Meet the Deans

Rabbi Daniel Nevins, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School

Rabbi Daniel Nevins is the dean of the Division of Religious Leadership at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He serves as the Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School, and supervises the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music and the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS. Rabbi Nevins teaches courses in professional skills and serves on the Chancellor's Academic Council. Before returning to JTS in 2007, he served for 13 years as the rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Rabbi Nevins serves in leadership positions for the Conservative Movement. He is currently co-chair of the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism and a member of the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly, where he is on the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), and the Joint Placement and Keruv commissions. Rabbi Nevins has written decisions of Jewish law in the fields of bioethics, disabilities, technology, and sexuality for the CJLS and has also published chapters in recent books such as Jewish Theology in our Time (Jewish Lights, 2010) and The Observant Life (Aviv Press, in publication).

Rabbi Nevins grew up in New Jersey, received his BA in History from Harvard College, and his MA and rabbinical ordination from JTS. He lives with his family in New York City.

Rabbi Lisa Gelber, Associate Dean and Rabbi of the Women's League Seminary Synagogue

Rabbi Lisa Gelber serves as associate dean of The Rabbinical School and rabbi of the Women's League Seminary Synagogue. A trained spiritual director, Rabbi Gelber aims to incorporate mindful, compassionate listening into her work and her everyday life.

After graduating from Amherst College, Rabbi Gelber earned a degree from the University of Judaism and an MA and rabbinic ordination from JTS. She went on to serve as rabbi at a large congregation in suburban Seattle, and a fledgling shul in suburban Chicago, in addition to working as a chaplain at a level-one trauma center in Seattle.

An editor of numerous works on domestic violence in the Jewish community, including A Journey Towards Freedom: A Haggadah for Women Who Have Experienced Domestic Violence (FaithTrust Institute, 2003), she also served as a consultant for And the Gates Opened: Women in the Rabbinate, a video produced in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the ordination of women rabbis at JTS.

Rabbi Gelber is a graduate of the Institute of Jewish Spirituality (IJS), an ardent supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT) program, and a marathon runner. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her daughter Zahara.

Rabbi Joel Alter, Director of Admissions

Rabbi Joel Alter is director of Admissions for The Rabbinical School and the H. L. Miller Cantorial School. He assumed this position following 16 years of service in Jewish day schools. A teacher of Tanakh, rabbinics, and Jewish living to children from K to 12, Rabbi Alter helped shape the schools in which he served in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Boston, through administrative and curricular leadership. His dual commitments during that time were to Jewish pluralism and building mission-driven institutions, and both inform his present role. Rabbi Alter's goals are to identify religious leaders who will choose the path of learning and living for today's Conservative community, and to advance their training by meeting them where they are and bringing them where they need to be as rabbis and cantors of JTS. Ordained in the closet, Joel is proud to return to JTS as an openly gay rabbi. Shabbat, Torah, Hebrew, hiking, good friends, and good food are among the things that bring him joy.