Board of Trustees Bios

President: Gilad Kopelman

Gilad is originally from Sunnyvale, CA and has lived in Washington Heights since 2007 as a YU student. He is co-chair of the Gabbai Committee, and is excited to serve a second term on the board, and his first as an officer. Professionally, he works as a credit analyst at S&P Global Ratings. Gilad, his wife Elisheva, and their daughter Maytal enjoy trying out new restaurants, jogging across the

Vice President: Sarah Ratner

Sarah moved to Washington Heights from Philadelphia in 2017. She is an attorney for Fryman PC, a law firm founded by former heights resident and Mount Sinai board member David Fryman. Sarah joined the Board of Trustees in 2018. She has worked on Mix-it-Up Shabbat meals and onegs, led the Membership Drive, co-chaired the 2021 journal dinner, and served as co-chair of the Welcoming Committee. Sarah and her husband Yitzchak are also members of the Eruv committee. Sarah frequently attends Rabbi Taubes’s Shabbat afternoon chaburah  and Dr. Schwartz’s fireside chats. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys cooking with her husband Yitzchak and spending time with their cat Falafel.

Recording Secretary: Shani San Solo

Shani, originally from Miami, has lived in Washington Heights for 8 years. She works as an engineer designing medical devices and spends her free time on DIY projects, puzzles, drinking coffee or doing any water related activity. After serving on the board of trustees for 3 years and having been involved in numerous Shul events and committees, she looks forward to another great year!

Treasurer: Ari Rieser

Ari works locally in the Heights as a physical therapist and acupuncturist. He joined the MSJC Board 8 years ago and for the past 4 years he has served as a shul officer. Ari enjoys grilling at shul bbq events, is co-chair of the Safety and Security Committee and is gabbai of the Hashkama minyan. He is married to Shuli and they have 2 children.

Financial Secretary: Shira Bindiger

Originally from West Hempstead, NY,  Shira Bindiger has lived in Washington Heights (another WH) for the last seven years.   Shira joined the board in 2020 as the financial secretary and is excited to continue serving on the board.  During the day, she can be found working as an Assistant Controller for a large Jewish non-profit and hopes to continue to use that experience to contribute to the shul.

Michael Altaras

Michael is originally from New Jersey (Clifton or Passaic, depends on the day) and moved to Washington Heights over 9 years ago. He joined Mount Sinai after marrying his wife, who has been a member at Mount Sinai for far longer than he has. Michael works for a marketing firm, Storytribe Media, as the Director of Operations. He is a proud member of the hashkama minyan fan club (even if he doesn't always wake up on time) and is looking forward to joining the board for his second year.

Kayla Blum

Originally from Massachusetts, I've been proud to call Mount Sinai my makom tefilah since 2015. By trade, I'm an admin in the Jewish non-profit world and I serve on the eruv committee.  I'm looking forward to bringing my same professional standards and experience to the shul board.

Yitzi Diskind

Though a Long Island native, Washington Heights has been Yitzi's home for ove a decade now. In that time he's made countless friends, (re)met my wife Yocheved and got married, had two adorable daughters, and became a lawyer. Mount Sinai has been a central part of his religious and social life, and he volunteers as a gabbai, board member, and (unofficial) lawyer. He looks forward to his fourth year of volunteering on the board.

Shaya First

Shaya has called the Heights home since 2009, and currently lives across the street from Mt Sinai along with his wife Ayelet. He spends his days teaching Physics and Judaics at Torah Academy of Bergen County, where he also runs the Scholars program and is the 11th grade Mechanech. He is co-chair of the Mt Sinai Education Committee, and is also involved on the gabbai committee, where he serves as the leining coordinator. His hobbies include exploring nature, making groan worthy puns, and studying Jewish History. 

Becca Gelberman

Becca Gelberman is excited for her first year on the board! Originally from Teaneck, New Jersey, Becca has been living in the heights since 2016. Working as a non profit accountant, Becca enjoys being involved in organizations both professionally and personally. She has volunteering as a member of the events committee this past year and looks forward to growing her involvement. 

Davida Kollmar

Davida Kollmar is excited to serve on the board for her sixth term! She grew up in Edison, NJ, but has been living in the Heights since August 2013 (with a hiatus for the pandemic) and has been a shul member since that December. She has been a Gabbai since 2014 (co-chair since 2019) and has been a member of the education committee since 2016 (co-chair from 2017-2020). By day, she works as a Data Scientist for Cherre, a real estate data connection startup.

Batsheva Loeb

Dr. Sara Reguer

Twelve years ago, Dr. Reguer happily moved back to Washington Heights, where she had grown up. She even tolerated the long subway trip to Brooklyn College where she served as chair of the Department of Judaic Studies. She is now retired and will be able to spend more time working with the Trustees of Mount Sinai Jewish Center.

Sarah Rubin

Originally from Roslyn, NY (Long Island), Sarah moved to Washington Heights and joined Mount Sinai in July 2021. She is a regular at davening throughout the week and an eruv checker. Professionally, Sarah is a software engineer at Palantir. Outside of work, Sarah loves to cook and bake and can be found watching baseball and basketball nightly. Sarah and Marty enjoy meeting new people and hosting Shabbos meals. 

Michael Feuerstein Rudin

Michael moved to the heights from Teaneck when he started YU in 2015. When not working, I like to play board games, go on walks, and drive around the heights for hours looking for parking.

Sarah Schnoll

Sarah grew up in Cedarhurst and has been a member of Mt. Sinai for six years.  She is proud to call the Mt. Sinai community her home.  She studied Electrical Engineering at Cooper Union and works as an Engineer on Long Island. She also loves to bake and decorate cakes.  She has been involved with Women’s Hakafot and Women’s Megillah reading at Mt. Sinai as a member of the Gabbai Committee, and is chairing the Construction Committee. She looks forward to continuing to serve the community. 

Gila Stadler

Gila has lived in Washington Heights since 2006, and has been an active member of Mt. Sinai since then. She and her husband Naftali Polachek have three sons.  Gila has served on the board and several committees, including the meals for new parents committee. Naftali and Gila have also worked to create busing options to Jewish elementary schools, to give more educational options to those who want to raise families in Washington Heights. Professionally, Gila works in public health, supporting primary care practices around NYC through her work at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

David Stahl

Originally hailing from Teaneck, David Stahl is an alum of Yeshiva University and a graduate of Queens College. He moved to the heights in November 2021 and became a member of MSJC in December. He currently works in the Office and Holocaust Library at Mount Sinai and is looking forward to helping the shul as a trustee.