Staff

National Office

Edmund Case, Chief Executive Officer

Edmund Case graduated from Yale in 1972 and from Harvard Law School in 1975. He practiced law for 22 years and was chairman of the business litigation department of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, a large Boston law firm. He served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Greater Boston Legal Services, the major provider of civil legal aid to the indigent in Greater Boston. In 1997 Case enrolled in the Heller-Hornstein Program at Brandeis University, graduating in May 1999 with a Master's in Jewish Communal Service and a Master's in Management. Case's fieldwork placements at the Hornstein Program involved working at Jewish Family & Children's Service on intermarriage programming, and staffing a new services to the intermarried committee at Combined Jewish Philanthropies. In June 2000, Case completed a three-year term as president of Temple Shalom of Newton, a 1,000-family Reform synagogue. He has served as a member of the URJ (Reform Movement) Northeast Regional Outreach Committee since 1993, and he and his wife and daughter have been panelists at outreach programs at URJ conventions. Case was a member of CJP's 1996 Task Force on Intermarriage and of CJP's 1997 Strategic Planning Sub-committee on Vibrancy and Inclusiveness.

Case is co-editor of The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001) and has written widely on intermarriage issues.

In November 2001 Case was named to The Forward 50 list of top Jewish leaders. He is a frequent speaker on outreach issues, including in November 2002 at the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly, in June 2004 at the UJC's Hadesh West conference, in June 2005 at the American Jewish Press Association conference, in April 2006 at the Jewish Funders Network conference, in January 2007 at the conference of RAVSAK (the association of Jewish community day schools) and in November 2010 at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

Heather Martin, Chief Operating Officer

Heather has extensive marketing and operations experience in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds and a diverse background in consulting, project management, e-business, and web development. Prior to coming to InterfaithFamily, she was Vice President at Jewish Family & Life! and the Project Director for JFL's JSkyway online learning program. Martin's positions prior to JFL include Vice President of Marketing and co-owner of PeopleSite.com, an online search community helping reunite birthparents, family members, missing persons and friends, and Executive Vice President of Custom Internet Development, an Internet consultancy where she oversaw NewVantage's efforts to rapidly design, develop and deploy world class Internet solutions for their clients. Martin gained information technology strategy and consulting experience at IBM's Consulting Group where she worked with large Fortune 100 retail and consumer packaged goods clients. She holds a Masters of Science in Industrial Administration (MBA) from Carnegie Mellon's Graduate School of Industrial Administration and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from McGill University. Martin is intermarried and lives in Franklin, Mass., with her husband Scott and sons Ryan and Asher.

Stacie Garnett-Cook, National Director, InterfaithFamily/Your Community

Stacie joined InterfaithFamily in 2012 to support the growth of the InterfaithFamily/Your Community program. She has over 10 years of experience working in Boston's non-profits, bringing people together around issues they care about. She recently completed her master's in organization development from American University and has a passion for helping non-profits achieve their missions more effectively. Prior to coming to InterfaithFamily, Stacie worked at NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts where she managed multi-stakeholder coalitions addressing sexual and reproductive health. She also participated in the Jewish Organizing Initiative fellowship program, learning community organizing skills and working on social justice from a Jewish context, and worked as a community organizer at Massachusetts Senior Action Council, organizing senior citizens to fight for better health care. Stacie's interest in multi-faith issues began in college where she was a Jewish student representative on the Wellesley College Multi-Faith Council. When she's not in the office, Stacie enjoys yoga, folk music, and spending time with her husband, Andrew. They live in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Deb Morandi, Connections Coordinator

Deb Morandi is a highly motivated and creative organizational manager with extensive communication and community building skills. Prior to coming to InterfaithFamily, she was the Leadership Resource Development Coordinator at Jewish Family Service of Metrowest where she created programs for young families looking for a Jewish connection and grew the Jewish identity in those communities by 30%. She was also responsible for planning and developing events that would raise awareness and funds to support the work of JFS of Metrowest. Previously, Deb was a senior event consultant for an upscale event planning firm in Boston where she worked closely with couples and families to plan weddings and bat/bar mitzvahs. Deb holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kansas and is an avid Jayhawks fan! She is intermarried and lives in Franklin, MA with her husband, twin boys, and yellow lab.

Susan Edni, Administrator/Special Projects

Susan Edni was born and raised in London, where she was a medical defense legal executive for over 10 years. Edni then spent a few years in Israel where she taught English prior to meeting her Israeli husband Udi in New York on a two-night stopover. They returned to Israel for a year but since May 2002, Susan and Udi have lived very happily in Needham, Mass., with their daughter Roni and son Oliver. Susan has managed to hold on to her British accent and so too, she believes, her British sense of humor.

