Looking for an opportunity to nurture your relationship with your neshama, your soul, or inner self?
Below, you’ll find a directory of skilled, certified spiritual directors who have completed the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Kol Dodi: Jewish Spiritual Director Training Program and are available to provide spiritual direction to individuals. Please contact anyone on the list to schedule a free 30-minute introductory session to see if spiritual direction is for you.
What are spiritual directors?
Spiritual direction is a contemplative practice that invites you to grow in your awareness of the sacred dimension present in every aspect of your life.The practice of spiritual direction assumes that we all have a spiritual dimension and a need for meaning-making, whether or not we believe in God.
Spiritual directors act as companions, holding space for a seeker to connect with their spiritual longing, discover and explore their inner wisdom, and strengthen their attunement to the sacred. Spiritual directors are not therapists, but trained guides who meet monthly with seekers to support their journey toward spiritual growth and wholeness.
Spiritual directors offer seekers opportunities to:
- Live a richer, more authentic life aligned with their deepest values
- Develop spiritual tools to face life’s inevitable challenges
- Connect to life’s mystery and explore deep interconnection
- Deepen one’s unique experience of faith
- Cultivate loving kindness and resilience
What is Kol Dodi?
Kol Dodi is a spiritual director training program run by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Kol Dodi means “voice of my beloved,” because a spiritual director can help you learn to hear, more clearly, the sacred voice within you.
If you are interested in finding out more about the training program, please contact Rabbi Elisa Goldberg, Program Director at elisa@jewishspirituality.org.
Find a spiritual director today!
Rabbi Yonatan Yosef Arnon
Brooklyn, NY
Yonatan engages in mindfulness, education, interfaith and entrepreneurialism. With extensive experience working with LGBTQ+, men’s work, older adults, people in recovery and end of life care. Inspired by pastoral care, ancestral, somatic, and embodied practices.
I invite you to explore with me what brings you meaning and connection today.
Rabbi Lisa Bellows
Glenview, IL
Amid life’s busyness and complexity, spiritual direction offers a sacred pause—a chance to quiet the mind, listen to the heart, and connect to the sacred within us and all around us. I am a reform rabbi, mom, and mindfulness teacher who values exploring life’s experiences with compassion and presence.
Rabbi Rachael Bregman
Brunswick, GA
Rachael Bregman is the Berman Family Rabbinate rabbi for Congregation Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick, GA. since 2013. She received a BA from Boston College a Master of Education from Harvard University in human development. She was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 2010. She is a hiker, baker, antiracist and a mom to a tiny human and two rescue dogs.
Corey Dane
Maplewood, NJ
Corey Dane (he/him) is a spiritual director, yoga instructor, and meditation facilitator who guides people toward greater self-awareness and inner connection. He creates inclusive practices—especially for those who feel excluded from traditional spaces—using deep listening, to help seekers attune to the kol d’mamah dakah (the still, small voice).
Cantor Ellen Dreskin
Kol Dodi Mentor
I am an ordained Cantor who has been in the field of faith for over 40 years. My intention is to accompany each person on their own unique path, holding a space in which one’s spiritual story can be acknowledged and encouraged as a source of wisdom, nourishment, and support.
Monte Dube
Boulder, CO
I’m a Boulder-based Jewish mindfulness meditation teacher and spiritual companion. As a spiritual director, I’m privileged to sit with my directees as they seek guidance from the Sacred in navigating life’s challenges, transitions, and search for meaning. I’d welcome an initial conversation to discuss whether now is the right time for you to explore spiritual direction.
Deborah Eisenbach-Budner
Portland, OR
Hoping to give more care to your spirit – amidst tending others, working, and engaging in a tough world? I help people nurture their souls, providing intention and loving attention, co-creating a sacred space for spiritual exploration. 30+ years of teaching, building inclusive communities, and ritual innovation feed my Spiritual Direction work.
Catherine Fischer
Cherry Hill, NJ
Through spiritual direction I guide and accompany individuals and small groups into a dynamic contemplative practice to discern awareness of their sacred calling. Together, in a safe, confidential space, we explore their deepest yearnings, energies and stirrings, thereby imagining their lives in alignment with their ever-evolving sacred calling and purpose in the world.
Caren Fried
New York, NY
Spiritual Direction is a way to let the spirit direct. I am a guide, sacred listener and a group facilitator. This is a practice for someone who is looking for a deeper connection with their soul. Spiritual Direction groups allow for many witnesses to the way spirit shows up. The dynamics within groups offers multiple perspectives and blessings.
Kendra Fried
Walnut Creek, CA
Specializing in soul centered wellness for 25+ years, I offer a somatic approach to support you in exploring your unique relationship to spirituality; bringing compassion, deep listening, and light hearted reverence to each session. In addition to spiritual direction (in person and by Zoom), I provide embodied Jewish devotion classes, yoga retreats, health coaching, and energy healing.
Dan Furmansky
Silver Spring, MD
I am a spiritual director, mindfulness mentor, and officiant – spiritual disciplines which are critical complements to my career helping communities build power for an inclusive democracy grounded in queer, racial, reproductive, and environmental justice. I welcome all seekers, especially those wrestling with religion and connecting their spirituality to social justice.
Chaplain Linda Golding
New York, NY
What is a life fully lived? You probably have the physical and intellectual aspects well-supported. What about the spiritual aspect of you — the one yearning for the still, small voice inside you to be heard by another? We can walk together to amplify that voice and cultivate its flourishing.
