Leadership
Welcome to the heart and soul of The Mussar Institute. Our management team is the driving force behind our mission, working tirelessly to steer our organization towards success and embody our core values.
These visionary leaders bring a wealth of experience, dedication, and expertise to the table, ensuring that we not only meet our goals but exceed them. Get to know the individuals who shape our vision and lead us on the path to excellence.
Alan Morinis
Founder
Alan is widely considered to be a leader in the resurgence of contemporary Mussar. Born into a culturally Jewish, non-observant home, he studied anthropology at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. He teaches, writes curriculum, and speaks frequently. His books include Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, Everyday Holiness, and With Heart in Mind.
OUR TEAM
Presented in Alphabetical Order
Dianne Benmayor
Business Manager
Dianne brings a wealth of experience in customer service and management gained in the luxury giftware industry. She is a certified yoga instructor with more than 500 hours of teaching experience. She teaches and has taught yoga, including Mussar Yoga, at a variety of locations including the Mayerson JCC, Wise Temple, and other congregations. She discovered Mussar after being enlightened by one of her students about Edith Brotman’s book, Mussar Yoga, and through the book she found TMI. She lives with her husband in Cincinnati, OH. They have two grown children and a beloved granddaughter.
Rivka Felsher
Chief Operating Officer
Rivka has 25 years of experience in business administration, nonprofit management, private and public higher education administration and instruction, private congregational school leadership and instruction, educational consulting, and freelance editing and writing. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and is an avid potter and painter. Rivka resides in Southeast Florida with her family.
Avi Fertig
Chief Programming Officer
Rabbi Avi Fertig serves as the Chief Programming Officer at The Mussar Institute, where he has been guiding courses and programs since 2010. Avi's educational background includes studying at the Yeshiva of Ner Israel in Baltimore, followed by a move to Israel in 1997. During his time at the Mir Yeshivah in Jerusalem, he developed a close bond with Rabbi Reuvain Leuchter, a prominent disciple of Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, a renowned authority in Mussar. Since then, Avi has been studying, writing, and teaching Mussar to a wide audience, impacting thousands of students. He is also the author of two books on Torah and Mussar. Avi resides in Beit Shemesh with his wife, Estie, their children, and their recently born grandson, Ariel.
Devorah Fuchs
Director of Marketing and Design
Devorah Fuchs, with over 20 years of experience in marketing and business in Israel and the US, is dedicated to strengthening Israeli and Jewish communities through innovative strategies. Holding a BA in Communications and an MBA with a focus on Marketing, she resides in Austin, TX, where she actively volunteers in the local Jewish and Israeli community. Devorah is passionate about fostering connections and leaving a positive impact on the world.
Eric Gurvis
Director of Community Programming and Public Relations
Eric is a graduate of SUNY-Albany and was ordained at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Eric has served congregations in New York City; Jackson, MS; Teaneck, NJ; Newton, MA; and Ashland, MA. He will be serving as Interim Rabbi at his former congregation in Jackson, MS from July 2024-June 2025.
Eric facilitates Mussar groups in the Greater Boston area and in Western Massachusetts.
He and his wife, Laura Kizner Gurvis are blessed with four children and five grandchildren.
Moe Howard
Coordinator of Outreach Programs
Moe is a fourth-year student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and has been a student of Mussar since 2018. He currently serves as the rabbinic intern and religious school rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and teaches Bible at Valley Beth Shalom Day School. In the past, he has worked at the Brandeis Camp Institute; Congregation Or Tzion in Scottsdale, Arizona; and most recently in the Spiritual Care Department at Cedars–Sinai Medical Center. Moe considers it a privilege to be part of the TMI community and looks forward to sharing the wisdom of Mussar with his own congregation in the future.
Palmer Rubin
Digital Assets and Communications Associate
Palmer Rubin has worked in Jewish nonprofit spaces, marketing, and communications for nearly seven years, with experience at the Breman Museum, Bend the Arc, and Repair the World. Palmer received a Master of Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Helaine Sheias
Director of Facilitator and Program Development
Helaine Sheias, Ph.D., made Aliyah to Israel in her teens, served in the IDF, and settled in Israel for more than two decades. She is a graduate of The Mussar Institute Yesod Facilitator Training Program and the Manchim Advanced Facilitator Training. She is currently the Director of Facilitator and Program Development at TMI, after joining the TMI Staff a few years ago.
Helaine continues to facilitate a variety of TMI courses. She co-created the Tapestry course with Nancy Weiss. In her Va'adim she facilitates circles of transformation and change by modeling spiritual awakening, and self-reflexive learning, or Hitlamdut. Facilitating Mussar courses offers Helaine a continuous sense of awe and wonderment as it continuously strengthens her personal spiritual practice.
Helaine currently resides near Haifa Israel and is blessed with 2 amazingly wondrous grandchildren and three adult children, who all bring her great nachas and joy.
Evie Weinstein
Co-Chair Facilitator Development Council
Evie Weinstein has spent most of her professional life in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal work. Her career started in Jewish camping as the Assistant Director of Camp Lakeland and directing the Children and Youth Departments at the JCC of Greater Buffalo.
Evie became the Executive Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Buffalo and the Principal of the High School of Jewish Studies. It is there she was introduced to Mussar and Alan Morinis through Lead with Jewish Values, a Mussar Institute course for professional staff. Evie was trained as a Mussar Facilitator in Manchim and thus her relationship with The Mussar Institute began.
Evie has facilitated many TMI courses, has consulted and worked with Alan on the Challenges and Choices TMI course for teens, and is now on the Facilitator Task Force. She has attended many TMI Kallot.
Nancy Weiss
Director of Manchim Facilitator Training
Nancy Weiss, LCSW, is a depth psychotherapist, spiritual director, and Mussar facilitator dedicated to helping others discover unique pathways to their soul’s expression. She facilitates local and online Mussar groups and is a member of TMI’s Facilitator Development Council. As Coordinator of Manchim, the Facilitator Training Program for The Mussar Institute, she was privileged to work closely with Alan to create the current Manchim curriculum. Nancy collaborated with two Mussar practitioners to create a deck of 90 Mussar cards titled, “Lights of Mussar™ Cards for Creating a Balanced Life.” A collage artist, poet, and SoulCollage® facilitator, Nancy guides people in bringing an expressive voice to the Mussar traits and spiritual principles. Her collage art appears in Midrashic Mirrors, which illustrates the richness of creating art to reflect the essence of each Torah portion.
Harvey Winokur
Co-Chair Facilitator Development Council and Director of Yesod
Rabbi Winokur, Co-Chair of the Facilitator Development Council and Director of Yesod, is a native of New York. He received his B.A. from SUNY at Buffalo, and his M.A. and Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Kehillat Chaim, a Reform congregation in Roswell, Georgia, which he founded in 1982. Rabbi Winokur is a Facilitator/Trainer for Prepare-Enrich, an organization that administers premarital/marital needs assessments, a certified Spiritual Director, and a Trainer-Facilitator for The Mussar Institute.
Check out these great resources!
Books by Alan Morinis
Mussar Chants
Mussar Classics