Faculty
Cantor Hinda Eisen Labovitz: Director
Cantor Hinda Tz. Eisen Labovitz achieved ordination and a masters degree in Judaic studies at Hebrew College in Newton, MA in June of 2014. She is the two-time recipient of the Al Goldberg Scholarship in Jewish Music, and upon graduation, she also received the Israel Pollack Award for Excellence in Judaic Studies from Hebrew College. She is also the 2013-2014 recipient of the Gideon Klein Scholarship from Northeastern University, for which she dedicated a year of independent study of the cabaret at the Westerbork concentration camp in the Netherlands. Cantor Labovitz served as part-time ba’alat t'filah and tutor at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA, and as the assistant to the conductor for the Zamir Chorale of Boston, where she also served as Mary Wolfman Epstein Conducting Fellow (studying conducting under maestro Dr. Joshua Jacobson) and sang alto for eight years. She also served as Vocal Coach for the 8th grade play, Aladdin, at Solomon Schechter in Boston in 2014. Following her graduation from Boston University with a B.A. in Religion and a concentration in Special Education, Cantor Labovitz served as the Ritual Director at Temple Emanu-El in Providence, RI for three years and as Youth and Community Educator at Temple Aliyah in Needham, MA for one. She attended and worked at Ramah camps in the Berkshires, Wisconsin, and New England.
Rachel Lang: Director of Teen and Community Engagement
Rachel Lang is The Director of Teen and Community Engagement at Ohr Kodesh. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated with honors from Towson University with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. After graduating from college, Rachel worked for an educational non-profit in Baltimore City before moving to California. While in California, she entered into the world of Jewish Education when she went to work at Congregation Kol Shofar, in Tiburon, as a Hebrew school teacher, youth group adviser, and eventually the administrative assistant for the education department. Rachel became a member of the OKC staff, as the Director of Youth and Family Programming, in the summer of 2016. She currently lives in Rockville with her family.
Instructors
Jacklyn Krisch, Teen Beit Midrash
Jacklyn Krisch is a teacher for Teen Beit Midrash, and has been teaching Hebrew school students for the past 15 years. She is originally from New Jersey and came to the DC area to attend American University and set down roots afterwards. Jacklyn has been teaching about Hot topics through Jewish values, Tanach, Biblical characters in Torah, and more to the teens in Teen Beit Midrash for the past 7 years. She lives in Rockville with her husband Jon and their 3 children.
Howard Gumnitzky, Tzohar
Howard Gumnitzky is thrilled to join the Tzohar faculty. He grew up in Baltimore and moved to Montgomery County, MD four years ago. Before that, he lived many years in Israel, where he was a Legacy Heritage Fellow and practiced hi-tech law at a Tel Aviv firm. Howard is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and is a member of the Maryland and Israel Bars. He enjoys Jewish text learning and has taught at various religious school programs in the DMV and Baltimore. In his free time, he loves to explore nature, follow Baltimore sports, and (trying!) to maintain a vegan diet.
