Our Staff
Noa Kushner (she/her)
Founder + Rabbi
Rabbi Noa Kushner founded The Kitchen in 2011 in response to friends who were looking for an informal, transformative shabbat experience that they couldn’t find. Along the way, she crashed head first into what has now been well documented as a generational trend away from many established religious institutions. The Kitchen quickly grew from a local shabbat experiment into an active doorway for San Francisco’s Gen X and Millenials looking for serious Jewish life. Through an emphasis on first-hand experience and “doing jewish” over pedigree, The Kitchen has become an international resource, growing to serve thousands of modern families annually in seven years.
In working with IDEO and by emphasizing design + communications, The Kitchen has also changed the ways religion is perceived and integrated into daily life. After graduating with a degree in Religious Studies at Brown, Kushner was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1998. She then served as a Hillel Rabbi for both Sarah Lawrence College and Stanford University.
The Kitchen has been featured internationally in Ha’aretz, Tablet, The Forward, and Medium. Kushner has been profiled in SF Magazine’s Power Issue and the final Newsweek / Daily Beast: Rabbis to Watch list. Her written work appears in many publications including, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, and the Prayers of Awe series.
Noa is married to Michael Lezak, the Rabbi at GLIDE. Together they have three daughters: Zella, Bluma and Minna.
Email Rabbi Noa
Spencer Weiss (he/him)
Executive Director
Spencer Weiss is originally from Long Island, New York. After graduating from Binghamton University, he began his professional career in business strategy and technology consulting with Accenture in its Capital Markets Business Unit. Spencer gained his business foundation there with clients such as JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and GE Capital.
After seven years in the corporate world, Spencer followed his passion for food and beverage and began a career in hospitality. Working his way up to the Michelin starred restaurants in New York City, he then followed a unique opportunity to move with his wife Tammi and daughter Magnolia, to the Napa Valley and join the burgeoning Bay Area restaurant scene.
Most recently, Spencer was Director of Operations for the Quince & Co Restaurant Group in San Francisco. After years of developing close relationships with guests and communities in hospitality, Spencer has found his calling at The Kitchen.
Spencer’s connection to Jewish life has been cultivated by his extended family on the East Coast. His fond family memories of holiday gatherings have drawn him to The Kitchen, where he is excited to partner with the team.
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Asher Shasho Levy (he/him)
Hazzan
A native of Los Angeles, Asher Shasho Levy is an accomplished oud player, multi-instrumentalist, hazzan, educator, and scholar of Sephardic tradition.
An honors graduate of the University of Southern California, Asher has performed internationally in a variety of musical settings dedicated to the musical heritage of Syrian Jewry, where his paternal family originates. At a young age, Asher began studying the oud, Sephardic music and hazzanut with his father, Rabbi Jay Shasho Levy.
Growing up in the Los Angeles Sephardic community, Asher was blessed with the opportunity to study with learned hazzanim, teachers, and elders of Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian, Turkish, Greek, Moroccan, and Persian backgrounds, from whom he learned hazzanut and a wide variety of piyyutim and baqashot and music. For many years, Asher collaborated with Hazzan Hillel Tigay and the IKAR davening team, introducing elements of Sephardic music and tefillah to the IKAR community. Most recently, Asher has served as artist-in-residence at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue, artist/researcher in residence at the HUC Jewish Language Project, teacher at Milken Community Schools, and Jewish educator throughout the Los Angeles area.
Drawing from his Syrian background and a multiplicity of influences from through the Jewish diaspora and beyond, Asher brings a huge wealth of prayers, melodies, and traditions, helping us to explore new possibilities.
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Mor Shimonie (she/her)
Director of Family Education
Rabbi Mor Shimonie is a Jewish community entrepreneur and educator. Born and raised in Israel, Mor is coming to San Francisco after over a decade in Tel-Aviv.
From 2015-2024, Mor was the head of Bina's secular yeshiva, founded the Bina House in India & the Bina community in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, serving as the spiritual and educational leader. She also developed the learning community department at Neve Schechter (a center for contemporary Jewish art and culture) and the coalition for Israeli Judaism with the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality.
Mor loves learning and teaching Jewish life and wisdom and helping others connect and reclaim their Jewish story and identity.
Mor received her ordination by the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem in September 2024. Mor was also a fellow at the Honey Foundation for Community Spiritual Leadership in Israel, is a graduate of the Mandel Institute, and holds a bachelor's degree in Jewish philosophy and Bible, along with a teaching diploma from Tel Aviv University.
Mor is coming to San Francisco with her wife Roni and their dog Shuli, and is very excited to join The Kitchen team and lead Family Education in the community. She is always happy to talk about India, gardening, TikTok, Israel, weddings, microclimates, and the possibility of transformation in community.
