Rabbi Michael G. Holzman is a former Fellow of the Kogod Research Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, the spiritual leader of Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation (NVHC), and the creator of the Rebuilding Democracy Project, the winner of the 2019 Lippman Kanfer Prize for Applied Jewish Wisdom.  Since 2016 he has collaborated with local and national organizations to investigate the intersection of faith and democracy.   Prior to serving NVHC, Rabbi Holzman served Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia, PA and Congregación B’nei Israel in San Jose, Costa Rica. Michael graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University in St. Louis, and received rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion at the New York campus.  He hails from Miami and Islamorada, Florida, and lives with his wife, Nicole, their two children, and their Covid-canine, Rosie, in Reston, Virginia.