Rabbi Harold S. Kushner - RETURNING IN 2011!
Harold Kushner is Rabbi Laureate of Temple Israel in the Boston suburb of Natick, Mass., after serving that congregation for twenty-four years. He is best known as the author of WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE, an international best seller first published in 1981. The book has been translated into fourteen languages and was recently selected by members of the Book of the Month Club as one of the ten most influential books of recent years. One critic has called it the most important book of popular theology ever written in America. In 1999, the national organization Religion in American Life honored him as their clergyman of the year. In 2008, he was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the world of Jewish books, presented by the Jewish Book Council.

He has also written WHEN ALL YOU'VE EVER WANTED ISN'T ENOUGH, which was awarded the Christopher Medal for its contribution to the exaltation of the human spirit. In 1995, Rabbi Kushner was honored as one of fifty people who have made the world a better place in the last fifty years. He has twice been nominated for the Templeton Prize, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Religion. He has also written six other New York Times best-sellers, including his recent meditation on the 23rd Psalm, THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. With novelist Chaim Potok, he is co-author of the new Conservative commentary on the Torah, Etz Hayim, which has been enthusiastically received by hundreds of congregations since its publication in the fall of 2001. His most recent best-seller is OVERCOMING LIFE�S DISAPPOINTMENTS. He has also had a collection of his sermons published under the title FAITH AND FAMILY. 

Hazzan Henry Rosenblum
Hazzan Henry Rosenblum is the Michael W. Greene Dean of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music of The Jewish Theological Seminary. He formerly served as cantor at White Meadow Temple in Rockaway, New Jersey, and as the hazzan of Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange, New Jersey. Simultaneously, he also taught hazzanut at The Jewish Theological Seminary, conducted the New Jersey Cantors Concert Ensemble, sang with the Zamir Chorale of New York, and served on the board of the American Society for Jewish Music. From 1987 through 1998, Hazzan Rosenblum was the cantor of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, Illinois, and from 1997 to 1999 he served as the president of the Cantors Assembly, the international umbrella organization for cantors in the Conservative Movement. He was appointed dean of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School in 1998 and is the first hazzan to hold that position. Hazzan Rosenblum was awarded a doctor of Music, honoris causa, by JTS in 2002.

Rabbi Noam Marans
Rabbi Noam Marans joined the American Jewish Committee as associate national director of the Contemporary Jewish Life department in 2001, and is dedicated to addressing critical issues regarding American Jewish identity, focusing on the Jewish family, Jewish education, and Israel-Diaspora relations. Rabbi Marans creates seminars for visiting Israeli leaders to introduce them to American Jewish political, religious and educational life. During the first 16 years of his career, Rabbi Marans was a congregational rabbi at Temple Israel in Ridgewood, N.J. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science at Columbia University and is a 1985 graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary Rabbinical School. Rabbi Marans has spent several years studying in Israel, including graduate work at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is a past president of the Bergen County Board of Rabbis.

Rabbi David B. Starr, PhD
David Starr, Vice President for Community Education at Hebrew College and Assistant Professor of Jewish History, is an expert on the subjects of modern Jewish history, Jewish education and adult Jewish learning in America. The Me'ah adult learning program has grown significantly under Dr. Starr's leadership, and his writings set forth Me'ah as a model of Jewish education for lay and professional leadership nationwide. He is also a leading scholar on the life and work of Solomon Schechter (the founder of the Conservative Movement). 

Rabbi Loren Sykes
Rabbi Loren Sykes is the director of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. He formerly spent 20 summers at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin as a camper, participant in the Ramah Israel Seminar, summer staff member and assistant director, and was one of the co-founders of the Rose Crown Minyan, a joint effort of The Anshe Emet Synagogue and Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. From 1996-2007, Rabbi Sykes served as the founding director of our own Camp Ramah Darom, and also founded Camp Yofi: Family Camp for Jewish Families with Children with Autism. In recognition of his work in building a new Ramah camp and for his work in building an inclusive community for families with children with Autism, Rabbi Sykes received the Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish education in 2006. In 2007-2008, Loren was a Fellow in the Melton Senior Educators Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He met his wife, Rebecca, at camp, and they currently live with their three children - Elan, Mira and Amalya - in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.

Rebecca Sykes
Currently the artist-in-residence of the Newberger Hillel Center of the University of Chicago, Rebecca is a life-long learner.  She studied theater and music in NYC and as a veteran of the Jewish summer camp, Rebecca learned how to change the world one experiential moment at a time.  She added yoga to the mix because a deeper connection between mind, body, and soul allows a person to flow with grace and do an amazing handstand…she’ll show you how.  As a singer, actress, yogini and educator, Rebecca creates inspiring opportunities to explore Jewish sources and rituals.