Andrew Getraer
Executive Director

Andrew was born in Geneva, Switzerland and grew up in Queens, Westchester, and Greens Farms, CT. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Dartmouth College, where he met his amazing wife Jean. They live in Highland Park with their five children, Sandy, Alec, Benjy, Lindsay, and Sarah and their dog Colby. Arnold Schwarzenegger once sent him a Christmas tree in the mail.

Rabbi Esther Reed
Associate Director for Jewish Campus Life

Rabbi Reed grew up in East Brunswick, NJ.  She is a Conservative rabbi and lives in Highland Park with her husband, Mordy, and three sons, Isaac, Sammy and Jonah.

Sarah Portilla
Director of Engagement

Sarah was born and raised in the beautiful state of New Jersey.  She is a graduate of RU and received her MSW from University of Pennsylvania.  As a jersey girl she loves all things jersey including discussions of diners, garden state parkway exits and even the merits of not being allowed to pump ones own gas.  Sarah lives in South Brunswick with her husband Dan. She is very excited to be back at Rutgers!

Marissa Feinman
JCSC Fellow

Marissa was born and raised in southern California. After spending the past 22 years in sunshine she decided to trade in her sunscreen for galoshes and is currently living in Highland Park. She enjoys reading a good book, visiting new places and meeting interesting people so introduce yourself, she's new in town!

Rabbi Yisroel Porath
Jewish Learning Initiative Director

Rav Yisroel grew up in Cleveland and moved to Israel with his family when he was 11.  He served in an infantry unit in the IDF and attended the Karnei Shomron hesder yeshiva.  Yisroel holds a BEd in educational counseling and received semicha (ordination) at Yeshivat HaMivtar.  Rav Yisroel misses Israel but is excited to join the Rutgers community!

Shoshana Porath
Jewish Learning Initiative Director

Shoshana grew up in Queens, NY but made aliyah and has been living in Israel for 8 years.  She is a graduate of Bar Ilan University and Herzog Teachers’ College.   Shoshana, Yisroel and their cute daughter Eliana are currently living in New Brunswick, conveniently close to Rutgers Hillel- so stop by and visit!

Barbara Cohen
Capital Campaign Coordinator

Barbara grew up in Teaneck, NJ.  She is proud of her boys. The “big one” is an accountant and the “little one” is entering his junior year at Tufts, Barbara's alma mater.  She lives with her husband, whom she met at Tufts, in West Orange.

Erik Kessler
Development Director

Erik is originally from East Brunswick, NJ. He is proud to be not only a Rutgers grad, but also a past Hillel student president. Erik lives in Teaneck, with his wife Dana who he met at 93 College Ave.

Laurie Zinberg
Office Manager

Laurie grew up in Perth Amboy, NJ. She lives in Springfield with her husband, Scott, and their son, Greg, who is a student at Rutgers. Their daughter, Marissa, is a teacher of autistic children.

Paige Schilling
Social Work Intern

Paige was born and raised in Freehold, New Jersey. She is a recent graduate of Rutgers College where she earned a BA in psychology and sociology. She is currently living in New Brunswick working on her MSW here at Rutgers.

Sara Lewis
Development Intern

Sara grew up in Mount Laurel, NJ.  She is currently a senior at Rutgers University and is proud to be the past president of Rutgers Hillel.  Seeing as Hillel is Sara's passion at Rutgers, she is excited to spend the year as the Development Intern!

Julie Safar
Social Work Intern

Julie was born and raised in Livingston, NJ. A senior, she is a Social Work student planning to go for her Masters Degree in Social Work at Rutgers next year. She is excited to work as a Social Work Intern at Hillel.