InterfaithFamily/Chicago

Rabbi Ari Moffic, Director, InterfaithFamily/Chicago

Ari Poster Moffic was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2007. A graduate of Indiana University, she received Master's Degrees in Jewish Education and Jewish Studies from Baltimore Hebrew College. A native of Newton Massachusetts, Rabbi Moffic has an extensive background in Jewish family education -including writing for a Jewish family magazine, leading family retreats, and helping to start a family centered religious school. She has a special interest in working with interfaith couples and families. Identity formation, modern interpretations of culture and religion and making Jewish living accessible, relevant and meaningful are the areas that drive and inspire Rabbi Moffic. She believes in learning through doing and engaging the entire family in transformative Jewish experiences. She is married to Rabbi Evan Moffic, senior rabbi at Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois. They are parents to Hannah born in 2007 and Tamir born in 2009.

Jennifer Falkenholm, Project Manager/Implementation Specialist, InterfaithFamily/Chicago

Before joining InterfaithFamily in 2012 to support InterfaithFamily/Chicago's community office, Jennifer spent over 10 years working for Accenture, a large global consulting company, in both their marketing and recruiting departments. She enjoys using her deep communication and organizational skills to define efficient processes and to deliver value to internal and external customers. Jennifer graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Marketing. She lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with her husband and two boys. When not at work, she enjoys going to the city with her family, jogging outdoors or reading a good book.

InterfaithFamily/Philadelphia

Wendy Armon, Director, InterfaithFamily/Philadelphia

Wendy Ellison Armon brings over fifteen years experience in the areas of management consulting and grant writing, plus her strong communication and organizational skills, to InterfaithFamily. As the Director of InterfaithFamily/Philadelphia, she enjoys developing new projects and engaging in new collaborations throughout the Philadelphia community. With an undergraduate degree in English from Brandeis University and a master's degree in Public Management from University of Maryland, she appreciates the opportunity to apply these skills in the nonprofit community. Wendy has lived in Philadelphia for over ten years has been very active in synagogue and community life in Philadelphia. As a conservative Jew, she is delighted to work towards creating a welcoming community for interfaith families.

Wendy enjoys spending time with her husband, three kids and occasionally participates in community theater. She enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking and time at the beach.

Robin Warsaw, Project Manager, InterfaithFamily/Philadelphia

Robin Warsaw joined InterfaithFamily/Philadelophia in 2012. She began work with the interfaith community in 2011 as the project manager for InterFaithways in Philadelphia, PA. She has 18 years of experience working as an IT professional, including software development, classroom teaching, website design and development, and video and photo editing. She's excited to use both her technical skills and community outreach experience to connect interfaith couples and families with resources in the Philadelphia area. Robin is a member of the Board of Trustees at her synagogue in Elkins Park, PA, where she is active in the religious school and on the membership committee. She enjoys tennis, hiking, cooking, yoga, and spending time with her husband and two children.

InterfaithFamily/San Francisco

Rebecca Goodman, Director, InterfaithFamily/San Francisco

Rebecca Goodman holds Master's degrees in Jewish Education and in Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute in Religion. Studying Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate, Rebecca loves to balance work and life, spiritual and mundane, as well as Jewish and non-Jewish influences in her life. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, she joined InterfaithFamily in 2012 to continue her work combining her interest in teaching about Judaism and working in the non-profit community. She has worked with families for twenty years and is excited to help interfaith families navigate the Jewish community in the Bay Area. She believes every individual should find their balance, making their own life choices based on knowledge, understanding, and what they believe is best.

Consultants

Rabbi Lev Baesh, Director, Resource Center for Jewish Clergy

Rabbi Lev Baesh was ordained by the Reform Movement in 1994 in Cincinnati. He can also be found teaching Introduction to Judaism Courses for the Outreach division of the Reform movement in the Boston area, as well as national and world traveling to celebrate interfaith-Jewish weddings. Baesh served as rabbi for Temple Israel of Dover, N.H., from 1994-2006 and served as interim rabbi for Congregation Beit Ahavah in Northampton, Mass., in 2006 and 2007.  While serving the congregation in Dover, Lev was also the Jewish chaplain at the University of New Hampshire and a member of several interfaith councils. His focus throughout his congregational work was welcoming all who wanted "Jewish" as part of their lives. InterfaithFamily is a natural fit for this high-spirited, knowledgeable and welcoming rabbi.

Baesh lives with his partner Andrew, who joined the Jewish world a few years into their relationship. You can read about their early life in The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook in the chapter about "Gay and Interfaith." Baesh has contributed several articles to our web site and has been helpful in the creation of our wedding guide for interfaith couples.

