Ready to REVEAL: Lab/Shul Gala 2019

Jeffrey A. Schoenfeld’s life journey has brought him deep fulfillment – spiritually, philanthropically, and professionally. Jeff has been a community member and generous supporter of Lab/Shul for the past 5 years, where he also studies privately with Rabbi Amichai to build a mosaic of understanding around Jewish practice and tradition.
 
Jeff currently serves as President of UJA-Federation NY, the largest local philanthropy in the world. He first became involved in UJA two decades ago when he signed on as a volunteer leader. He saw the direct impact of philanthropy changing people’s lives, and that led him to deepen his engagement, chairing UJA’s HIV/AIDS Task Force, its Poverty Task Force, and a committee on Israeli Children at Risk. Before becoming President of UJA in 2016, Jeff chaired UJA’s Caring Commission and co-chaired its Annual Campaign.
 
Professionally, Jeff is a Partner at Brown Brothers Harriman, which he joined in 1984. He has held numerous investment roles over his 35-year career, including head of Fixed Income Management, Chief Investment Officer and head of Asset Allocation. He now leads the firm’s Institutional Investment Management business, overseeing client activities and business development on a global basis.
 
In all areas of his life, Jeff is passionate about building community and lifting up LGBTQ initiatives. He was the founding Chair of BBH’s Pride Network and has been deeply involved in BBH Cares, the firm’s global volunteerism initiative. Jeff was also a founding member of UJA’s Pride Committee, bringing together community members to provide financial and volunteer support for LGBTQ Jews in need.
 
A native of San Francisco, Jeff resides in Manhattan with his partner, Matt Holbein, where they are avid supporters of the arts and are loved by their three canines.
 
Jeff received his BA in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Joyce Zinbarg Rosenthal and Steve Rosenthal first met Rabbi Amichai in the late 1990’s at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, where he was serving as a scholar in residence. They took their first class with him at HUC where they learned about the four rabbis who entered the “Pardes”. Joyce and Steve came out of the class with a new friend and teacher. Amichai, needing a place to live, took an apartment in one of Steven’s buildings where he lived for the following twenty years. The decades that followed that initial class have included the sharing of countless Shabbat and holiday celebrations, dozens of study sessions, as well as the birth and naming of three daughters, Rebecca, Talia and Shira, all of whom, now teenagers, call Amichai their Rabbi and Lab/Shul their spiritual home.
 
When Amichai founded Storahtelling, Joyce literally jumped on board, serving as one of the founding board members of the innovative Jewish ritual theater company. As Amichai grew into his spiritual leadership and Storahtelling transitioned into Lab/Shul, Joyce and Steve followed and supported Amichai at each turn. Having grown up in traditional Jewish homes (and fallen in love while students at the Jewish Theological Seminary), Lab/Shul has become a place where all of their Jewish influences come together in a place of warmth, inspiration and creativity. Lovers of nature, world travel and music, Joyce and Steve relish Lab/Shul’s artist-driven approach and warm, down to earth community, and are committed to ensuring its success.
 
Professionally, Joyce is a LCSW and works as a therapist for children and adolescents. She holds a graduate degree in Social Work from Columbia University and has post graduate training from both Ackerman Institute for the Family and the William Alanson White Institute. Joyce was a founding member of New Israel Fund’s New Generations and a volunteer at the 14th Street Y where she initiated and organized activities between the seniors and the nursery school children.
 
Steven is a graduate of New York University, an admitted attorney in New York and California. He manages J.R. Equities, a real estate investment company his father founded after immigrating to New York after the holocaust.