Matthew L Berkowitz

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Rabbi Matthew L. Berkowitz is the Vice President of Schechter Institutes, Inc. He served as JTS Director of Israel Programs and is a co-founder and partner of Kol HaOt, a Jerusalem-based venture devoted to exploring the arts and Jewish learning. For ten years (1999-2009), Matt was the JTS Senior Rabbinic Fellow, organizing substantive adult learning throughout Florida and beyond. He is a member of The Wexner Heritage Program Faculty. He completed his undergraduate work in International Relations and Middle East Studies, summa cum laude, at Colgate University. He was ordained from JTS in 1999, is a Wexner Graduate Fellow alumnus and an alumnus of the Hartman Rabbinic Leadership Institute, Class V. An accomplished artist, he was formally trained in Jewish scribal art in Jerusalem and completed the writing of Megillat Esther, the illumination of several ketubbot, and a limited edition artist portfolio entitled Passover Landscapes: Illuminations on the Exodus which was acquired by Yale University, exhibited at Yeshiva University Museum (April, 2006) and is on permanent exhibit at The Jewish Theological Seminary. The Lovell Haggadah, published in 2008 by The Schechter Institutes and Nirtzah Editions, is based on this work. In 2008-2009, he studied illustration and oil painting at The Jerusalem Studio School. He designed a collection of mezuzot, tzedakah boxes, and other fusions of art and Jewish learning.