Mem Global, a leading organization in Jewish young adult community building, announced Rabbi Dimitry Ekshtut as the head of Base Manhattan, a new and expanded Base hub serving Jewish young adults across Manhattan. A spiritual leader, musician, and Jewish educator, Rabbi Dimitry brings more than a decade of experience cultivating vibrant Jewish life among Jewish young adults in New York City. Under his leadership, Base Manhattan will thrive as the next evolution of the Base model, offering a vital home for young adults who are seeking meaningful Jewish connection with a rabbi and with their peers.

Prior to launching Base Manhattan, Rabbi Dimitry and his wife Erica Frankel led the Base Harlem hub since 2017. Through Base, rabbis host Jewish programming out of their homes, creating engaging, pluralistic spaces for young adults in their 20s and 30s to explore Jewish life and learning. With an innovative approach rooted in relational community building, Rabbi Dimitry and Erica created a flourishing ecosystem of Jewish life in Harlem, gathering thousands of young adults for Shabbat dinners, Torah study, holiday celebrations, and service projects. In 2025 alone, Base Harlem hosted 122 programs for 1,886 total participants.

“For nearly a decade, our home in Harlem has been a gathering place where young adults could encounter Judaism not as an institution, but as a living tradition: something to learn, question, sing, wrestle with, and celebrate together,” Rabbi Dimitry said. “Base Manhattan is an opportunity to expand that spirit of relational community building across the city, creating spaces where Jewish learning is alive, friendships are real, and people feel that they truly belong.”

Added Rabbi Adam Gindea, Vice President of Base and Rabbinic Innovation at Mem Global, “Rabbi Dimitry and Erica have been a part of the Base story since its inception. They live, breathe, and intimately know this work and project having operated Base Harlem in a part-time capacity for almost a decade. It is remarkable to reflect on the work they have accomplished in engaging and building a robust and thriving young adult community in Harlem. Their wisdom, experience, and insights will help continue to grow and evolve the Base platform forging a model for a modern, relevant, and relational-based rabbinate. We are very excited for all that lies ahead as they step into a full-time Base as the leaders of Base Manhattan.”