JLIC
Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus
YIHY is proud to be among the 23 college communities nation-wide to participate in the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) program. Through JLIC, our Orthodox rabbinic couple helps observant Jews thrive on Yale's campus by enhancing learning opportunities, strengthening key religious infrastructure, and providing spiritual guidance to all.
Rabbi Alex Ozar
Rabbi Alex Ozar grew up in St. Louis, MO. A fourth generation Missourian on both sides, he left home to spend two blissful years studying in Israel at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and then returned stateside to attend Yeshiva University, where he received his BA, MA and Semikha. A proud Bulldog himself, Rabbi Alex earned his PhD at Yale in Philosophy and Religion, with a focus on prophetic witness and the how-to’s of pursuing justice in an often-indifferent world. Rabbi Alex has worked for First Things magazine, as a Tikvah Fellow, and as a gemara teacher at Bi-Cultural Day School in Stamford, CT. In his spare time, he enjoys rocking out with the acclaimed band Three Rabbis and a Cik, exploring the outdoors, and solving the cosmos’ problems with friends and family.
Meet the JLIC Couple
Rabbi Alex Ozar and Lauren Steinberg have been the JLIC couple at Yale for four years and are thrilled to be working with the Jewish community at Yale! Together with their children, Noam Zev, Aviva, and Ruthie, they work to cultivate a positive, flourishing spiritual and religious community together with students and the broader Slifka Center family.
Lauren Steinberg
Lauren Steinberg grew up in New City, NY and received her BA and MA in political science from Columbia University. After graduation, she worked as an assistant regional director for the Anti-Defamation League’s New York Regional Office, coordinating intergroup and interfaith affairs, and then as terrorism analyst at the ADL’s national Center on Extremism. Lauren traveled around the country briefing law enforcement and government officials on domestic recruitment and radicalization and was recognized for her expertise on the subject. She is excited for community building work, for the opportunity to learn Torah on the job, and just to be a part of the wonderful Yale and Slifka communities! In her spare time, she reads the news and as many books as possible from the library’s non-fiction new releases section and tries to get outside as much as possible.
