“We welcome everyone, regardless of their faith, ethnicity, sexuality, age, or political beliefs. We have people who grew up with many different Jewish backgrounds, including secular, liberal and Orthodox, as well as people who are not Jewish but have found a home here with friends and family.” – Rabbi Caryn Broitman
Rabbi Caryn Broitman began her tenure as Rabbi of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center (MVHC) in 2003. Her goal is always to create a welcoming community of Jewish learning, spiritual growth, community connection, and local and global social action.
Rabbi Broitman graduated from Harvard University in the Comparative Study of Religion, and received her Rabbinical Ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She has been a Senior Educators Fellow at the Melton Center of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University.
Rabbi Broitman is an active member of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. She is also a member of the Island Clergy Association of Martha’s Vineyard.
Rabbi Broitman loves to spend time with her family, read literature and poetry, cook and eat Middle Eastern Food, and walk, bike, and swim around Martha’s Vineyard. She regularly contributes to Moment Magazine, the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette, and the MV Times.
Rabbi Broitman’s first book, The Torah Is An Open Book: Radical Readings for the Seeker and the Skeptic, will be published by Broadleaf Books in August 2026. For more information and to pre-order, visit bookshop.org, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Director of Operations
Originally from upstate New York and having recently moved full-time to the Vineyard in January, Diane Conroy-LaCivita is a dedicated community advocate committed to supporting individuals and families. Through her previous work in public service and community engagement, she has championed equitable access to resources and strengthened connections among diverse populations. Diane values collaboration and partners to address community needs, foster inclusion, and promote meaningful change. She holds a Master’s in Public History/Curatorial Studies from UAlbany and a Master’s in Education from Russell Sage College.
Fundraising and Development, Events and Holiday Planning
Sally Cohn has been a member of the MVHC since 1997. She is a former Vice President and President of the MVHC, and has been teaching in the Hebrew School for many years.
Sally has a master’s degree in Nursing, is a dancer, choreographer, and dance photographer. She was staff photographer at the Vineyard Playhouse, the Yard, and has been photographing at the center since 2005. Sally has been doing production work, event planning, fundraising, and development for various organizations for over 35 years.
Summer Institute Program Administrator
Donna first came to the Vineyard with a cousin on a sailboat more than 40 years ago and has been returning ever since from her home in North Carolina. She had a long career in sales before jumping at the opportunity to work with the Summer Institute. As the daughter of the late Herbert L. Foster, a past president of the Hebrew Center, she finds her work with the Summer Institute a satisfying and meaningful connection to her parents. On the Vineyard she is also active with the Friends of the Edgartown Public Library, whose Herb & Anita Staff Education Fund honors her educator parents. Donna enjoys exploring the Island’s many trails, working on photography, and on her memoir-based writing projects.
Student Rabbi
We are overjoyed to be welcoming our new rabbinic student, Becca Heisler! Becca (she/her) is a rabbinical student, ritualist, educator, folk herbalist, and wilderness guide. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a B.S. in Mathematics from Tufts University, and anticipates Rabbinic Ordination from Hebrew College in 2027. Becca is an alum of Urban Adamah, the JOFEE Fellowship, and the center for Jewish Nonviolence.
Becca shared, “I am so excited to get to know such a special and beautiful community, to be mentored by Rabbi Broitman, to sing and pray together, to learn with folks of all ages, and hopefully to get to spend some time outside together with the changing seasons.”
Becca is originally from the homelands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi nations (the Chicago area). Before starting at Hebrew College, she spent 6 years in Lisjan Ohlone territory (Berkeley/Oakland, CA).
In the Bay area, she facilitated Jewish outdoor education programs and guided earth-based rites of passage for youth and adults of all ages with Wilderness Torah, Urban Adamah, Eden Village West, and more. In Boston, she co-founded the Shul Lunch Coop at Hebrew College, taught Jewish farm education to youth pre-k-5 at Ramah Boston, been a mikveh guide and educator at Mayyim Hayyim, and led davening at Hebrew College, Kavod Boston, and Base.
Her work has long centered around nature connection, outdoor education, and building joyful, connected, and transformative Jewish communities. She is also committed to storytelling and song.
She will be co-leading Shabbat services, working with our Hebrew School, and touching our community in countless other ways. We can’t wait for you to meet her. To learn a little about her rabbinical style, read this Purim teaching she wrote for Wilderness Torah.
Hebrew School Director
Anita Smith was thrilled to join MVHC as its Education Director in 2022. She is a passionate leader and teacher, who is always eager to share her own love of Jewish learning and exploring with young people. She has thoughtfully created an engaging curriculum that illuminates Jewish ideas, values, and traditions to inspire a recognition of the beauty of a Jewish life and nurture a desire to continue its meaningful journey. Anita is dedicated to making each student and family feel welcome, supported, and special!
A Boston native, Anita graduated Harvard with a BA in Art History, but more importantly, has completed the Boston Marathon 7 times. She started a career in advertising, took time away for her three children, and returned to work as an elementary school co-teacher. She currently works as an assistant in special education administration. She has been an active member of MVHC for over 20 years and has served as Program Chair and was a member of its Board of Trustees.
In her free time, Anita loves to cook, bake, eat ice cream and also be active! Her favorites are running, walking (with or without her three dogs), working on house and yard(with her three dogs), sewing, knitting and reading three books at once: something Jewish, a middle reader title, and an historical non fiction. She feels very blessed to be a part of the warm and fuzzy MVHC community.
President
Sharon Kleinberg
1st Vice President
Ricky Diamond
2nd Vice President
Gary Rome
Treasurer
Ted Gavin
Recording & Corresponding Secretary
Stacy Goldfarb
Nili Goldstein Morgan
Elliot Kronstein
Giulia Fleishman
Alex Salop
Mary (Beebee) Horowitz
Marina Kaufman
Aric Press
Building and Grounds
Beebee Horowitz
Camp Fund
Anita Smith
Caring
Nancy Salon
Cemetery
Ron Tolin
Education
Nili Morgan
Jess Seeman
Finance
Ted Gavin
Fine Arts
Lisa Epstein
Membership
Carole Early
Minhag (Ritual)
Howie Bromberg
Music
Sharon Kleinberg
Personnel
Laura Marshard
Barry Resnick
Gary Rome
Security
Elliot Kronstein
Social Action
Stacy Goldfarb
Summer Institute
Marc Levine
James Dale
Tzedakah
Rabbi Caryn Broitman
Max Jasny