Born in Vitebsk, Belarus, Rabbi Farbman received his semicha (rabbinic ordination) at the Leo Baeck College, Reform Rabbinical Seminary in London, UK. Rabbi Farbman holds a B.A. and M.A. in Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a Masters in Sacred Theology degree from Yale Divinity School.

Since his ordination in 2001 Rabbi Farbman had served West London Synagogue of British Jews in London, UK, helped build Sha’arei Shalom Progressive Jewish Community in St. Petersburg, Russia, and served as Rabbi-in Residence at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC. In 2009 Rabbi Farbman became the rabbi of Temple Emanuel, succeeding the much beloved Rabbi Gerald Brieger z’l.

Rabbi Farbman serves on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven and is an active member of the Orange Interfaith Clergy group. He serves on the board of Columbus House, and he is a faculty member at URJ Camp Eisner. In addition, Rabbi Farbman currently serves as the President of the New Haven Board of Rabbis and Cantors and was recently appointed by Governor Lamont to the Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council.

Budd Mishkin has been a broadcast journalist for almost forty years. He is an anchor/correspondent for 1010 WINS. Mishkin spent 25 years as an anchor/reporter for NY1 and was one of the journalists who helped found New York City’s 24 hour cable news channel in 1992. He’s interviewed countless influential artists and luminaries for radio and television and has created and hosted many nights of conversation at 92nd Street Y with Gloria Steinem, Bob Costas, Tim Gunn, Pete Hamill, Wynton Marsalis, Ed Koch, Steven Van Zandt, and many more. Mishkin is still trying to become the 47th Beatle.

A recent emigre to New York City from Kharkiv, Ukraine, Zhenya Lopatnik is a leading voice in a new generation of Yiddish singers and songwriters emerging from the former Soviet Union. Born into an assimilated Ukrainian-Jewish family, Lopatnik only discovered Yiddish in her mid-20s but quickly made her mark in the field. Heard once or a dozen times, Zhenya’s songs ring deeply familiar. They stir the soul and awake memories even for those who are too young to remember. And for those old enough to know, the sounds transport them to a world cut short by war and migration. In collaboration with pianist Yuriy Khainson, Zhenya has released three albums of original songs and has served for over a decade as the vocalist of Kharkiv Klezmer Band. She is also a key organizer of the international Klezmer festival “Kharkiv Klezmer Teg,” and has been awarded the Golden Chanukiah Prize from the “World Congress of Russian Jewry” for her contribution to Yiddish culture. Zhenya additionally collaborates with Alan Bern and Mark Kovnatskiy of Germany’s Semer Ensemble, in the performance of their new song project “The Holy Sparks.” Now she participates in two projects in NYC. “Ternovka Ensemble” has an authentic sound of old and new traditional ballads. “Zapekanka Project” has the sound of Roma-Jewish style with songs about passion, freedom, and loneliness.