Our Story

Divorce & Discovery: New Visions for Jewish Healing was founded when one person’s personal but not uncommon crisis—divorce —revealed an astonishing reality: there is no coherent response to Jewish divorce. Jewish folks who have separated from a spouse are liturgical orphans: their spiritual and social needs are unmet and pastoral care is, as yet, not standardized.

This vast and varied subset of our community is entirely overlooked.

Our Team

Deborah Newbrun

Rabbi Deborah is a nationally recognized, award-winning Jewish educator. Her groundbreaking work, Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, helped pioneer the integration of Jewish values with environmental stewardship.

Two decades and a personal journey through divorce later, Deborah founded Divorce & Discovery: New Visions for Jewish Healing, addressing a critical and previously unmet need within the Jewish communal landscape.

In 2018, Deborah received the prestigious Covenant Award in Jewish Education. In 2021, she completed her rabbinic training at the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary. Deborah is especially proud of developing innovative programs and best practices that have become field-wide standards, and of building radically inclusive Jewish institutions. Since 2013, she has coached and mentored Jewish resident camp directors nationwide.

Deborah is the proud mother of two loving sons and lives in Sonoma County, California.

Founder & Executive Director

Davina Drabkin

Davina Drabkin is a seasoned leader and the COO of Divorce & Discovery, where she partners with leadership to scale the organization’s reach, strengthen its rabbinic clergy and alumni networks, and ensure that Jewish ritual and community-building continue to provide a path toward healing and dignity for those navigating divorce. Davina holds a BA in Psychology from U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Previously she spearheaded large-scale culture and inclusion programs at Stanford University and served for over a decade as a publicly elected school board trustee. She personally benefited from the transformative power of the Divorce & Discovery Jewish Healing Retreat at its inauguration in 2022, sharing that it was the first time that she experienced profound healing around her divorce. Davina now blends her operational expertise with a mission-driven heart to help others find hope, healing and community through Jewish ritual.

Chief Operating Officer

Administrative Director

Liz Chenok

Liz Chenok is the Administrative Director of Divorce & Discovery, where she supports our participants and leaders alike to ensure smooth and life-changing programming. Liz is also the Director of Family Camps and Retreats at Camp Tawonga, where she has supported many Divorce & Discovery programs. In her work at Tawonga, she oversees programming for families and adults at Camp outside of the summer.

Liz received an Honors Bachelor degree in Sociology from Whitman College. In her free time, Liz loves to spend time outside, swim in any natural body of water, pratice yoga, dance and cook! She lives in Berkeley with her partner.

You’re
Welcome Here.

Divorce & Discovery in the News

The Denver Post features Divorce & Discovery ahead of our retreat there August 21-24, 2025. Click here to read.
The Jewish Review makes Divorce & Discovery the cover story, promoting our retreat in Portland (October 2024). Click here to read.
Click here to watch Divorce & Discovery COO Wendy Kesser discuss why divorce coaching can be such a game changer.
Read a feature “Jewish divorce retreat creates room to grieve and heal at Camp Tawonga” in the J. Weekly here.
Read article “This rabbi is innovating rituals for Jews who have gotten divorced” from the Jerusalem Post here.
Read “Healing from Divorce, at Camp” in the Times of Israel here.
Read this powerful opinion piece in J, “How the Jewish community can do divorce better”, written by Rabbi Deborah Newbrun about why she developed Divorce & Discovery.
Read “New Jewish rituals for divorce find creative uses for tradition” from Plus 61J Media here.
Listen to Divorce & Discovery founder Rabbi Deborah Newbrun share the vision and origin story of this retreat on the “Judaism Unbound” podcast.

Vision

Retreats

Our retreats provide Jewish healing in community so that those who are suffering find their way back to wholeness through retreats guided by Jewish healing rituals, community, friendship, deep Jewish learning and professional expertise.
Professional Training

Our clergy and Jewish educator trainings offer Jewish professionals tools and best practices to help them support their divorcing community members.
Ongoing Support

Our monthly zoom calls offer alumni ongoing Jewish learning, insights into contemporary divorce issues and connections within a Jewish divorced community.
Community Care

As Jewish Divorce Consultants Deborah and Wendy work together to respond to your community's particular questions and needs.

“It turns out, what I really needed for full closure and to move into my future with hope and optimism, was healing in my own language, in my own culture.”

Past Participant
“The Divorce and Discovery weekend at Camp Tawonga exceeded all expectations. The rituals created by the incredible leaders felt so natural, as if Judaism was always meant to support the (unfortunate) life-cycle event of Divorce.”

Past Participant
“Divorce camp was a beautiful experience for me. Hearing other people’s divorce stories and leaning into the wisdom that Judaism has to offer helped me move forward in my healing process in this painful journey.”

Past Paricipant
“A friend asked me how the retreat was, and my response was ‘life changing.’"

Past Participant

Community

We welcome all people seeking healing from divorce including our JOC and LGBTQ identifying community members.

FAQs

Our retreats support people who feel broken and in pain following a separation from a close romantic partner. You do not need to have been married to attend, nor do you need to have officially divorced. If you aren’t sure if the program is right for you, email your questions to Rabbi Deborah Newbrun at deborah@divorceanddiscovery.org
While you don’t have to be Jewish to attend, anyone who joins should have an open mind and an interest in Judaism. A major focus of the retreat will be engaging in Jewish rituals and practices as a way to process and heal from divorce. We expect all types of Jews and Jew adjacent folks to attend.
If you have made the final decision to no longer be with your life partner, and want to experience healing through Jewish ritual, then this is the right program for you. If you’re not sure, please contact Rabbi Deborah Newbrun at deborah@divorceanddiscovery.org She will be happy to discuss it with you.
The pain and suffering caused by divorce can stay with us for a very long time. Our programs will still have much value for you, no matter how many years have passed since your divorce.
We can’t be sure who will sign up, but many of our leaders identify as LGBTQ and we are committed to inclusion and celebration of all people. We anticipate having LGBTQ as well as straight participants and welcome everyone.