Rabbi Suzanne Griffel
Chicago, IL
I welcome you to sit together in a sacred space we will create together each time we meet, where you can reflect on your life from a perspective outside of the day-to-day busyness and connect with what is most important and true for you at this moment. We can meet either on Zoom or (if you are in the Chicago area) in person.
Suzanne Hanser
Newton, MA
I think of myself as a listener for your reflections and a mirror for your wisdom. My soul resides in nature, in artistic expression, and in the awe of connection and possibility in every moment. As a music therapist, I value the rich contemplative environment of music and silence.
Julie Kohl, MD
Seattle, WA
Julie Kohl is a retired pediatrician, life long learner, and spiritual seeker. She is drawn to the work of spiritual direction to create opportunities for individuals to connect with holiness and refine their ability to listen to the still small voice, so that they can act with more skill and wisdom.
Liz Kopin, MD
Wellesley, MA
Join me by the well of deep inner knowing where you will find a compassionate and safe space in which to explore spiritual questions and yearnings. My personal journey has included decades of caring for women as an OB/GYN and discovering spiritual connection despite my challenges with disability.
Kate Lauzar
San Mateo, CA
Do you notice moments in your life when you sense the presence of the Divine? Are you interested in more deeply exploring your relationship to God, whatever God might mean to you? I bring deep listening, loving presence and thoughtful reflection to the sacred space we will create together to welcome the Divine into personal relationship.
Chaplain Rachel Lopez Rosenberg
Daly City, CA
I’m a board-certified chaplain with over a decade in end-of-life care. I’m a student of yoga and mindfulness. I strive to ask the holy one each day “what great mischief can we make today?!”
Vicky Ludmer
Buenos Aires, Argentina
I am a Spiritual Director, Life and Executive Coach, Lawyer, NLP practitioner and Biodecoding Therapist. I am committed to accompany people in their journey, examining life experiences to find centering, grounding and connection. I´ll be honored to walk with anyone who wishes to dive into this adventure. I am available to work both in English and in Spanish.
Cantor Hasha Musha Perman
Evanston, IL
I am Cantor Emerita, retired after 30 years of shared prayer, music, and connections. Spiritual Direction opens a new path for me, devoted to Sacred Listening, the Celestial Sounds of inspiration found in contemplation, intention, and blessing. Allow the Great Mystery to infuse your life with love, insight and hope.
Ashley Plotnick
Kol Dodi Mentor
I am a spiritual director for rabbinical students at HUC, as well as a mentor for Kol Dodi. I am on staff as a counselor/SD at the CCAR. I am finishing my DMin, with research focusing on the Shekhinah. I am available for individual and group SD and supervision.
Rabbi Michael Ramberg
Elkins Park, PA
As a spiritual director I hold sacred space for those I accompany to be with the presence (or absence) of what matters most in their life, however they describe it–spirit / meaning / purpose / divinity.
Rabbi Max Zev Reynolds
Sunnyside, NY
Max Zev Reynolds is a Queens-based writer, rabbi, board certified palliative care chaplain, spiritual director, quilter. His areas of interest include: trans & queer existential and spiritual care; existential & spiritual care work with atheists, agnostics, & non-religious mystics; mussar; trauma and moral injury; and trauma-informed palliative and end-of-life care.
Rabbi Sandy Rubenstein
Silver Spring, MD
Sandy offers the opportunity for discernment, discovery of one’s truths, and connection to the mystery/sacred in life through deep listening, compassion and respect. An experienced spiritual care provider, rabbi, board-certified chaplain, and clinical social worker, she is a member of the LGBTQ community. Sandy provides individual and group spiritual direction.
Mitchell Shames, J.D.
New York, NY
Tax, ERISA and corporate lawyer who has jumped into the deep-end of spiritual engagement. For anyone who might claim ‘I don’t have a spiritual bone in my body’ let’s work together to discover how you might experience sparks of divinity within and around you. There is no curriculum, instead, let me accompany you on YOUR journey.
Amanda Silver
Hanover, NH
Amanda helps others find meaning, purpose & joy in their lives through exploring the sacred. She is a lifelong seeker with a social justice lens, offering spiritual direction rooted in meditation & movement. Amanda supports creatives, clergy, justice-driven leaders, & parents. She works nationally as a leadership coach, facilitator & consultant.
Heidi Smith
Davis, CA
Whether or not “God” is part of your world, spiritual direction offers a way to live with greater awareness and self understanding. While I am Jewish, I am eager to companion all seekers in exploring life’s unfolding, especially those who share my experience of loving a neurodivergent family member.
Abby Stamelman Hocky
Bala Cynwood, PA
My career in Jewish communal service and interfaith relations has enabled me to learn and grow from extraordinary people and their spiritual practices. I treasure how we are created to be uniquely ourselves, with life’s journey calling forth our gifts and character. I love witnessing the resilience of the human spirit and the sacred in the everyday.
Rabbi David Vaisberg
Maplewood, NJ
As a rabbi and spiritual director, I offer a compassionate presence to those seeking meaning, healing, and connection. Together, we explore life’s questions, drawing from Jewish wisdom, mindfulness meditative practices, and personal experience to illuminate your unique path.
Marla Zipin
Silver Spring, MD
As a companion on your spiritual journey, my intention is to be fully present and to listen compassionately from the heart. I bring experience as a psychotherapist, coach, meditator, and spiritual seeker for over 30 years to accompanying you, virtually and/or in person.
IJS is not responsible for the supervision or conduct of the spiritual directors on this list. Everyone listed here has completed the Kol Dodi training (or is a faculty member) and has agreed to the ethical guidelines of the Spiritual Directors International.