Originally published in The Jewish News on Jan. 25, 2021
Rabbi Ari Witkin
Rabbi Ari Witkin is the director of leadership development at the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit.
A graduate of Goucher College, Ari also holds a Masters in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, and rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow.
Raised in Minneapolis, he has lived and worked in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Uganda and Jerusalem.
At Federation, Ari combines his love of Jewish tradition and community. He is passionate about building diverse leadership pipelines that represent the full spectrum of Jewish life.
The great joy of his job is supporting Metro Detroiters leadership in the work of building and strengthening our community. In addition to his role at Federation, he currently serves as the part-time rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Bay City.
He and his wife, Liz Traison, live in Huntington Woods with their son Hadar and three backyard chickens.
