Rabbi Adina Lewittes

Rabbi Adina Lewittes (Dini) is the founding rabbi of Sha’ar, a northern NJ/NYC-based, values-driven Jewish community oriented around the call to societal, environmental and spiritual sustainability. Sha’ar provides multiple gateways into Jewish life exemplified by a commitment to inclusiveness, diversity, innovation, scholarship, excellence and collaboration.

Dini recently served as the Scholar in Residence at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in NYC, a synagogue renowned for its commitment to social justice and spiritual activism. Dini is also a member of the senior rabbinic faculty of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and of the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School.

Previously, Dini served as the Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical School at JTS, and founded a synagogue in Englewood, New Jersey, modelling shared leadership and collective communal responsibility. Dini regularly enjoys speaking engagements in the US and Canada and publishing essays on topics including Jewish identity, leadership, Jewish innovation, sexual/gender diversity, multifaith/multiheritage marriage and engagement, and contemporary Jewish spirituality. She is married to Andi Lewittes, and has four children, two stepchildren, and one incredible dog.