A San Francisco native, Rabbi Elisheva Salamo is the Kaplan Center’s Executive Director and is also honored to be the spiritual leader at York Liberal Jewish Community in England, where she finds creating programs to be rich and exciting. Ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, she has previously served congregations in California, Johannesburg and Geneva, CH. Other professional endeavors have brought her to serve our elders, children with learning challenges, and battered women. A strong proponent of peace through understanding, she served on the board of the Silicon valley Interreligious Council for many years and is now proud to be an active part of the York Interfaith Group. In her spare time she does needlework and enjoys the company of her service dog, Lylah.
Rabbi Margie Jacobs (RRC 2000) has served as a congregational rabbi, regional director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Hillel director, and teacher of mindfulness meditation. She is a facilitator of the Jewish Studio Process, a mindful art practice that she leads virtually and in person across the country for synagogues, Hillels, retreats, conferences, special events, and clergy. Margie has been designing websites since 2010 and also creates Jewish Canva Templates as part of the Discover Jewish Art project.
Karen Morris joined the Kaplan Center as education networker to support the Mel Scult Teen Prize and Cedarbaum Prize. Karen has a B.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University with a certificate in Jewish Studies (1989). She earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University in Chicago (1992).
Karen currently lives in Pittsburgh and is the Education Director at Reconstructionist affiliated Congregation Dor Hadash. She has been involved in Jewish education her entire career with work ranging from early childhood Judaics specialist at the JCC to teaching all levels in religious school and day school in Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh. Karen loves to swim, do yoga, take walks, and Israeli dance. She is married to Don and they have three children, Jessica, Adam and Mira.
Karen is currently serving on the RENA board as membership chair. Karen is thrilled to be working as the education networker for the Kaplan Center. Working with Rabbi Jeffrey Schein on different scholarship awards has been eye-opening and uplifting as we support Jewish educational innovations.
As Kaplan Center’s Administrator, Sheridan Zuther also enjoys a variety of virtual business work as Executive Assistant with Herring Consulting Network since 2012, and Law Office Manager, Bookkeeper and Paralegal with Van Dyck Law Firm since 2014. With degrees in Music Performance and Opera, she teaches private voice lessons at her home studio and MacPhail Center for Music, and is a vocal coach to artists with disabilities at Interact Center for Visual and Performing Arts since 2017. Sheridan’s solo album Songs from the Silo debuted in late 2022, a diverse musical journey exploring an imaginative childhood singing in a grain silo on her family farm to performing at Carnegie Hall and touring the continent singing jazz. Sheridan enjoys the variety of work with rabbis from all around the world and the wonderful people involved with the Kaplan Center!