The Israel Learning Ladder: Long Island

Sivan Zakai, PhD, is the Sara S. Lee Associate Professor of Jewish Education at HUC-JIR/Los Angeles. Her books include My Second Favorite Country: How American Jewish Children Think About Israel (winner of a 2022 National Jewish Book Award) and Teaching Israel: Studies of Pedagogy from the Field. 
 

Mikhael Kesher is a curator of educational experiences and resources, whose professional passion is supporting Jewish educators and learners in building informed, constructive, and committed relationships with am yisrael (the Jewish people) and medinat yisrael (the Jewish state). As a British-born Israeli-by-choice and new American, he cares deeply about strengthening each Jew’s connection to global Jewry. Before joining The Jewish Education Project as Director, Israel Education, Mikhael worked at Harvard Hillel, MIT Hillel, and Hebrew College. He holds Master’s degrees in Philosophy (University of Cambridge), Near Eastern & Judaic Studies (Brandeis University), and Jewish professional leadership (Brandeis University). At home, Mikhael is an avid reader, ḥevruta enthusiast, and devoted abba to two young children.

Loen Amer has been an experiential Jewish educator working with teens since she was one herself! She has served at Temple Israel of Great Neck as the Director of Teen and Community Engagement, and at Bet Torah in Mt Kisco–first as their Director of Youth Engagement, and then as their Director of Experiential Learning for Children and Teens. Loen has also worked for Ramah Israel, the Hillel at Hofstra University, Woodbury Jewish Center, and Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights. 

Loen has a voracious love for lifelong Jewish learning, and most recently studied Torah le’shmah, Torah for its own sake, at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. She lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side and enjoys baking and reading.