The Path Forward: Your Post-October 7th Toolkit

Rabba Yaffa Epstein is the Senior Scholar and Educator in Residence at the Jewish Education Project. Formerly, she served as the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program at the Wexner Foundation. Epstein has also served as the Director of Education, North America for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and was a member of the faculty. She has served on the faculties of Yeshivat Maharat and the Drisha Institute. Epstein has served as an Educator and Scholar in Residence for the Dorot Fellowship, Moishe House, Jewish Federation of North America, the Covenant Foundation, the Nahum Goldmann Fellowship, Repair the World, the Meorot Fellowship, and the KADIMA Fellowship. She has lectured at numerous Limmud events around the globe, has written curriculum for the Global Day of Jewish Learning and has created innovative educational programming for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She received Rabbinic Ordination from Yeshivat Maharat, earned an additional private Ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes, holds a Law Degree from Bar-Ilan University, and studied at the Talmud Department at Hebrew University.

Rabba Epstein is passionate about making Jewish learning accessible and exciting, and creating learning environments that are welcoming, diverse, and inclusive to all who wish to participate. She has taught educators, rabbis and lay leaders from across the spectrum of Jewish denominations. Rabba Epstein is the winner of the prestigious Covenant Award.

Sarah Gordon is the Senior Director of Israel Education for Unpacked for Educators, a division of OpenDor Media. Previously, Sarah served as the Director of Israel Guidance and Experiential Education at Ma’ayanot High School, where she taught Talmud, and chaired a course on Contemporary Israel. Sarah holds dual masters degrees in Jewish Education and Modern Jewish History from Yeshiva University, where she is currently pursuing her Ed.D as a Wexner Fellow and Davidson Scholar.

Mikhael Reuven 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.

Mina Rush is the National Director of Middle School Education for StandWithUs. With a master's degree in education with a master's certification in Israel education, Mina has presented and has been a panelist at Jewish educators’ and leadership conferences. Grounded in an experiential, and relational educational philosophy, Mina created IsraelLINK, a learner-centered approach focused on Israel exploration through the prism of identity and values. IsraelLINK has been implemented in over 450 educational institutions across North America and has inspired over 19,000 students to integrate Israel into their Jewish identity-building process.
 

Ivy is the Managing Director, Professional Learning and Growth at The Jewish Education Project. Her current work focuses on supporting Jewish educators towards adopting new models that lead to thriving and are responsive to today’s learners and families. Prior to The Jewish Education Project, Ivy worked at B’nai Jeshurun (BJ) in NYC for a decade, where she served as the Education Director, and also has experience in Jewish camping and as a consultant to synagogues. Ivy holds an MA in Jewish Education from the Davidson School at JTS, is an alum of the Leadership Institute, and is a Wexner Field Fellow. Ivy lives in Westchester with her husband and three children.

Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, Ed.D., is the Senior Director of Knowledge, Ideas and Learning at The Jewish Education Project. A lifelong Jewish educator and learner, Samantha has lived and worked in Jewish communities in Israel, Washington DC, Cleveland, and New York. Samantha is a recognized expert on Israel education, Jewish teens, antisemitism education, and Jewish peoplehood. She is the author of #antisemitism: Coming of Age During the Resurgence of Hate, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Education and Jewish Identity. She is an alumna of the University of Pittsburgh, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Gratz College. Samantha lives in Westchester with her husband, baby, and two beloved rescue dogs.

My name is Maya Yehezkel and I started guiding in 2008. I’m completely in love with what I do. I started my way in Jewish education working with many different summer camps from the state here in Israel. In 2011, I studied for two years to become a qualified tour guide. Since then I have guided Birthrights, different Federations, family trips to Israel, pilgrimage visits for all religions and private tours. I then continued to an MA Program in Jewish Peoplehood Studies and graduated with honors at the University of Haifa. Besides being a tour guide, I also studied for 4 years at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and graduated with a B.Des.Visual Communication. My final project was Graffiti, as I am very connected to street art since my childhood. In the last few years I started creating sand art, and in 2020 I had the honor of publishing a book of my sand art called sand woman TLV. In 2021, the English version was published, and in 2023 the second edition was printed. I believe that art has the power to heal us, especially in these hard times.