The Media is the Message: Bringing Israel to Life for Teens

Yehonatan (Hona) Dodge is Education Associate at Unpacked for Educators, a division of OpenDor Media. Previously, Hona served as Head of Jewish Life (experiential Jewish education) at Leibler Yavneh College in Melbourne, Australia. At Yavneh, he taught Israel education, Jewish studies, and history. Hona has degrees in Law, Commerce and Education and is currently pursuing a masters in Jewish History at Bar Ilan University.

Rebekkah Gold is a passionate educator with over ten years of experience in the fields of Jewish and Israel education. As the Director of Israel Education with RootOne at The Jewish Education Project, Bekkah focuses on creating RootOne's Israel education strategy for teens participating in immersive summer Israel experiences, working closely with stakeholders from North America and Israel. She is dedicated to creating dynamic learning environments that allow teens and the professionals with whom they work to explore their identities, Jewish connections, and relationships with Israel.

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.

Max is thrilled to be at The iCenter, where he works between the worlds of content and facilitation. Within The iCenter, he holds the role of Education Content Coordinator. In this capacity, he creates new educational resources, imagines creative opportunities for their use in real-world, in-person settings, and strives to bridge the two areas. Ultimately, his goal is to help everyone find their unique way into a life of learning and educating.

After graduating from Dartmouth College, where he focused his studies on the Middle East, religion, and linguistics, Max got his MA at Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies.

Mina Rush is the National Director of Classroom Education for StandWithUs. With a master's degree in education and a master's certification in Israel education, Mina regularly presents at Jewish educators’ and leadership conferences. Grounded in an experiential, and relational educational philosophy, Mina created IsraelLINK, an online based, learner-centered approach focused on Israel exploration through the prism of identity and values. IsraelLINK has been implemented in 500 educational institutions and has inspired over 23,000 students to integrate Israel into their Jewish identity-building process.