Rabbi Uri Ayalon – Founder

Born in Argentina, Uri moved to Israel in 1977 at age 7. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Schechter Institute. Uri grew up in the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood of Jerusalem, and did his military service in a Nachal unit with his peers from the Masorti youth movement (NOAM). Following his military service, he worked in a number of educational and social positions in the framework of the Masorti and Reform movements in Israel. Uri’s fieldwork position for his rabbinic training is with Ma’ayan Hahinuch Hademokrati, a non-profit devoted to grassroots community education in disadvantaged neighborhoods across Israel. In this framework, he has founded and runs a Jewish-Arab summer camp for disadvantaged children in Jerusalem.

In 2003, Uri founded the Yotzer Or community based in low-income housing located in Talpiot, a Jerusalem neighborhood. This innovative community model begins with the needs of the population, with the goal of creating a vibrant Jewish and Israeli community that touches on central questions important to its members in everyday life, and provides a response at the various levels of community. Creative activity is the driving force behind the community, and its varied programming includes activities geared to all ages, families, the community, and the entire neighborhood. In addition, Uri served  as an educational consultant for the Israeli Air Force and worked with Conservative congregations in Spain. Uri, his wife Rivka, and their daughters Ofir and Adi live in Jerusalem, in the Talpiot neighborhood.

Uri also officiates Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies mainly at the Robinson Arch site in Jerusalem and Weddings all around Israel.