Rabbi Andrew Kaplan Mandel joined Central Synagogue full-time in 2023 after serving as the spiritual leader of The Neighborhood, our worldwide online community, as an intern for two years.

Raised in Rockland County, New York, Andrew earned his bachelor's degree in American history and literature at Harvard College, his master's degree in educational technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and his doctorate in adult learning and leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University.  Andrew began his career as a seventh-grade English teacher in South Texas and then spent 16 years designing the national leadership programming at Teach For America. In 2014, he co-founded Strong East Ramapo, a volunteer advocacy organization addressing educational inequity in his hometown. 

Seeking to connect spiritual nourishment with the pursuit of a more just world, Andrew entered Hebrew Union College in 2018 and has served as a pastoral intern at Union Temple, social justice intern at Orangetown Jewish Center, student rabbi at Temple Sinai of Newington, and an online Jewish curriculum designer and facilitator for leaders supported by the Schusterman Foundation. Andrew is an alumnus of the New York Wexner Heritage Program, the Froman Fellowship with the New Israel Fund, the year-long Hartman Institute Rabbinic Seminar, the 92nd Street Y Jewish Innovation Fellowship, the “Be Wise” fellowship, the Tisch Fellowship and Atra Center for Rabbinic Innovation. He is also the founder of Tzedek Box (www.tzedekbox.org), a new ritual in service of the Jewish call for justice, and was named one of New York Jewish Week’s “36 to Watch” in 2023. 

Andrew lives with his partner, Mozart, in Long Island City, Queens, and loves cooking, singing, running, and spending time with his two Brooklyn-based nephews.