Board of Directors
Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker*,
Founder and Board President (she/her)
Cantor Spilker has served Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minnesota since 1997. She was ordained in 1996 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also received a Master’s Degree in Sacred Music. She is the founder of Maayanot Community Mikveh of Minnesota an active member of the Rising Tide Open Waters Network. She is co-author of two children's books -- Yonah and the MIkveh Fish and Miryam's Dance.
David Abrams (he/him)
David’s interest in Maayanot stems from a commitment to an inclusive practice of Judaism. A member of Maayanot’s Finance Committee, David brings an interest and skills in financial management, fundraising, and the ability and willingness to ask difficult questions. David is married to Cantor Emerita Audrey Abrams and an active member of Beth El Synagogue.
Kate Cavett (she/her)
Kate is a retired oral historian, substance abuse assessor, and executive director of a small non-profit. Her passion is stories: listening to individuals share life stories, enjoying theater, movies, books, and creating her own stories with her grandchildren. Kate has completed the Seven Steps Mikveh Guide Training from Mayyim Hayyim and she participates in Living Mussar in Minnesota.
Meira Curran (she/her)
Meira is a devoted wife, mother to 8, grandmother to 3, and nurse. Prior to nursing, she was a science teacher at the Bais Yaakov School in St. Louis Park. She has been an active member of the Jewish community since her conversion to Judaism in 1998, serving on the board of the JCRC and volunteering at Sholom Home West. In her free time, she likes to garden and travel.
Kate Dietrick (she/her)
Kate is a born-and-raised Minnesotan who converted to Judaism, inspired in part by her husband Nate, a Jewish New Yorker, and now serves as the archivist for the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives at the University of Minnesota. Kate brings a deep appreciation for Jewish life, history, and community to her work. Having lived with cancer for nearly six years, she is especially drawn to the power of ritual to mark life’s transitions and is eager to support a more inclusive and accessible mikveh experience.
Wendy Goldberg (she/her)
Wendy is a Jewish educator, musician, and spiritual Leader, teaching at Smith Jewish Academy and Augsburg University, working on racial justice with Rose McGee of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie and the Minnesota Center for Humanities.
Deborah Lipschultz Goldenberg (she/her)
Debbie grew up in St. Paul and later crossed the river to Minneapolis, where she is in her 31st year of teaching at Echo Park Elementary School in Burnsville. She is also an active B’nai Mitzvah tutor at Temple Israel. Debbie is an outdoor enthusiast and loves nothing more than spending time out on the lake. Debbie believes that a mikveh holds a deeply meaningful place in Jewish ritual and community life.
Adam Greenleaf (he/they)
Adam serves as a financial advisor helping people reach their life goals, including philanthropic goals. He served on Mount Zion’s Board of Directors as a Vice President, the MN Urban Debate League’s advisory board, and the Minneapolis Regional Chamber’s “Keystone” committee for philanthropy. He’s long enjoyed cooking, biking, and reading and has recently become a sauna/cold therapy enthusiast.
Morrie Hartman (he/him)
Morrie is a native of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and a retired corporate general counsel and realtor. He has served on the board of trustees of Shir Tikvah, and is a member of Shir Tikvah and Temple Israel. He is also on the board of Rimon, the Jewish arts initiative. In his free time, he is a volunteer reader reader for State Services for the Blind. He lives with his husband in Edina.
Robert Karasov*, Executive Committee at Large Member (he/him)
Bob has been a pediatrician and mohel in the Twin Cities since 1985. He retired from his day job in 2024 and continues to offer mohel services across the Jewish community. Bob is passionate about lifelong education, an avid runner, and active member of Darchei Noam Congregation.
Carrie Lifland*, Treasurer (she/her)
Carrie is a CPA with Schechter Dokken Cantor and serves on their audit team. She grew up in Minneapolis and currently davens at Adath Jeshurun and Darchei Noam. Carrie was introduced to mikveh for her daughter’s wedding immersion. She is a new grandma and loves road biking in her spare time.
Robert Mast (he/him)
Bob is Treasurer of the Minnesota JCC and Past President of Mount Zion Temple. Previously he served on the Board of Advisors of the Cincinnati Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Outside of the Jewish community, Bob loves to eat out, play golf, and spend time with his family.
Sara Lynn Newberger (she/her)
After a career in Jewish education, Sara Lynn is now retired but continues to teach, while also enjoying classes, volunteering at the Como Conservatory, gardening, and spending time outdoors. She and her partner, Barbie, are active at Beth Jacob Congregation and frequently travel to visit their granddaughters. Passionate about renewing and expanding access to Jewish ritual, she is particularly interested in helping make mikveh more inclusive through programming and education.
Jakob Quinn-Ealy (he/him)
Fro works at Hennepin Technical College in the Records Department. He brings skills in relationship building along with safety and security to the Maayanot Board. Fro davens at Bet Shalom, enjoys browsing comic book shops, and finding whimsical adventures for he and his daughter. For Fro, being Jewish is about putting positivity back into the world to help bring himself and others closer to Adonai. He is often found doing so by spreading joy, laughs, and smiles in every interaction, finding the silly in the serious, and the serious in the silly.
Liz Rappaport*, Secretary (she/her)
Currently serving as the Associate Director, Liz has been on staff at Beth El Synagogue since 2012. Her many hats as a Jewish professional include volunteer coordination, program direction, marketing, and most recently creating and managing Beth El’s vibrant CyberShul. In her spare time, Liz is an avid baker specializing in challah and rugelach.
Alan Yousha (he/him)
Alan is a committed leader and community builder whose career has focused on bringing people together to address meaningful challenges. He has served on the boards of Minneapolis Jewish Day School, Talmud Torah, and Beth El, where he was President from 2020 to 2022, and currently works as a Services Account Director at Microsoft while serving as Vice Chair of High Tech Kids. Alan, his wife Michelle, and their four children are deeply rooted in the community, and he is eager to support Maayanot’s mission of service, learning, and meaningful connection.
Honorary Board Members
Burt Garr (he/him)
Burt served in a leadership capacity in a number of community endeavors, including as CEO of the St. Paul JCC and President of the local United Way and Agency Executives. He also has been involved in numerous leadership roles with the St. Paul Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Center Association.
Heidi Schneider (she/her)
Heidi is the chair of the Center for Contemporary Mussar and a member of Adath Jeshurun Congregation and Tifereth Israel in Des Moines. Her essay about her first mikveh experience, titled "Immersion," is published in Choosing Judaism: 36 Stories. She is passionate about ensuring greater access to the rituals of mikveh that embrace all Jews and that invite people to mark their spiritual transitions through immersion.
Jim Stein (he/him)
Jim serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Jewfolk, Inc. He is Board Chair of Judaism Unbound, Board Chair of the Makom Community in Philadelphia, and serves on the Board of YourJewish in the Twin Cities. Additionally, he was a past president of the St. Paul Jewish Federation, the Executive Director of NECHAMA-Jewish Response to Disaster, and was privileged to be in the first cohort of the Harry Kay Leadership Institute.
Operations Manager
Naomi Zuk-Fisher
Administrative Assistant &
Lead Mikveh Attendant
Rebekah Jacob
“From celebration to solace,
for education and affirmation,
Maayanot will add a new,
beautiful, and holy dimension
to Jewish life in Minnesota."
-Anita Diamant, best-selling author and founding president of Mayyim Hayyim, the groundbreaking open mikveh in Newton, MA