Rabbi Shalom Garfinkel
Raised in San Francisco in the Golden Years of the San Francisco 49ers, Rabbi Garfinkel grew up in a very proud but not traditionally observant Jewish family. Sunday School conflicted with the 49ers games when they played on the East Coast. It is no wonder that Project 613’s unofficial motto is “Therapy for those wounded by Sunday School!” After attending a private prep high school in Marin County, he matriculated to Stanford University in the Fall of 1991. After two years of pre-medical curriculum, a couple of trips to Israel, and a White House Internship in 1993 for President Clinton (it was still prestigious at the time b/c it was before a certain scandal occurred! LOL!), Rabbi decided that Stanford could not answer his burning questions about the meaning and purpose of life. So…he hopped on a plane to Israel, and the rest is history! After 2 years in Israel, he returned to finish Stanford with a BA in History (’96) and promptly returned to study at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem. After 2 years at Ohr Somayach, Rabbi met his “beshert,” Suri, and they lived in Israel for 6 years while continuing to study for Rabbinic ordination. In the fall of 2004, Rabbi, Suri, and their 3 children moved to the UCLA campus to do campus outreach with JAM. in 2007, after 3 productive years in LA, Rabbi Zev Kahn brought the Garfinkels to Chicago to be the Director of Outreach for JET. In 2010, Rabbi Garfinkel started JET YP focusing on Young Professionals. After 10 amazing years with JET, Rabbi and Suri launched their own Young Professional outreach organization, Project 613, on July 1st, 2017! Rabbi and Suri have 8 amazing and adorable children of which 7 of them are girls! The Garfinkels love having guests in their home and have truly become a home-away-from home for countless Jews in the Chicagoland area!
Suri Garfinkel
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Suri and her family moved to the BIG APPLE when she 5. But not just any part of NY…to BROOKLYN! Suri grew up in an observant Jewish home and attended Orthodox schools. After high school, Suri then studied in Israel at Darchei Binah Seminary for two years. In her third year, she was a madricha, or peer leader, and also started college in Israel. It was that third year that she met her “beshert,” Shalom, and you can follow the rest of the storyline above in Rabbi’s bio. While in Israel, Suri was a very popular “mechanechet,” or mentor, to the girls at Darchei Binah for 6 years. It was there that Suri honed her listening and teaching skills that so many young Jewish women have benefitted from in her years in Jewish outreach. Suri is the proud mother of 8 children and also finished her degree along the way. She somehow manages to balance being “Ema” to teenagers and toddlers simultaneously and has created an incredibly warm and welcoming home. She hosts dozens of YP’s for Shabbos weekly and learns with YP women as well. She is a true role model for her children and her students!
Rabbi Mordechai and Shoshana Marcus
Rabbi Mordechai Marcus grew up in Israel in a home filled with many guests and a love for inspiring young Jews to enjoy being Jewish! His father, Rabbi Ya’akov Marcus, has been one of the main teachers at Neve Yerushalayim for decades. Rabbi Marcus himself is a graduate of the Toras Moshe Yeshiva of higher Talmudic education and the Ner LeElef Rabbis training institute. He is a gifted teacher taking advanced Torah concepts and making them accessible to all!
In 2014 he met his better half, Shoshana, (yep, she’s also Israeli), and they have since partnered in the holy endeavor of building a warm and welcoming home. The Marcus’s moved to Chicago in January 2019 where they joined the Project 613 team. The Marcus’s have been blessed with 3 adorable children, Aryeh, Yael, and Chaim Moshe. The Marcus children just like their parents love having guests for Shabbos meals as well as being expert delivery assistants of the famous Project 613 Shabbos packages.
Rabbi Marcus and Shoshana look forward to hosting Project 613 programs and Shabbos meals in their home or grabbing a coffee to discuss the true beauty and depth of your Jewish heritage.
Kirya Fefer
The first question people always ask me is where are you from? When I answer them “Batavia, Illinois” I usually get the deer in headlights look with the follow up questions, “Where’s that? Are there even Jews there?” And the answer I give is, “Well yes, there was my sister and I!” So how did I get to where I am today? I took the plunge and followed my sister to the University of Miami in Florida for college. There she “dragged” me to Shabbat dinner and introduced me to what would become my core group of friends and to the families in Miami Beach I still consider a home away from home. As I began to learn about Judaism and grow, I knew that after college I would need time to put everything into perspective. I decided to take a break between college and beginning my “career” and headed to Shearim College of Womens studies in Israel. During my time there, I was guided by amazing Rabbis and Rebbetzins who helped me unlock the treasure of Judaism in my life. It also happens to be where I met my amazing husband, Vladimir. We got married in Chicago in August 2010, and have built a great life in West Rogers Park with our 5 delicious children. Right before my wedding, I taught middle school math in the public school system. After teaching for 6 years and having 3 kids I decided that it was time to do something more conducive to my family life and with greater personal satisfaction. That’s when Rabbi Garfinkel said, “Hey! I have something for you!” And that became the adventure of Project 613. So if you need to know whether or not you paid for something, want to have awesome emails with cool graphics sent to your inbox, or if you would like someone to grab coffee with, I am here!