Our Team
Kesher Pittsburgh was founded by Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife and has organically grown over the past eight years. In 2021, Kesher Pittsburgh shifted to a collaborative leadership circle which now includes David Goldstein, Lauren Goldstein, Ari Rapport and Tim Fife. In 2022 Kesher was awarded a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Centennial Fund which, together with the Hearth Tending Fund, allowed Kesher to expand to include our Program Manager, Brenna Rosen.
With Chaim Steinberg and Joe Brophy as lead educators, KesherKIDS is ready not only to gather in prayer and activism, but also to learn and grow together.
Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife
Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (she/they pronouns) sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as Founding Kohenet of Kesher Pittsburgh, Program Director for Beloved, inaugural Faculty Fellow with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and also enjoys working with the Jewish Learning Collaborative. Additionally, she delights in serving as a shlichat tzibbur, life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, teacher, facilitator, liturgist and songstress. Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer, bi-racial, Jewish person, her belief that Book, Body and Earth are equal sources of wisdom, the quandaries she has encountered as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School, and her deep commitment to a thriving, liberatory Jewish future. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS 2000 and MS 2001 at Carnegie Mellon University. After many years of traveling and living in Australia, in 2018, she and her beloved returned home to Osage and Haudenosaunee land, also called Pittsburgh, PA. www.keshirahalev.com
Brenna Rosen
Brenna Rosen (she/her) is originally from Beachwood, Ohio, but has found a home in the Pittsburgh Jewish community. She graduated from University of Pittsburgh after studying Applied Developmental Psychology and Religious Studies, where she learned that she is a true “people person.” Brenna has spent time serving with Repair the World Brooklyn and Repair the World Pittsburgh, as well as most recently working with the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh. You may run into her volunteering at community gardens around the city, wandering around new neighborhoods, and/or trying every bagel place and ice cream shop in a 100 mile radius. Brenna has a passion for education and advocacy and would love to get to know you over a cup of coffee. Reach out at brenna@kesherpittsburgh.org!
David P. Goldstein
David P. Goldstein has been the leader of the Tikkun Chant Circle since 2008 and a recording artist with 5 albums of Hebrew Chant music, and music for the recovery community. He is a composer of sacred choral music and Hebrew chant and a 3 time winner of the Shalshelet International Festival of New Jewish Music. He is an activist and spiritual explorer who lives in western PA with his beloved husband, Jeffry.
Chaim Steinberg
Chaim Steinberg has been teaching for almost 15 years. He has a background in formal and informal Jewish Education, teacher leadership, and camping. His educational philosophy centers on the twin ideas that there are multiple, equally valid approaches to being Jewish and that student voices should be heard and nurtured in learning spaces. While not originally from Pittsburgh, it is his home by choice where he's raising two sons. He likes to read comic books, watch professional wrestling, roller skate, and bake.
Tim Fife
Tim Fife serves as Kesher Pittsburgh's Lead Schlepper. He's been a member of the community since its founding many years ago, and can be found setting up the tech, contributing to the music of services on the cajon (box drum), and occasionally providing background vocals and high holiday drashot. He also assists with strategic direction work for the community. Outside of the Kesher Community (and periodically within it), Tim does work as an innovation and strategy consultant, as well as an educator in Human-centered Design. Tim lives with his beloved, Keshira haLev, in Regent Square.
Lauren Goldstein
Lauren Goldstein (she/her) is a founding member of Kesher Pittsburgh, a member of the Leadership Team, bandmate, and KesherKIDS Education Coordinator. A Pittsburgh native, Lauren is thrilled to bring her experience as an active volunteer to the Kesher Community. With two of her own Kesher kids, Lauren is intimately familiar with the challenges and opportunities of raising a progressive Jewish family in Pittsburgh, and is honored to be at the helm of our KesherKIDS team. Lauren has a B.S in Psychology from American University, and has previously run her own business as a Holistic Wellness Coach. Lauren gets jazzed about outdoor live music, football season, and any opportunity to buy camping equipment. She lives in Highland Park, raising her two children, Maya and Jesse.
Joe Brophy
Joe Brophy is excited to be joining the Kesher Kids education team! He grew up in Oregon and has lived for varying lengths of time in Illinois, Ohio, Germany, Jerusalem, and Washington DC. He moved to Pittsburgh with his wife Rachel, and baby daughter Leora, in August 2022 in order to begin teaching Middle School Jewish Studies at Community Day School. He has been teaching Hebrew in one form or another since around 2007, when he was employed by the Oberlin College Jewish Studies department to offer supplementary Hebrew lessons to Hebrew 101 & 102 students. He has taught Hebrew and Judaics in massive Conservative and tiny Reform synagogues, as well as for many private students over the years. Feel free to ask him questions about grammar and/or Jewish History, two of his favorite topics to bore others with. He believes that learning Hebrew helps directly connect Jewish students to their ancestors and their tradition, challenges the mind and promotes intellectual growth, and helps us build a vibrant and diverse future for Jews everywhere.