Who We Are - Joint Placement Commission ("JPC")
The Joint Placement Commission is the decision-making body for rabbinic pulpit placement in the Conservative movement. It consists of members from the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism, and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies.
![]() |
Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham is a rabbi at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, MO. He has also served as Senior Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim in San Antonio, Texas and Congregation Sons of Israel in Nyack, New York. Rabbi Abraham is the first member of the clergy to be awarded San Antonio Business Journal’s prestigious recognition “40 Under 40.” Rabbi Abraham has served on the Executive Council of our RA since 2017 and on the Joint Placement Commission since 2019. He also was the co-chair for the initial committee in working to strengthen ties between our RA and USCJ, and was on the Strategic Planning Committee for our RA. Rabbi Abraham has received dozens of awards for his work in revitalizing and growing his synagogues. Rabbi Abraham was also a contestant on The American Bible Challenge game show with Jeff Foxworthy. |
![]() |
Rabbi Ari Averbach Rabbi Ari Averbach (Ziegler 2015) was the rabbinic intern at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom of Northbrook, IL, and now serves as senior rabbi of Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, CA. He is on the board of the Schulweis Institute and the Clinical Ethics Advisory Committee at Los Robles Hospital. He and his wife Vanessa have three children and enjoy doing crossword puzzles while eating ice cream. |
|
Mr. William Bresnick, Esq. |
Rabbi Aaron Melman |
|
Rabbi Cheryl Peretz |
|
![]() |
Margie Pomerantz margiepomuscj@gmail.com Margie Pomerantz is a Board Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). At USCJ, she has served as a Vice President, International Secretary, Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, co-chaired the 2019 RA/USCJ Workgroup and is a current member of the USCJ/RA Joint Steering Committee. She is a former president of her synagogue, Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, CA where she currently chairs the Roadmap to Reopening Task Force. Professionally, Margie provided technical, consulting and human resources expertise to companies and was the founding principal of two businesses. Margie is originally from St. Louis and lives in Los Gatos, California with her husband, Howard. They are proud parents and grandparents. |
Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay |
|
|
Jennifer Stofman |
![]() |
Rabbi Brian Strauss Rabbi Brian Strauss became the senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Yeshurun on August 1, 2018. He joined the congregation in July 2001. Rabbi Strauss is a graduate of the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and the University of Texas at Austin. A member of the United Jewish Communities Rabbinic Cabinet and the United Jewish Communities National Young Leadership Cabinet, he has been the recipient of the annual Jewish Federation of Greater Houston Mae & Edmund Hecht Rabbinic Presentation. Rabbi Strauss has also served on the Texas State Commission on Holocaust and Genocide. He was selected as the winner in the men’s spiritual leader category in Houston’s city-wide “Gen Next” contest, which recognizes Jewish professionals in their twenties and thirties. He is also a member of the prestigious program Rabbis Without Borders, sponsored by the National Jewish Center for Learning & Leadership (CLAL). He has served on the boards of the Holocaust Museum Houston, the University of Texas Hillel, the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston as well as serving as the president of the Houston Rabbinical Association. He has served as a visiting scholar in residence at the International Kallah of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization in Starlight, Pennsylvania and other synagogues throughout the region. He is the author of the book, “To Life, To Family, To Me: 6 Keys to a Good Family Life,”. He is also a frequent guest speaker at many local schools and churches and has been published in national and local publications. Rabbi Strauss is married to Lisa Shapiro Strauss, a practicing attorney and a previous fellow in the Wexner Heritage Program. They have three children.
|
Rabbi Annie Tucker (chair) |
|
![]() |
Rabbi Jan Uhrbach RABBI JAN R. UHRBACH is Interim Pearl Resnick Dean of the Rabbinical School at JTS, where she also serves as Director of the Block/Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts and teaches prayer and liturgy. She was the associate editor of Siddur Lev Shalem for Shabbat and Festivals, on the editorial committee for Machzor Lev Shalem, and is currently associate editor on the forthcoming Siddur Lev Shalem for Weekdays. Rabbi Uhrbach is also the founding Rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons in Bridgehampton. Before becoming a rabbi, Rabbi Uhrbach served as Law Clerk to Federal District Judge Kimba M. Wood, and was an associate and then partner of the New York law firm of Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP. |