Rabbi Benay Lappe

Executive Director and Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Lappe was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 1997 and was the first openly lesbian Conservative rabbi. She is an award-winning teacher and is nationally known for her unique approach to the Talmud, which she has taught at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, and The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where she is a Visiting Professor of Talmud. Rabbi Lappe is an Associate at CLAL—The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a cutting-edge Jewish think tank in New York City, and is the Resident Rabbinic Scholar at Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living in Highland Park, IL. Benay's greatest joy is learning Talmud with other queer folk, and shabbos and Talmud study are her primary ways of doing Jewish.

Ari Lev Fornari, aka 'Afo'

Program Director Ari Lev was raised in an observant reform household in the suburbs of New York City, engaging with Judaism as a vehicle for social change and community building. Ari Lev graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Women's Studies and Comparative Religion. Ari honors his Jewish ancestors in his commitment to justice and radical thinking. Ari is an anti-war activist who supports peace and justice in the Middle East. Currently, Ari supports a woman with cerebral palsy who lives independently in Berkeley, CA. Ari Lev holds queerness and Judaism as spiritual truths in constant conversation with one another and brings those visions to SVARA. A constant traveler and student, if not for shabbos, Afo would be tired all the time.