Rabbinical Committee
Rabbi Mark Dratch served as a congregational rabbi in Stamford, CT for 22 years. He
is currently chairman of the Task Force on Rabbinic Improprieties of the Rabbinical
Council of America (the RCA is the world's largest orthodox rabbinic organization,
constituting more than 1,000 modern and centrist orthodox rabbis); and is a former RCA
vice-president. He is a member of the Clergy Task Force on Abuse, Jewish Women
International; a member of the Jewish Advisory Committee of the FaithTrust Institute;
and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Religion and Abuse. He teaches at
Yeshiva University in New York City. He is the founder of JSafe: The Jewish Institute
Supporting an Abuse-Free Environment. The JSafe web site contains many articles
authored by Rabbi Dratch addressing the Jewish view on children's rights, abuse, and
related issues.
Rabbi Chaim A. Wakslak, Ph.D., holds rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva Torah
Vodaath, Brooklyn, and has been the spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Long Beach
synagogue (Long Island, N.Y.) since 1985. Rabbi Wakslak holds a Ph.D. in clinical
psychology from Hofstra University, and is currently Clinical Director at HASC Center
in Brooklyn. In addition, he is a consultant to the N.Y.S. Department of Education, and
the N.Y.S. Department of Disability Determinations. He has previously served as
Clinical Director and Administrator of the Brunswick Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation Hospital in Amityville, N.Y .; and served as a psychologist at Bais
EzralOhel. Rabbi Wakslak received a Medallion Award for rabbinic service at the 1998
Centennial Dinner of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The first
meeting of JBAC (then known as the N.Y.S. Yeshiva Parents Association) was held at
the Young Israel of Long Beach, and covered by the New York Jewish Week (Friedlin,
"Yeshiva Parents Want Their Say", Feb. 26,2006).
Rabbi Allen Schwartz, M.A., is spiritual leader of Congregation Ohab Zedek, located in
the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan, since 1988. He is an alumnus of
Yeshiva College and received his Master of Arts degree in Bible, Rabbinics and Halacha
(Jewish law) from Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School, where he
continues to work on his doctoral thesis on Rashi's methodology. Rabbi Schwartz was
granted rabbinic ordination from the University's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary. He currently holds the Raymond J. Greenwald Chair in Jewish
Studies at Yeshiva University, where he has taught since 1983. Rabbi Schwartz serves
on the executive board of the Rabbinical Council of America and has also served as
President of the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations of Manhattan's West Side.
Rabbi Schwartz also teaches the seventh and eighth grades at Manhattan Day School. He
has lectured extensively for the Board of Jewish Education of New York at many
schools. Rabbi Schwartz has published curricula on Biblical themes for Jewish day
schools nationally. Ir, March 2007, Rabbi Schwartz's synagogue hosted a forum
addressing the child abuse problem that was co-sponsored by the Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of America, and the Rabbinical Council of America. Rabbi and
Alisa Schwartz have six children and three grandchildren.
Executive Committee
Moshe Fessel, Esq. is the owner and moderator of Five Towns Shuls (FTS) and Five
Towns Jewish Community (FTJC) Yahoo groups, which boast 15,000 subscribers. Mr.
Fessel created the sponsorship program for FTSIFTJC, raising thousands of dollars for
Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School, and has
worked as an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP from 2001 through 2008.
Rifka Finkelstein
Eli Greenwald
Judith Guedalia Ph.D
Doron Katzin
Maury Kelman, Esq. received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University's Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in
Toronto, and has pursued graduate studies in Jewish philosophy and English literature.
He is the former Assistant Rabbi at The Jewish Center, West 86th Street, in Manhattan;
and the former Rabbi and founder of Kehillat Morah in Jerusalem. He is the Chairman of
Kedma, a Jewish student organization in Israel and the United States; and he oversees an
adult education program at Congregation Ohab Zedek, Manhattan. He has worked as an
attorney at a prominent Manhattan law firm. He currently works for an investment firm.
Dr. Nachum Klafter, M.D., is Director of Psychotherapy Training at the University of
Cincinnati Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Dr. Klafter received his M.D. from
the State University of New York at Buffalo. He completed his specialty training in
psychiatry at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he also served
as Chief Resident. Dr. Klafter maintains a private practice in psychoanalytic
psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. He is the Vice President of the Cincinnati Hebrew
Day School Board. He is an active member of the Nefesh International network of
Orthodox Jewish Mental Health Professionals. Dr. Klafter's interest in child advocacy
comes from his experiences as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, through which he
has learned in intimate detail the tragic long-term impact of child sexual abuse on its
victims. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and four daughters.
Brachie Neugarten MSW
Chaim Shapiro, M.Ed., holds a Master's degree in Education from Loyola University,
Chicago, and finished all but his dissertation in the Institutional Leadership and Policy
Studies Ph.D. program at the University of California, Riverside Graduate School of
Education. He has 14 years of progressive experience in Jewish education and
administration. He resides with his wife and daughter in Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y.
Jeffrey Singer Ph.D
Mark Weiss