Sophie Stimola (she/her)
Director of Marketing & Communications
Sophie grew up in San Francisco with a deep love and appreciation for the city. She studied Business Entrepreneurship at the University of San Francisco, but credits her passion and tenacity for life as what has led her to a career in community building. Sophie has worked on the brand marketing teams at Modern Citizen, dosist, and Caliva, creating networks of brand loyalists and enthusiasts. She has a passion for engaging the community through experiential events and marketing campaigns.
Her connection to Judaism has always remained faithful but it wasn’t until she joined The Kitchen as a member in 2016 with her Jew-ish husband Anthony, that she truly learned how to do Jewish. Rabbi Noa married Sophie & Anthony in May 2017 and the rest is history.
When not working you can find Sophie training her rescue dog Morris, trying out new recipes from America’s Test Kitchen, or with making friends anywhere and everywhere.
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Kayla Pollak (they/them)
Youth & Young Adult Program Director
Kayla loves building community at The Kitchen. They have long been passionate about how we can be more caring with each other and close to God.
Before joining The Kitchen, Kayla worked on the development team at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and as a public benefits paralegal at New York Legal Assistance Group. They have experience as a collaborative leader at Romemu, a spiritual community in Manhattan, and the Lake Merritt Moishe House, a Jewish community hub for young adults.
Kayla studied Human Rights and Jewish Ethics at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary and they are originally from Chumash land outside of Los Angeles.
Kayla’s most formative experiences include being an older sister, winters in NYC, and every time they go in the ocean.
Email Kayla
Faisal Zedan (he/him)
Master Percussionist
Born in Lebanon and raised in Syria, Faisal is an accomplished Arabic percussionist dedicated to preserving and teaching the rich traditions of Arabic music and drumming. With over two decades of experience, he has been actively involved in teaching and performing Arabic and Middle Eastern music since 1996.
Faisal's repertoire spans various Arabic music genres, including classical, regional Arabic, and belly dance music. Additionally, he is skilled in performing Greek, Balkan, and Eastern European music genres, showcasing his versatility as a percussionist.
In his role as an educator, Faisal offers private lessons, workshops, seminars, and teaches at music camps both in the United States and abroad. His commitment to sharing his knowledge and passion for Arabic music has inspired countless students to delve deeper into this vibrant musical tradition.
Chris Ratcliff (he/him)
Chef-in-Residence
Chris is a private chef and Bay Area native who brings true Michelin cred to our shabbat and holiday dinners. Growing up visiting farmers markets and foraging for mushrooms and huckleberries at his family's ranch in Mendocino, Chris possesses a deep-rooted passion for local, seasonal, farm-fresh ingredients. His menus, crafted for each event, reflect his diverse culinary experiences and unwavering dedication to sourcing the finest quality ingredients.
Since attending Tante Marie Cooking School in San Francisco, Chris honed his skills at Three Michelin Starred Quince and the world-renowned Astrid y Gaston in Peru. He held the position of sous chef at Cotogna here in SF and his final restaurant role was as Chef de Cuisine at Seven Hills before transitioning to a career as a private chef.
Chris and his wife, Sandra, live in the East Bay with their children Lucia and Enzo. When they are not visiting Sandra’s home country of Peru for cultural and culinary inspiration, you will find Chris at our shabbat dinners dishing out amazing meals and sharing his recipes with the community.
Sadie (she/her)
Event & Hospitality Coordinator
Sadie has had a well-established varied career in the Bay Area food industry, including working at one of San Francisco's most celebrated vegetarian restaurants, Greens, for over 14 years. She is also a longstanding board member and representative The Gates Cooperative and is currently serving as its Secretary and Vice President.
Sadie was born and raised in the Sausalito houseboat community. She and her husband, Justin are fortunate to share the love of this unique lifestyle with their daughter Daisy, who is now a part of the 3rd generation living on the waterfront. In her free time, she loves to take her rowboat out on the bay with her family to watch the seals and pelicans dive for herring.
Sadie is passionate about supporting local non profit organizations and has run a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. Her love for food and people has carried through with The Kitchen, where she is now helping host Shabbat dinners with her new community.
Ryan Huber (he/him)
Audio Engineer
Ryan was raised in the coastal towns of Pacifica and Moss Beach. After graduating with degrees in Biology and Electronic Music from UC Santa Cruz, he moved to San Francisco. Unable to find gainful employment in the sciences, he instead pivoted to the performing arts. For more than a decade, he has worked as a live accompanist for modern dance classes at UC Berkeley, Stanford, Mills College, ODC and University of San Francisco. Additionally, he has composed music and performed with local dance ensembles such as Bandaloop, the Joe Goode Performance Group, Project Agora and Little Seismic.
In recent years, Ryan has taken on the role of live sound engineer at The Kitchen, El Rio and IATSE Local 16 stagehands union. He is thrilled to be immersed in the sounds of The Kitchen’s incredible davening team and very much enjoys singing along during Shabbat. In his free time, he practices yoga and goes on adventures with his niece and nephew.