The Board of Directors
Daniel Seligman
I have a degree in religious studies from McGill University, which is where I first met our spiritual leader Rachel K, back in the 1990s, and I have been involved with MECh in one way or another since it began over 15 years ago. I am deeply connected to the Montreal cultural and music scene and I am eager to use my experience in organizing events and working within the diverse landscape of the Montreal arts scene towards helping MECh continue to grow as an important community institution in Montreal.
Dan is a music manager, most notably for Jewish hip hop wizard Socalled. He is a co-founder of the POP Montreal Music Festival and is the festival’s creative director.
Gillian Elias
Born and raised in Toronto, Gillian completed her bachelor’s degrees in French literature and economics at Queen’s University and her master’s degree in economics at the University of Victoria and became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder in 2006.
She has held roles as an economist and chartered financial analyst in government, banking, and investing. Her areas of expertise include macroeconomics, emerging market sovereign debt, state-owned enterprises, tax policy, climate change, energy, and transportation.
Gillian moved to Montreal when La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec recruited her in October 2013 as a senior bond analyst. In 2020, she returned to the federal government, though remains based in beautiful Montreal.
She maintains an active lifestyle through activities such as hiking, biking, cross-country, and alpine skiing. Additionally, she is a certified kundalini yoga instructor. Gillian has a strong interest in art history, theatre, and opera, and is an avid traveler.
Gillian loves being part of the Mile End Chavurah community and would like to contribute to enhancing its financial sustainability as a not-for-profit, ensuring that MECh can continue offering meaningful programs for years to come.
Luna Woolf
Together with her family, Luna has been an active member of the Mile End Chavurah for more than 8 years, engaging with the JEDI and B-Mitz programs, as well as many other activities. She is honoured to be joining the board at this exciting time in the evolution of our warm and remarkable community.
Luna is a composer, dramaturg, recording producer and music publisher. Her works in opera and contemporary music have been nominated for GRAMMY, JUNO and Dora awards, and she has produced recordings for the PENTATONE, Atma, Analekta and Leaf labels. As dramaturg and teacher she has collaborated with Musique 3 Femmes, the National Theater School of Canada and others. An innovator in the Classical music recording industry, she is President and co-founder of Oxingale Productions, Inc., a boutique label and music publisher.
Emily Golan grew up in the suburbs of New York City in a family very involved in the Reconstructionist movement. The product of a Syrian-Jewish and Ashkenazi mixed marriage, holidays to her are less matzoh-ball soup and more grape leaves in apricot sauce or stuffed zucchini, although no mondelbret is better than her paternal grandmother’s. After stints abroad in Japan and Mexico, collecting languages along the way; and more permanent moments in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, Emily moved to Montreal in 2017 with her young family. She is now proud to call herself Canadian.
Emily‘s career in the world of art museums has spanned two decades. Through this, she has gained a deep understanding of the complexities of non-profit organizations. Emily currently manages acquisitions and deaccessions at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She brings to the board a commitment to keen organization, clear communication, and a welcoming environment for all. You are likely to find her in a café chatting with friends, ordering the spiciest item at a hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant, hiking or skiing on the mountain, doing yoga, or on the sidelines of her sons’ soccer matches (ever chatting with coffee in hand).
Noelle Sorbara
I’ve spent the past two decades working at the intersection of entrepreneurship, social activism, and leadership development. I am a lawyer by training and a community builder by nature. I am a founder of Pop Montreal and Welcome Collective, and served as the first executive director for both of those organizations. I have been an advisor/board member to several nonprofits, including Apathy is Boring for seven years, and Mile End Legal Clinic. I have a passion for building, restructuring and evolving social enterprises whose missions I believe in.
My most recent project draws on my training as a somatic practitioner and my studies in Buddhist philosophy to evolve a model of leadership development that focuses on personal and emotional exploration and growth. The goal of the work is to support those in positions of power to learn how to respond to challenging issues in a mindful and non-reactive manner.
I’m interested in working with the Mile End Chavurah because I am drawn to the community, its mission, and its incredible potential to support a progressive and inclusive faith-based community.
Aaron Richmond
Over the last 5-10 years I have been feeding off the energies of the Mile End Chavurah – finding good company and comfort in what I have experienced to be its deeply humane, pluralist and porous interpretation of Jewish and Jewish-adjacent life. In the Chavurah, I have found a musical, creatively spirited community, whose continuity I am happy to support.
