Rabbi Dimitry Ekshtut
Based-In Rabbi
Rabbi Dimitry Ekshtut is our Based-In Rabbi for Harlem. Born in Leningrad, USSR, Dimitry immigrated with his family at the age of five to Philadelphia, PA. He is an educator, musician, and builder of Jewish community.
While in middle and high school, he fell in love with the guitar, motivating him to move to New York and pursue a career as a professional musician. Dimitry has had an active career teaching music in public, private, and charter schools throughout New York City. Since 2016, Dimitry has worked to build Jewish community in Harlem. Dimitry directs Based in Harlem, a pluralistic, home-based, rabbi-led Jewish community through which he has welcomed over 3,000 unique individuals to his home for shabbat, holiday celebrations, learning, and service opportunities. He is also a co-founder of Kehillat Harlem, a progressive orthodox synagogue and prayer community in Upper Manhattan, and serves as an adjunct professor of Jewish Studies at City College of New York.
Dimitry holds a Bachelor’s of Music (Jazz Performance) degree and a Master’s of Music Education, both from New York University. He received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT). He lives in Harlem with his wife, Erica, and their two daughters, Maayan and Dalia.
