Aleph Military Staff

Rabbi Sanford L. Dresin, Chaplain (COL), USA Ret.

Director of Military Programs, Endorser

Rabbi Dresin serves as Aleph’s Director of Military Programs and Endorser for US military, VA and Secret Service chaplains. Prior to coming to Aleph, he served for over 26 years as an active duty Army Chaplain, retiring with the rank of Colonel.

Among his military assignments were: Assistant Corps Chaplain, Vietnam; the faculty, US Army Chaplain School and Center; Chief of Personnel Actions, Office Chief of Chaplains, Pentagon; Division Chaplain 2d Infantry Division, Korea; Chief of Chaplains, 7th Medical Command, Europe; and Chief of the Department of Ministry and Pastoral Care, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Among his military awards and decorations are: the Legion of Merit, two awards; the Bronze Star, two awards; and the Meritorious Service Medal, four awards; Army Commendation Medal, two awards; and the Vietnam Service Medal.

He has served on the Executive Committee of the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF). Currently, he serves as the Rabbi for the Pentagon.

Chaplain, Major Elie Estrin, USAFR

Military Personnel Liaison, Executive Assistant to the Endorser

Rabbi Elie Estrin serves as the Aleph Institute’s Military Personnel Liaison and Executive Assistant to the Endorser. Chaplain Estrin commissioned into the US Air Force in 2014 as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee Jewish chaplain, and he is currently assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing, at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, FL. He is also the editor of Aleph’s Jewish-American Warrior bi-monthly magazine. He and his wife Chaya Rochel are the coauthors of a book, “Of Medicine, Miracles and Mindsets.” The Estrins live in Fort Lauderdale, FL with their six children.

Aleph Institute Executive Leadership

Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Founder and Chairman

Since receiving ordination from the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn in 1968, Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar has been an emissary in Miami for the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In 1969 he founded the Landow Yeshiva Center in Miami Beach, Florida. He has served as its principal and dean of its elementary school, yeshivah academy, and high school, and was responsible for training its rabbinical students.

In 1981, he founded The Shul of Bal Harbour. As its head Rabbi, he is both the spiritual leader and educational programmer for all ages. Also in 1981, Rabbi Lipskar founded the Aleph Institute and the Educational Academy for the Elderly. Rabbi Lipskar has created alternative punishment philosophies and developed unique educational opportunities for the general public in the field of treatment of closed populations.

He also directs the pioneering Educational Academy for the Elderly. Rabbi Lipskar is the founder and chief organizer of the Miami International Conferences on Torah and Science.

Rabbi Aaron Lipskar

Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director

After concluding formal Talmudic and rabbinic studies in the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in New York, Rabbi Lipskar studied in Israel, receiving rabbinical ordination from the Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

Rabbi Lipskar began serving as an Aleph volunteer conducting national prison visits in 1995, and joined the organization as a full-time employee in 2000.  A highlight of his Aleph experiences includes conducting High Holiday services at GTMO for Jewish military service members.

He now oversees all aspects of the organization including: board and program development, finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and government relations with the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Corrections nationwide.

Rabbi Mendy Katz

Director of Outreach Programs

Rabbi Mendy Katz serves as Aleph’s Director of Outreach Programs. He directs Aleph’s extensive supply infrastructure, ensuring that military and prison personnel have the all Jewish religious supplies and study material they need. Rabbi Katz grew up in Miami Beach, Florida and graduated from Yeshiva Oholei Torah, in New York, in 1992. Two years later, he was ordained by Rabbi Yekusiel Farkash, and started working for Aleph shortly thereafter.

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