New Board Members

JCADA Welcomes our new board members

Deborah Feinstein   Jo Benson Fogel   Bobbi Gorban   Rabbi Michael Safra

Deborah Feinstein - Debbie Feinstein joined the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office as an Assistant State's Attorney in April of 2000.  She is currently a member of the Family Violence Division, where she specializes in the prosecution of felony domestic violence, physical child abuse, and sexual child abuse. Ms. Feinstein has attended several national trainings focusing on domestic and sexual violence. 

Ms. Feinstein graduated cum laude from Cornell University in 1992, and she received her law degree with honors in 1997 from The George Washington University Law School. Ms. Feinstein served as a Law Clerk for The Honorable Glenn T. Harrell, Jr., from 1997 to 1998.  Prior to attending law school, Ms. Feinstein worked as a field organizer for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.  Ms. Feinstein lives with her family in Bethesda, Maryland

Bobbi Premack Gorban - Bobbi Gorban is a native Washingtonian. She has lived all around the Beltway as well as in Washington, DC. Professionally she has been a teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools, at Gesher Jewish Day School and the Melvin Berman Hebrew Academy. 

Ms. Gorban has been involved with the Jewish community in Northern Virginia and Maryland professionally working at several religious schools and for the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning. She has been both a member and an officer in Hadassah, the Sisterhood of her synagogue, Tikvat Israel, in Rockville, Maryland and the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework.

As an artist and art educator she has worked with children and adults in various settings. Ms. Gorban is a member of the Judaic Art Guild -- Art Sites. She has shown her fiber art and jewelry in various galleries and shows. She lives in Potomac, MD with her husband Larry. They have three children.  

Rabbi Michael Safra - Rabbi Safra joined B'nai Israel after his ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2002. While in rabbinical school, Rabbi Safra served as rabbinic intern at Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell, NJ. He received his BA in history and Judaic studies from the University of Michigan, and holds a Master’s Degree in Bible from the Graduate School at JTS.

At B'nai Israel, Rabbi Safra is primarily interested in strengthening congregational life through education at all levels. He continues to work to broaden the variety of learning opportunities available to all members of the community, and to engage people in various aspects of this dynamic community. Committed to the Jewish community as a whole, Rabbi Safra is a member of the National Rabbinic Cabinet of Israel Bonds, the Rabbinic Advisory Council of Interfaithfamily.com, and he serves as Secretary of the Baltimore Washington Region of the Rabbinical Assembly.

Rabbi Safra is particularly excited to join the board of JCADA, the one local organization the confronts the often-hidden challenges of domestic abuse in the Jewish community, as he believes healthy inter-personal relationships are for building and maintain a vibrant community.

Rabbi Safra is married to Sharon Rosenberg Safra, who serves as the Family Education Director at B'nai Israel. They are the proud parents of Rebecca, Ethan, and Gila.