Hillel Staff

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• Rabbi Yoni Kaiser-Blueth

  Executive Director
  yoni@gwhillel.org
  917-887-1546

  
  Rabbi Yoni is passionate about growing dynamic and empowered learning communities on campus with students and is also eager to activate an alumni and parents network. Yoni is now in his second year as the Executive Director of GW Hillel having spent 3 years at UF Hillel where he rooted enthusiastically for the Gators and prior to that NYU.  This past August, Yoni celebrated his 10th anniversary with his wife Mandy, having met in Israel on NATIV 16 years ago, and together they have 2 adorable kids – Zoe is 5 and Shai is 3. Yoni did his rabbinical training at the Jewish Theological Seminary and also received an MAED. While not working or spending time with his family, Yoni can be found whistling to himself (anyone interested in forming a Whistling Troupe?), playing racquetball or scuba diving.

• Adena Kirstein

  Assistant Director
  adena@gwhillel.org
  202 994-5462
  
  Adena is thrilled to be back on campus, having done similar Jewish communal work at NYU. As Assistant Director, she hopes to meet students where they are in their Jewish journeys and support them along the way. Prior to her career in the Hillel world, she also worked at a non-profit organization focused on poverty in New York City. Adena is a coffee connoisseur always on the lookout for a great coffee shop, a regular at the public library, and watches too much trashy TV. Adena and her husband Josh continue to enjoy exploring their home of Washington, DC, having re-located from New York City two years ago.

• Sarah Morse

  Director of Operations

  szmorse@gwhillel.org

  202 994-5459 

  

  
  

  Sarah Morse, Director of Operations, traveled all over the United States before finally calling GW Hillel “home”. She received her undergraduate degree in Organizational Behavior from Northwestern University and quickly headed off to assist the masses in HR at an advertising company. Not finding satisfaction in the ad industry and yearning for more, Sarah headed to the University of North Carolina where she received her MBA. Attempting to bring bubbly-goodness to the world, Sarah worked for Pepsi in New York after graduation. Her husband’s job relocation and an interest in the non-profit world brought Sarah to GW Hillel, where she makes sure the nuts & bolts of our organization stay tightly fastened.

• Noam Aricha

  Israel Fellow

  noam@gwhillel.org 

  202-375-9253 

  
  

  Noam is now in his second year at GW Hillel as the Israel Fellow.  Noam focuses on Israel education and advocacy programming on campus and will serve as Israel's unofficial representative to the students on campus and the entire university community.  Prior to arriving in Washington, Noam served in the Israeli Army, traveled the world (ask him about his adventures in Tokyo and beyond), and graduated from Ben Gurion University. His door is always open, ready to talk about Israel or about life in general.

  
  

• Robert Fishman

  Director, Capital Campaign

  rfishman@gwhillel.org

  240-354-8626

  
  

  Rob received his PhD in anthropology from SUNY Buffalo in 1983. For 8 years he served as administrative coordinator and assistant professor of anthropology at Georgia State University. His Jewish journey began when he joined the campaign team at the South Palm Beach County Jewish Federation serving as the Director of New Leadership and later Campaign Director. During that time, Rob was also an adjunct associate professor of anthropology at Florida Atlantic University also led a number of missions to Poland and Israel. After six years, Rob accepted a position as Executive Director of Israel Bonds for the Washington region where he secured over a quarter billion dollars in loans for the State of Israel in 13 years. As executive director of Hillel, Rob has come full circle combining his love of the university, students and teaching as well as working on behalf of the Jewish people. Rob is married to Jackie for 35 years, and is the father of Hebra, a special education teacher in Fairfax County, and Josh, a 2009 graduate Penn State University and member of the Teach For America Corp.