Board of Directors
Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker*,
Founder and Board President (she/her)
Cantor Spilker has served as a cantor at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minnesota since 1997. She was ordained in 1996 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also received a Master’s Degree in Sacred Music. She is the founder of Maayanot Community Mikveh of Minnesota and is also an active member of the Rising Tide Open Waters Network.
Madelyn Carpentier Turner (she/her)
Madelyn holds degrees in both Finance and in Russian Language and Literature, and currently works as a senior data analyst for a healthcare consulting firm. As a Jew by choice, Madelyn quite literally began her life as a full-fledged member of the tribe with immersion in the mikveh. Madelyn lives in Minneapolis with her husband and is a member at Adath Jeshurun Congregation.
Kate Cavett (she/her)
Kate is a retired oral historian, substance abuse assessor, and executive director of a small non-profit. Her passion is stories: listening to individuals share life stories, enjoying theater, movies, books, and creating her own stories with her grandchildren. She is active in her community and participates in Mussar.
Meira Curran (she/her)
Meira is a devoted wife, mother to 8, grandmother to 3, and nurse. Prior to nursing, she was a science teacher at the Bais Yaakov School in St. Louis Park. She has been an active member of the Jewish community since her conversion to Judaism in 1998, serving on the board of the JCRC and volunteering at Sholom Home West. In her free time, she likes to garden and travel.
Julie Dean (she/her)
As the founder of Twin Cities Mussar, Julie is passionate about cultivating, supporting, and sustaining high-quality Mussar programming for the Jewish communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul. She is passionate about providing leadership development, mentoring, and training to Mussar facilitators, both locally and nationwide, and promoting the revitalization of this transformative practice within our Jewish tradition.
Wendy Goldberg (she/her)
Wendy is a Jewish educator, musician, and spiritual Leader, teaching at Heilicher Jewish Day School and Augsburg University, working on racial justice with Rose McGee of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie and the Minnesota Center for Humanities.
Adam (Garen) Greenleaf (he/they)
Adam serves as a financial advisor helping people reach their life goals, including philanthropic goals. He serves on Mount Zion’s Board of Directors as a Vice President, the MN Urban Debate League’s advisory board, and the Minneapolis Regional Chamber’s “Keystone” committee for philanthropy. He’s long enjoyed cooking, biking, and reading and has recently become a sauna/cold therapy enthusiast.
Morrie Hartman (he/him)
Morrie is a native of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and a retired corporate general counsel and realtor. He has served on the board of trustees of Shir Tikvah, and is a member of Shir Tikvah and Temple Israel. He is also on the board of Rimon, the Jewish arts initiative. In his free time, he is a volunteer reader reader for State Services for the Blind. He lives with his husband in Edina.
Robert Karasov* (he/him)
Bob has been a pediatrician and mohel in the Twin Cities since 1985. He retired from his day job in 2024. Bob is passionate about lifelong education, an avid runner, and active member of Darchei Noam Congregation.
Carrie Lifland*, Treasurer (she/her)
Carrie is a CPA with Schechter Dokken Cantor and serves on their audit team. She grew up in Minneapolis and currently davens at Adath Jeshurun and Darchei Noam. Carrie was introduced to mikveh for her daughter’s wedding immersion. She is a new grandma and loves road biking in her spare time.
Lucy Marshall (she/her)
Lucy is a queer, Ashkenazi Jewish educator, ritualist, organizer, and facilitator based on Dakota land in Minneapolis. She is Director of Community Services at Jewish Family Children’s Service of Minneapolis. Lucy formerly served as the Senior Director of the Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network, Mayyim Hayyim’s global movement for inclusive and accessible mikveh, of which Maayanot is a proud member.
Robert Mast (he/him)
Bob is Treasurer of the Minnesota JCC and Past President of Mount Zion Temple. Previously he served on the Board of Advisors of the Cincinnati Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Outside of the Jewish community, Bob loves to eat out, play golf, and spend time with his family.
Liz Rappaport*, Secretary (she/her)
Currently serving as the Associate Director, Liz has been on staff at Beth El Synagogue since 2012. Her many hats as a Jewish professional include volunteer coordination, program direction, marketing, and most recently creating and managing Beth El’s vibrant CyberShul. In her spare time, Liz is an avid baker specializing in challah and rugelach.
Jakob Quinn-Ealy (he/him)
Jakob works at Hennepin Technical College in the Records Department and brings skills in safety and security to the Maayanot Board. He davens at Bet Shalom, enjoys browsing comic book shops, and attends theater performances with his wife. Jakob tries to spread joy, laughs, and smiles with every interaction.
Honorary Board Members
Burt Garr (he/him)
Burt served in a leadership capacity in a number of community endeavors, including as CEO of the St. Paul JCC and President of the local United Way and Agency Executives. He also has been involved in numerous leadership roles with the St. Paul Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Center Association.
Heidi Schneider (she/her)
Heidi is the chair of the Center for Contemporary Mussar and a member of Adath Jeshurun Congregation and Tifereth Israel in Des Moines. Her essay about her first mikveh experience, titled "Immersion," is published in Choosing Judaism: 36 Stories. She is passionate about ensuring greater access to the rituals of mikveh that embrace all Jews and that invite people to mark their spiritual transitions through immersion.
Jim Stein (he/him)
Jim serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Jewfolk, Inc. He is Board Chair of Judaism Unbound, Board Chair of the Makom Community in Philadelphia, and serves on the Board of YourJewish in the Twin Cities. Additionally, he was a past president of the St. Paul Jewish Federation, the Executive Director of NECHAMA-Jewish Response to Disaster, and was privileged to be in the first cohort of the Harry Kay Leadership Institute.
Project Manager
Kathryn Klibanoff
“From celebration to solace,
for education and affirmation,
Maayanot will add a new,
beautiful, and holy dimension
to Jewish life in Minnesota."
-Anita Diamant, best-selling author and founding president of Mayyim Hayyim, the groundbreaking open mikveh in Newton, MA