About Us

Hazzan Basya Schechter was ordained January 2016 by ALEPH Cantorial School, and has been the recipient of numerous compositional and project grants from NY State Council of the Arts and the American Music Center.  She is also known for her group Pharaoh’s Daughter, a seven-piece neohasidic world music ensemble that travels effortlessly through continents, key signatures, and languages with a genre-bending sound.

In addition to his spiritual leadership of the Romemu Brooklyn community, Rabbi Ben Perlstein is a staff chaplain in the spiritual care department of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and is board-certified through Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. He received rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also completed an M.A. in Jewish Thought, focused on mysticism and ethics. During rabbinical school he was an active member of Romemu in Manhattan, serving as a Joseph S. Ingber Rabbinic Fellow and learning in the inaugural full-time summer cohort of Romemu Yeshiva. He graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a B.A. in Political Science and has worked in a range of international contexts, especially involving Jewish history and the Holocaust through the global Jewish education organization Kivunim and FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics). Rabbi Ben teaches regularly on creative applications of spiritual wisdom and practice to issues of public concern and pastoral need, and writes fiction.

Growing up between Atlanta, GA, and a kibbutz in northern Israel, Sela was always drawn to music, spiritualism, and event production. He started playing the piano at the age of 6, and participated in cross religion workshops and projects through Israel, India, and the United States. While at the kibbutz, Sela worked as a Cultural Manager, producing events, holidays and musical gatherings for all ages. 

During his Bachelor’s degree at Tel Aviv University Sela continued to produce musical theater shows and live musical poetry events, and during his Master’s at NYU he produced live music concerts, recording sessions and had his music recorded with a full orchestra.

After graduation, Sela founded his own music label, where he produced countless songs, music scores, and live music performances. 

Sela currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two kids.

Stav Meishar is a stage artist and Jewish educator born and raised in Israel. Stav specializes in weaving her artistic skills into her teachings, creating meaningful experiences for children incorporating drama, music, circus, dance, yoga and more. She’s worked at synagogues, schools and private homes all over the Tri-State area, with children of all ages and denominations, for over 15 years. For her unique approach to Jewish education, Stav won the Jewish Education Project’s Young Pioneers Award (2014) and was selected for The Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36 (2017).

Deborah Bernstein first experienced Romemu while living in Manhattan. The music, davening, and spirituality became a very important part of her life. Upon moving to Brooklyn, she searched for a like-minded spiritual community and has been involved with Romemu Brooklyn since its inception in 2017. She considers it an honor to serve on the leadership committee for both the Romemu Brooklyn and Romemu Manhattan with other dedicated and thoughtful members.

In her work life, Deborah is a semi-retired general internist most recently working as an in-house physician at residences for the unhoused. Prior to that, she worked in medical education for physicians and in Internal Medicine private practice for over twenty years. She is on the board of the Bellevue Association at NYU, issuing grants to medical departments for social services and recognition for medical student research. She also teaches health literacy at Literacy Partners in NYC, an organization which teaches non-English speakers to understand and speak English.

She is married to a retired physician, and has two grown sons and three grandchildren. She resides in Brooklyn and in the Catskill mountains, and enjoys biking, hiking, and music. 

Marcella Kanfer Rolnick is passionate about nurturing vibrant Jewish community in Brooklyn through Romemu Brooklyn (which she co-founded in 2017); The Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life (which she co-founded in 2022), The Senesh School, and UJA Brooklyn. She believes in the power of a galvanizing vision, sense of possibility, collaboration, and strengths-based approaches to getting good work done.​ Marcella’s eldest was the first Romemu Brooklyn bar mitzvah; that Shabbat, and the Romemu Brooklyn bnei mitzvah of her other two sons have been three of the best days of her life. (She is so excited for her daughter’s Romemu Brooklyn bat mitzvah in 2028!) Marcella and her husband Josh are grateful to the Romemu Brooklyn community for adding uplifting spirituality and transformative belonging to their family’s lives.

Professionally, as the third generation of family leadership, Marcella creates meaning and value every day through her Purpose-driven family enterprise. She serves as Executive Chair of GOJO, makers of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer, and Executive Chair of Walnut Ridge Family Office. She is a board member of both Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah and Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation.

Rick Kiley, with his wife Meital Waibsnaider, and children Asher and Lyla, has been actively in the Romemu community for several years. Both Asher and Lyla completed their B Mitzvah with Romemu in 2022 and 2023. Prior to joining the Kehilah committee of Romemu Brooklyn, for nine years Rick served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Luria Academy of Brooklyn, where his children attended elementary and middle school.

In his professional life, Rick is a 24-year experiential marketing veteran who co-founded Soho Experiential, a 20-year-old award-winning marketing agency based in New York. Rick has conceived and implemented groundbreaking experiential campaigns for clients such as Campari America, Rémy Cointreau, The Macallan Scotch Whisky, Citibank, Google Play, Proximo Spirits, Miller Coors, Godiva, NBC Universal, Barilla, and many more.

Outside of his work and time with Romemu, Rick serves on the advisory board of the tech-driven hospitality company VEMOS and sings with the Brooklyn Harmonics at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.

Dina Lipkind discovered Romemu Brooklyn over six years ago, drawn to its beautiful and musical Kabbalat Shabbat services. She joined the Romemu Brooklyn Kehilah Committee soon after, driven by her passion for growing community.

Professionally, Dina is the Director of Nutrition Services for Yeled v’Yalda Early Childhood Center where she works with low -income children and their families. Dina is a founding parent of Luria Academy and dedicated to creating progressive Jewish learning environments. Dina has served as a board member in many roles including founding board member of Luria Academy, chair for NYCNEN, and the Haredi Health Coalition for NYCDOH.Dina resides in Prospect Heights with her husband, Marc, and they have 4 grown children between them. Dina is an avid urban gardener, and loves to spend time in nearby Prospect Park with her friends and family.

Andrew and his family are on a spiritual journey and thrilled to have been part of Romemu Brooklyn since its inception. This journey has also included many years as a parent and board member at Hannah Senesh Community Day School.  

Andy brings extensive experience in nonprofit management, urban resilience, and public service to his work on behalf of Romemu Brooklyn. He’s a Founding Principal at Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) and previously a key leader at 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), supporting cities globally. His 16 years in New York City government included high-level roles at the Department of Finance, the Department of Transportation, and the Taxi & Limousine Commission.