Prior to life as a rabbi, Baesh was an attorney with the Children's Aid Society in New York, and coordinated their Manhattan project of PINS Mediation with parents and teens. Baesh is a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Class of 1994, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University class of 1987 (accepted in the New York and Connecticut Bar Associations) and Clark University class of 1984. Baesh was accepted and attended Bangor Theological Seminary's Doctor of Ministry program until he decided to leave congregational work.

And for those who knew Baesh prior to 1998, when he changed his name after attending a Jewish story-teller's retreat, you will remember him as Wesley Michael Odell. Baesh is a fifth generation rabbi in the United States — of which three are Reform and two Lubavitch — on his mother's side and a second generation attorney on his father's side.

Karen Kushner, InterfaithFamily/San Francisco

In August of 2003, Karen began developing resources for synagogues in a newly funded organization known as Project Welcome. For five years, Project Welcome worked with congregations of all denominations to help them increase the warmth of their welcome to Jews, interfaith families, the LGBT community and everyone seeking a home in Judaism. Project Welcome evolved into the Jewish Welcome Network in the fall of 2008, continuing to provide training workshops and resources to the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community. In August 2010, InterfaithFamily added the training workshops and resources of the Jewish Welcome Network to its offerings and brought Karen on as the Chief Education Officer.

Previously, Karen worked as a family educator and therapist, specializing in the self-healing power of families for 27 years, and has lectured widely. For over twenty years, she taught religious school to teenagers and primary students and designed a Hebrew curriculum for second graders learning with their parents. She has co-authored, with Anita Diamant, How to Raise a Jewish Child: No Experience Necessary. And, with her husband, Lawrence Kushner, she has written Because Nothing Looks Like God, Where is God, What Does God Look Like and How Does God Make Things Happen. She is the mother of three adult children and grandmother of three.

Former Editors

Benjamin Maron, Former Director of Content and Educational Resources

Benjamin Maron has been known as the wandering Jew for many years now, but is excited to be putting down roots in the Boston area. He has an educational background in Judaic Studies, has worked as a Jewish educator and communal worker, and most recently funded his wanderings through freelance writing and editing. He's looking forward to bringing his skills together as he tackles what was known as the Managing Editor role at InterfaithFamily — now expanded to include content (social media, all things website) and educational resources (everything from videos explaining the Jewish holidays to booklets and articles and more). When not standing at the computer, he can be found in a kayak, at a curling club, or challenging friends and strangers to a game of Scrabble.

Ruth Abrams, Former Editor

Ruth Abrams completed a B.A. at Oberlin College in 1988 and a Ph.D. at Brandeis University in 1997. The subject of her dissertation was the role of Jewish women in European feminism from 1880-1920. She taught Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1996 to 2000. She has wide-ranging experience as a Jewish educator, from work with children in religious school to adult education programming, and has a background as an academic editor and as a writer in non-profit contexts. She is a member of Havurat Shalom in Somerville, Mass., where she lives with her husband and son.

While Editor, Ruth wrote many of InterfaithFamily's Resource Guides, how-to articles and discussion packets.

Micah Sachs, Former Editor

Micah Sachs was the editor-in-chief and managing editor of the San Diego Jewish Journal, an award-winning monthly Jewish lifestyles magazine in San Diego. He helped found the magazine in 2001, and it has since grown into one of the largest Jewish publications on the West Coast. Prior to his work at the Journal, he was assistant editor of the Natick Bulletin & Tab and editor of the Westwood Press. In 2000, he received a New England Press Association award for his feature writing. He has also written for The Boston Globe and The MetroWest Daily News.

Sachs was a frequent contributor to the IFF Network Blog, and wrote "How to Market Community Day Schools to Interfaith Families" in the December 2006 issue of Ha-Yidion, the magazine of RAVSAK, the association of Jewish community day schools and "Latest Surveys Are Responsible for Good News, Not Bad," in the Jan. 19, 2007, issue of j, the Jewish news weekly of northern California. He has also co-authored, with Ed Case, "Enough is Enough," in an April 2006 issue of the New Jersey Jewish News, and "Don't Write Off the Intermarried," a Feb. 12, 2007, op-ed for JTA reprinted in numerous publications.

Sachs is a 1999 graduate of Georgetown University with a degree in English.

Ronnie Friedland, Founding Editor

Ronnie Friedland is the Founding Editor of InterfaithFamily, co-editor of The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook (Jewish Lights Publishing) and also two books on parenting: The Mothers' Book (Houghton Mifflin Company) and The Fathers' Book (Hall). In addition, she has written for the The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, Parenting Magazine, Boston Woman and other magazines. She has a B.A. from Barnard College and a Master's in English Literature from New York University. Ronnie was intermarried for nearly 20 years and has two grown children who were raised as Jews.