Efrat Zarren-Zohar,
Miami, Florida

Born and raised in Belmont, Massachusetts Married-Dr. Zion Zohar, FIU Professor of Sephardic Studies; 1 child-Matan (born 1995) Presently serving as the Director of Adult Jewish Learning for CAJE of Miami, Director of The Florence Melton Adult M

About Efrat Zarren-Zohar

Born and raised in Belmont, Massachusetts
Married-Dr. Zion Zohar, FIU Professor of Sephardic Studies; 1 child-Matan (born 1995)

Presently serving as the Director of Adult Jewish Learning for CAJE of Miami, Director of The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School of Miami, and Educational Coordinator of the Jewish Agency’s MAKOM-NACIE (North American Coalition for Israel Education) Initiative in Miami

< Graduated with Honors in Political Science, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1985

< Worked for 1 year as the Program Director, The University of Michigan Hillel, 1985-1986

< Ordained as a Reform Rabbi in 1992 at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York Campus

< Served as the Assistant Rabbi of Temple Solel, Hollywood, Florida, 1992-1993

< At the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) since August 1993, previous assignments have included: South Dade Director of CAJE, Stepping Stones to a Jewish Me Director, Director of Midrasha: A Program of Teacher Development Courses and Advanced Adult Education, Director of A Taste of Judaism: Are You Curious?, Director of Opening Doors: A Workshop for Interfaith Couples, Creator and Director of A Taste of Judaism for Families, Director of the Department for Congregational Religious Schooling.

< 1996-2003 served as the non-congregational representative of the CCAR (Reform Rabbi’s network) on the UAHC National Commission on Outreach (of the Reform Movement)

< Elected in 2004 to serve on the board of the Association for Adult Jewish Learning.

< Conducted numerous workshops for early childhood, religious school and day school educators at local, regional, and national conferences (CAJE, for example) on a wide variety of topics

Previous Speaking Engagements:

Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar has served nationally as a scholar-in-residence at Congregation Beth El of Berkeley, California and locally for Beth Torah Adath Yeshurun in North Miami Beach (Rabbi Ed Farber), Temple Judea in Coral Gables (Rabbi Edwin Goldberg), Beth David Congregation in Miami, Congregation Bet Breira in Kendall (Rabbi Jaime Aklepi) as well as for the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center in Aventura. She has spoken at the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center about Jewish Family Education with Rabbi Harold Kushner, at “Miriam’s Well: A Conference for Women” on “Miriam: From a Woman’s Perspective”, as well as at the Southeast Regional UJA Young Leadership Conference on “New Trends in Jewish Family Life.” Over the years, she has lectured and taught widely throughout the South Florida region, appearing on local television shows as well as in numerous articles published in local newspapers and magazines. Her chapter “From Passover to Shavuot” appears in the book Passover and Easter: The Symbolic Structuring of Sacred Seasons, edited by Paul F. Bradshaw and Lawrence A. Hoffman, (University of Notre Dame Press, 1999) vol. 6.