16 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020

IN
THE
JEWS D
ON THE COVER

for both Horwitz’s tenure and
Stombaugh’s, knew the transi-
tion was part of the mission.
“
As an organization that really
champions the idea of innova-
tion, we are always interested in
change,
” she said. “
Anyone who’s
in that role is going to champi-
on innovation and progress.
”
To replace the passion and
vibrancy that Horwitz brought
to the role, The Well would
need a singular figure to step up
into the director’s seat. When
the 35-year-old Stombaugh
came in for an interview,
Yedwab said, it was clear from
the outset he was that figure.
“It’s like getting someone
from the major leagues,
”
Yedwab said. “Jeff is the oppo-
site of an alienating personality.
It’s hard not to be drawn into
his sphere.
”

A NEW LEADER
Stombaugh grew up in an
interfaith household in the
Seattle suburb of Kenmore.
His Jewish mother founded an
independent Jewish day school
in Seattle, where Stombaugh
himself would work as an edu-
cator after college; his father
was originally from Garden
City, Mich., and converted to
Judaism later in life.
Stombaugh had a strong
Reform Jewish upbringing
that was also interspersed
with spiritual aspects from
Buddhism and Daoism. After
participating in the Alexander
Muss High School in Israel
program, his Jewish identity
“blossomed,” and he set off
on a path toward profession-
al spiritual leadership that
took him through Hebrew
Union College and a stint
in Los Angeles working at
the University of Southern
California Hillel.

While in LA, Stombaugh
met Belsky on the dating app
Hinge. Stephanie, an expert
in digital media outreach, had
helped launch the marketing
department for the popu-
lar online comedy platform
CollegeHumor.
They matched right before
the High Holidays, every
rabbi’s busiest time of year, so
their second date was break-
fast on Erev Rosh Hashanah
morning. That was also when
Stombaugh told her he had
been selected to become a
rabbinical fellow at Mishkan
Chicago, a progressive experi-
mental congregation that was
seeing rapid expansion among
young adult Jews looking for
an alternative to the tradition-
al synagogue model.
That could have been the
end. But ultimately, Belsky
decided to come to Chicago
with Jeff. The rest, as they say,
is history.

At Mishkan, Stombaugh’s
talent for connecting with
people shone through. “He’s
really easy to talk to,” Rabbi
Lizzi Heydemann, Mishkan’s
founder and spiritual leader,
told the JN. “He genuinely
does care about people’s lives.”
Heydemann noted Stombaugh
was especially adept at craft-
ing videos and web content
for Mishkan — an important
skill for maintaining Judaism
during a pandemic.
In 2020, as Stombaugh’s
fellowship with Mishkan was
wrapping up, the position at
The Well became available.
He and Belsky paid a visit
to Detroit for the interview,
where, says Yedwab, both of
them wowed the selection
committee.
At the airport on the way
back, Stombaugh recalled,
“both of us were really looking
at each other and felt, in our
kishkes, like there’s something

here that we really like … This
is the next place to be.”
Stombaugh accepted the
job. The couple moved to
Royal Oak in the summer and
Belsky now works for Gyro
Creative, a PR agency based in
Detroit. They have begun their
new lives as Jewish Detroit
leaders.

“DOING JEWISH”
Those involved with The Well
say that, while Horwitz and
Stombaugh have very different
visions and leadership styles,
they are united in their desire to
make The Well great.
And the two have become
friendly, too — bonding over
the shared experience of mov-
ing to new cities mid-pandemic
for jobs that involve Jewish rela-
tionship-building.
Central to Stombaugh’s
approach? A belief in lowering
the barrier to entry for Jewish
life.

continued from page 15

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE THE RIGHT THINGS,
YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW ALL THE WORDS

TO BE JEWISH.”

— RABBI JEFF STOMBAUGH

JERRY ZOLYNSKY/JEWISH NEWS

Rabbi Jeff Stombaugh and

Rebbetzin Stephanie Belsky

host a virtual sufganiyot-making

session via Zoom as part of The

Well’s “Chanukah in a Box.”

continued on page 18