I am an artist and postdoctoral researcher at Concordia University’s Center for Sensory Studies. My work intersects between art, architecture and performance studies – approaching the arts as
a zone of creative experimentation within the social fabric of contemporary life. I look for
opportunities for learning and collaboration both inside and outside of traditional educational structures.
I see the contemporary moment as a watershed for rethinking Jewish institutions. In my
contributions to the board, I bring a particular desire to help navigate questions around
education, cultural programming, and the complexities of Jewish diasporic organization in a time of cultural polarization and state violence. As a parent to a 5-year-old, and life-partner to a righteous and Jewish-spirited gentile, I am committed to supporting the Chavurah as a space of access and intimacy for a diverse population of Jews and non-Jews alike.
Renata Militzer
I’m pretty excited about getting involved in MECh organizing again! I’ve been a member since 2017 and participated in the Shabbat, social justice, and HH committees.
The recent events in I-P make me want to dig even deeper into my Judaism and especially with a community that aligns with my values. I love the intergenerational, participatory events we host and I want to make sure they continue to happen!
I’m a social worker by trade and a community organizer by passion: over the past 20 years I’ve been involved with a number of orgs in Montreal working around food security, gender-based violence and advocacy with LGBTQI+ migrants. Through this work I’ve learned about collective decision-making, event planning, yearly org work plan development, volunteer and staff team leadership, HR and fundraising.
Some of my ideas on how to strengthen the Chavurah: A period of strategic planning; updating policies; rekindling committees; securing additional funding to increase staff hours. And if there’s interest, I’d love to see a LGBTQI+ group.
It’s exciting that the Chavurah is entering a phase of growth. There are so many wonderfully talented people in this community, I feel pretty confident that together we’ll be able to strengthen the Chavurah!
Sara Laimon
Sara Laimon and her family – Jonathan, Rachel and Toby Kimmelman – have been longstanding members of Mile End Chavurah though they live in NDG. Rachel had the honour of being the first Bat Mitzvah of the Chavurah in 2012; what a joy to see how many Bnei Mitzvot have followed! Rachel and Toby for many years offered an arrangement of Kol Nidrei I made for them when they were very young; Rachel left to study in Halifax and Toby is carrying on the tradition. Outside of the Chavurah Sara is Professor of Piano at McGill’s Schulich School of Music, and for 7 years served as Director of the (now closed) McGill Conservatory of Music. Originally from Vancouver, she arrived in Montreal (via 14 years in the United States, and one year in Winnipeg!) in Fall of 2001. She joined the board initially as a replacement but remained on the board eventually serving 2 years as co-chair with Dan Levy prior to sabbatical away in 2023-24. Sara has enjoyed working with the Social Justice Action committee, the High Holidays committee and hopes to rejoin the newly energized board and contribute to the sustainability of MECh.
Val Shamash
I am a Mile End Iraqi Jew and have been a member of MECh for many years. I have always been grateful to have access to this inclusive Jewish++ community when my small family of my daughter and myself needed it. Finding that I am now wishing to lean into community, and ready to give back locally, I would be happy if I could help keep things flowing for the MECh community.
I have a Master’s Degree in anthropology and have been working in documentary film (and sometimes fiction) production for over 20 years. I feel strongly about the importance of appreciating cross-cultural differences, and I’m excited to use my professional experience as a member of the board!
Board Alumni
Adam Bright
Adam Sargon
Andrea Robbins
Anique Vered
Auriel Manolson
Ben Yunis
Benji Loomer
Cara Leibovitz
Carine Elkouby
Dan Levy
Diana Yaros
Elizabeth Moorhouse-Stein
Erica Lehrer
Eva Margo-Dermer
Genvieève Nevin
Gueula Rabkin
Hilary Leftick
Isaac Stethem
Jacqueline Celemencki
Joseph Rosen
Julia Appel
Kay Ponthieux
Layla Dabby
Leah Vineberg
Lisa Goldman
Melanie Leavitt
Mindy Stricke
Myrite Rotstein
Nancy Rotman
Peter Horowitz
Rachel K
Rebecca Hamilton
Rimma Orenman
Rodney Handelsman
Ruth Wikler
Samara Yesovitch
Sara Laimon
Sarah Leila Manolson
Saul Carliner
Shira Gilbert
Sofia Danna
Stephanie Marchal
Steve McFadden
Steven Schnoor
Tamara Kramer
Vera Kisfalvi
Yaakov Stern