Chazzan at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, IL this July. On a personal note, she is delighted to be marrying her Beshert this coming fall.

Rabbi Gila Caine ’11

Rabbi, Temple Beth Ora

Born and raised in Jerusalem, Rabbah Gila Caine is a graduate of the Hebrew University (with a Master’s in Contemporary Judaism) and an alumna of Hebrew Union College’s Israel Rabbinical Program where she was ordained in 2011. Circa 2018 she was captivated by the classic Mesillat Yesharim and dived into an introduction to Mussar over a two-year period studying at the Center for contemporary Mussar’s clergy class, where she continues to study and teach classes. Rabbah Caine has served congregations and unaffiliated Jews in Israel and now in Canada, where she currently lives with her family and where she serves as rabbi of Temple Beth Ora Synagogue in Edmonton, AB.

Aaron Dorfman

Founder and Executive Director of A More Perfect Union

Aaron Dorfman is Founder and Executive Director of A More Perfect Union, an effort to mobilize the American Jewish community to protect and strengthen American democracy. Previously, Aaron served as President of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah, Vice President for Programs of American Jewish World Service, and Director of Informal Education at Temple Isaiah of Contra Costa County. Aaron serves on the Advisory Board of the Safety Respect Equity Network, on the Board of Contina Impact, and on Leading Edge’s Practitioners Council. He holds a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in English and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Aaron and his wife Talia live in Brooklyn, NY, where they’re raising three fierce feminist daughters.

Rabbi Kim Geringer ’99, MSW

Clinical Instructor in Clergy Professional Development, Hebrew Union College

Rabbi Kim S. Geringer is a member of the faculty at Hebrew Union College where she teaches courses on moral injury, clergy formation, and interpersonal and family systems theory. She served as a congregational rabbi for 15 years and on the staff of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Department of Worship, Music, and Religious Living. Her publications include, “Insights into Moral Injury and Soul Repair from Classical Jewish Texts,” (Journal of Pastoral Psychology 2018), “Moral Injury: What Rabbis Need to Know,” (CCAR Journal 2024), and “Responding to Moral Injury: The Healing Power of Jewish Texts, Teachings and Practices,” (CCAR Journal 2024).

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

The Beacon, Rabbi Emerita Congregation, Beth Simchat Torah

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum has dedicated her life to promoting social justice, LGBTQ+ and human rights, and progressive values within Judaism. She served for 32 years as Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City, the largest LGBTQ+ synagogue in the world, where she is now Senior Rabbi Emerita. She serves as Director of The Beacon, a project of Union Theological Seminary. The BBC named her one of its 100 Women of 2024, and Newsweek named her one of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. President Biden appointed Rabbi Kleinbaum a Commissioner to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Rabbi Adam Lavitt ’12

Director of Learning, Jewish Studio Project

Rabbi Adam Lavitt(he/they) is a spiritual companion, educator, and creative facilitator who works at the intersection of spiritual care and Jewish education. Ordained at Hebrew College and a Board Certified Chaplain (BCC), Adam has served in congregations, college campuses, and healthcare settings. As Director of Learning at the Jewish Studio Project, he guides spiritual leaders and educators in integrating creative process as a pathway for growth, healing, and discovery.

Adriane Leveen, Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Union College

Adriane Leveen is Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Hebrew Bible at Hebrew Union College. She has written two books, Biblical Narratives of Israelites and their Neighbors: Strangers at the Gate (2017) and Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers (2008). She is currently deep at work on contemporary responses to the book of Job.

Marcia Pally, Ed.D.

Multilingual Multicultural Studies, New York University

Professor Marcia Pally, Ed.D., teaches at New York University and held the Mercator Professorship in the Theology Faculty of Humboldt University, Berlin, where she is now an annual guest professor and member of the Center for Interreligious Theology and Religious Studies and the Berlin Institute for Public Theology. In 2019-2020 she was a Fellow at The Center for Theological Inquiry (Princeton). Her research interests are culture, religion, and politics as well as the intersection of culture and language..

Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh ’18

VP for Jewish Engagement, American Jewish University

Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh, Vice President for Jewish Engagement at American Jewish University and Director of the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys. She leads the Miller Introduction to Judaism program, guiding learners into Jewish life and community. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to bridging Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi worlds, widening and redefining the pathways into Jewish belonging.

Rabbi Joseph A Skloot ’10, Ph.D.

Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History, Hebrew Union College

Joseph A Skloot, Rabbi, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History at Hebrew Union College. A historian of Jewish culture and religious thought in the early modern and modern periods, he is the author of First Impressions: Sefer Hasidim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis University Press, 2023), and, with Lisa Grushcow, Communities of Meaning: Conversations on Modern Jewish Life Inspired by Rabbi Larry Hoffman (Behrman House, 2024). He received his Ph.D. at Columbia, his rabbinical ordination at HUC-JIR, and his A.B. at Princeton.

Rabbi Nancy H Wiener ’90, D.Min. ’94

Founding Director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling; Dr. Paul and Trudy Steinberg Distinguished Professor in Human Relations; Fieldwork Coordinator, Hebrew Union College

Rabbi Nancy H Wiener, D.Min., BCC is the founding Director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling. She is the Dr. Paul and Trudy Steinberg Distinguished Professor in Human Relations at Hebrew Union College. Rabbi Wiener has authored four books and more than 20 articles. Her recent articles include: “Responding to Moral Injury: The Healing Power of Jewish Texts, Teachings and Practices,” and “Moral Injury: What Rabbis Need to Know,” CCAR Journal, “Insights into Moral Injury and Soul Repair from Classical Jewish Texts,” Journal of Pastoral Psychology. She is a board member of both Neshama: National Association of Jewish Chaplains and The Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School; she is a past co-chair of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.

Rabbi Wendy Zierler, Ph.D.

Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies, Hebrew Union College

Rabbi Wendy Zierler, Ph.D. is Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at Hebrew Union College. Her latest book is Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry (Jewish Publication Society), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Previous books include Movies and Midrash: Popular Film and Jewish Religious Conversation (SUNY Press, also a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award) and And Rachel Stole the Idols: The Emergence of Hebrew Women’s Writing (Wayne State UP, 2004). She is Co-Editor of Prooftexts: A Journal of Jewish Literary History, a leading scholarly journal in the field of Jewish Literature and most recently served as a consultant in the writers’ room of the Fox Prime Time TV Show The Faithful, a dramatization of the lives of biblical women.

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