Meet Our Staff
Rabbi Diane Tiferet Lakein
Email: rabbidiane@neveikodesh.org
Rabbi Diane Tiferet Lakein (she/hers) is an ordained rabbi through ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She received a Masters of Jewish Education from Hebrew College, and completed ALEPH's Davennen' Leadership Training Institute.
Before joining Congregation Nevei Kodesh in 2020, she served as rabbi for two progressive communities in Europe: Chawurah Gescher in Freiburg (Germany), and Migwan in Basel (Switzerland).
Rabbi Diane holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies and International Politics from Princeton University, and an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Born in San Francisco, she spent time in Stockholm, Sweden as a child and in Beijing, China as an undergraduate. In addition to her part-time position at Nevei Kodesh, she also works as a freelance rabbi in Europe and the United States with an emphasis on education, pastoral care and spiritual direction.
Rabbi Diane is a currently the President of Haver, the Rabbinic Council of Boulder, Colorado and a member of the Rocky Mountain Rabbis and Cantors (RMRC), based in Denver. She is also a member of OHALAH, the Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal, and the General Rabbinical Council of Germany – Allgemeine Rabbiner Konferenz (ARK).
Rabbi Diane's Website: www.rabbiwithin.org
Hazzan Shayndel Adler
Part-Time Director of Family Life
Email: school@neveikodesh.org
Hazzan Shayndel Adler (she/hers) is an ordained cantor through ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal; is an ordained Kohenet through the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute and also completed ALEPH's Kol Zimra Chant Leader Training and the Davennen' Leadership Training Institute.
She has served as a cantor for approximately eleven years in Reform, Renewal, and Conservative congregations, and has been an educator and an administrator in Jewish and secular settings in California for over twenty-six years.
Hazzan Shayndel holds a BA in Liberal Studies/Elementary Education, and a Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential from Humboldt State University. She is also a trained Waldorf Educator, a teacher of the School of Uncovering the Voice, and is a certified holistic health practitioner with an emphasis on spiritual healing and sound meditation.
She joined Nevei Kodesh in 2021 and has supported the religious school's ongoing growth and development in a safe and welcoming environment that encourages connection, joy, curiosity, creativity, and deep and meaningful learning.
In addition to her part-time work at Nevei Kodesh, Hazzan Shayndel also gives singing lessons and sound healings, and is an education consultant/supervising teacher for a homeschooling charter school.
Hazzan Shayndel's Website: https://www.shayndeladler.com/
Rabbi Tirzah Firestone
- Rabbi Emerita
Contact: www.tirzahfirestone.com/contact
Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Ph.D., our founding rabbi, is now Rabbi Emerita. Reb Tirzah is a renowned teacher, author and Jungian therapist. She speaks and teaches locally and nationally on the topics of spirituality, ancient mystical wisdom for the modern soul, the re‐integration of feminine wisdom into the Jewish tradition, and ancestral healing. Ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 1992, she is a leader in the international Jewish Renewal movement.
Her publications include "With Roots in Heaven", "The Receiving: Reclaiming Jewish Women’s Wisdom", and "Wounds Into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Trauma".
Rabbi Tirzah leads services from time to time, and offers workshops on the modern applications of ancient wisdom, and how to transform old patterns into new blessings for the world.
Rabbi Tirzah's Website: www.TirzahFirestone.com
Ba'alat Tefilah Michelle Wolf
- Service Leadership
Ba’alat Tefilah (Master of Prayer) Michelle Wolf is a lifelong vocalist with experience in a range of genres: classical, jazz, a cappella, and sacred liturgy. She is most on-purpose when leading Jewish prayer and chant, using her voice and presence to open hearts and help others connect to Source.
Michelle served as cantor for Nevei Kodesh under our founding spiritual leader, Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, during 11 cycles through the calendar. For her mastery as Jewish liturgist, Michelle was honored with a Certificate of Empowerment by Rabbi Firestone and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z’’l) and granted the titles Ba’alat Tefilah and Shlichat Tzibbur (2011).
Michelle coaches youth in B’nai Mitzvah education and regularly leads services for Shabbat, High Holidays, and other holidays and rituals throughout the Jewish year. CD releases include PrayerSongs with Bat Kol (sacred Jewish music), and Love Café with IRIS (women’s a cappella).
Educated at Stanford University (BA, History), Columbia University’s Teachers College, Middlebury College (MA, French), and ALEPH’s Davvenen’ Leadership Training Institute. Ongoing studies include: parenting two young adult sons, deepening relationship with a committed life partner, and the blessings of family, friends, and community.
Ba’alat Tefilah Michelle's Website: MichelleWolfLife.com
Jaclyn Best
- Synagogue Administrator
Email: admin3636@neveikodesh.org
Jaclyn Best (she/her) was born into Nevei Kodesh before we were even an official renewal community. She has seen Nevei Kodesh grow and evolve over three decades and is proud to return as a staff member. She is blessed to have grown up in a Renewal setting, as she feels most connected to Judaism through musical prayer and the progressive, inclusive, equitable community feel that Jewish Renewal and Nevei Kodesh embody so well.
Jaclyn recently returned to Boulder in order to reconnect with these values and practices, and is elated to be serving her community as Synagogue Administrator.
Jaclyn has spent most of her adult years working in the field of water resources cooperation and conflict, both in an academic setting and as a practitioner. She has worked in and studied water governance and management in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Oregon, and North Carolina. Her passion for understanding and working with "the people side of water" is deeply rooted in the Jewish values of Tikkun Olam.
Mariana Grosz
- Administrative Assistance
Email: office@neveikodesh.org
Mariana Grosz has been involved with Jewish communities since childhood.
Originally from Argentina, she co-founded the Jewish Community of Bariloche, a small ski town in Patagonia which at the time had only 30 Jewish families.
In 2002, she immigrated to the U.S. with her husband and two teenage children, first in Puerto Rico where she served at Temple Beth Shalom as the sole staff person. Later, she was hired by Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades, California, where she held several different positions - Religious School Assistant, Communications Associate, and Assistant to the Rabbis.
Mariana’s background education is in Fine Arts, and she enjoys teaching and working in her own studio. She also is passionate about music, singing in different choirs, big and small. She lives in Boulder with her husband, Noe, and feels blessed to have both her children and their families close by.
Mariana's Art Website: www.forthefunofart.com/