Leadership
Lay Leadership
Run by the community, for the community
Founded by a group of dedicated Masorti parents in 2018, The Havurah is run by its members, through a lay leadership structure.
Our current Co-Chairs are Nic Schlagman and Dan Whine; they are supported by an active group of volunteer members, each of whom lends their energy, ideas and even their homes to making our Havurah events and services as joyful and meaningful as possible.
This lay leadership team is supported and guided by other experienced leaders, who bring valuable knowledge from their own professional fields.
Rosh Havurah
Rabbi Zahavit Shalev
Zahavit joined The Havurah in September 2026, the first person to take up the new role of ‘Rosh Havurah’. The community is thrilled to have such an experienced jewish leader and educator at this exciting time in our development.
Zahavit will be running the majority of our Saturday morning Shabbat B’boker events, as well as joining us for many of the festivals to lead our family learning, music, and prayer.
Ordained at Leo Baeck College in 2019, Rabbi Zahavit is a prominent educator within British Masorti life. Rabbi Zahavit spent over ten years as part of the rabbinic team at New North London Synagogue (NNLS). She also brings deep expertise in adult learning, family education, and inclusive community building.
Zahavit is an exceptional teacher, passionate about midrash, liturgy, and traditional Jewish text, with a longstanding commitment to communal singing and accessible Jewish literacy.
Rabbi Oliver Spike Joseph
Community Rabbi
Rabbi Oliver Spike Joseph is the founding Rabbi of the Havurah and was our Rabbi for over five years. We now benefit from his presence as a member and his support with halacha (religious law) and adult learning, as well as when community members need pastoral care and during life events.
Rabbi Oliver qualified as a Rabbi in Los Angeles at the Zeigler School for Rabbinic Studies and studied at the Conservative Yeshiva and Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University.
