Educators
The United Synagogue Education team can offer a range of programmes on various topics. Meet our educators below and see some of the programmes they have run in various communities:
Rabbi Michael Laitner

Rabbi Michael Laitner works as Director of Education for the US and Head of Research at Rabbi Sacks Legacy where he is engaged in analysing archive material and preparing it for publication. He particularly enjoys teaching Jewish history, values and law through a contemporary lens. His lively style helps participants to improve their own study and knowledge skills.
Shira Jackson

Shira works as an educator in our Education Department; she enjoys connecting Biblical personalities and stories to contemporary Judaism and her interactive style brings her Torah teaching to life. She has a degree in Physics with Medical Physics and is a graduate of the Chief Rabbi's Ma'ayan Programme.

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Past educational speakers in local communities

Ed Horwich
Edgware
Chief Executive of JSCN (Jewish Small Communities Network), Ed explored the stories and reality behind the hidden 20% of the UK's Jewish population

Shanni Solomon
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Shanni Solomon is a parenting educator, psychologist and innate health and emotional wellbeing educator

Tamir Goodman
South Hampstead
Dubbed 'the Jewish (Michael) Jordan', former basketball player and current successful entrepreneur Tamir Goodman is a captivating and inspiring speaker.

Professor Michael Baum
Highgate
Professor Baum is a former professor of surgery at University College London. He talks about stones, bones, tomes and genomes: how archaeological observations support stories of the Tanach.

Hadas Misgav
Palmers Green & Southgate Synagogue
Hadas has a BA in Archeology and Ancient Nr. East Studies MA in Egyptology at Hebrew University. She has worked at hte Petrie Museum of Egyptian & Sudanese Archeology, and past work at Tel Lachish, a 12th Century BCE Canaan site in Southern Israel

Ron Rosenhead
Woodside Park
Ron is a tour guide at Wembley Stadium, the UK's largest sports and entertainment venue. He will take you behind the scenes into some of the restricted areas, including the dressing rooms, exhibition areas, press room and even the Royal Box.

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch
Brondesbury Park
Anita, formerly known as the Cellist of Auschwitz, shares her inspiring life story of how music saved her life and how she survived against all odds

Rabbi Yoni Rosensweig
Magen Avot
Rabbi Rosensweig is the founder of Ma'aglei Nefesh Center for Mental Health and has written several books including a new ground-breaking book on Mental Health and Halacha.

Professor Ian Hamilton
Northwood
Professor Hamilton is a Professor of Energy, Environment & Health at UCL. He talks about climate change, global health and actions that we can take to address these issues to protect the health of us and future generations.

Louisa Rose
Magen Avot
Louisa is a social media consultant and CEO of a youth mental health charity, Beyond. She reflects on how we became a nation addicted to social media and how we can instigate a U-turn for the next generation

Dr Daniel Cohen
Shenley United
Dr Daniel Cohen is a consultant urologist at the Royal Free Hospital, Spire Bushey and the London Clinic. He gives an update on men's health issues, including prostate conditions and urinary tract infections

Ari Last
St John's Wood
Ari is the Founder and CEO of Bubble, the UK's biggest on-demand childcare platform. Over 200,000 people use the service across the country, with millions of childcare requests processed. Bubble is backed by VC funds and founders of internet giants Betfair and Boohoo.com amongst others

Caron Sethill
Cockfosters and Southgate
Caron is Programme Manager Europe at the National Library of Israel, which aims to engage the wider public in Europe with the Library and it's unique collections. She gave us a glimpse of the campus' stunning new building and beautiful environmental sculpture

Professor Stefan Reif
Cockfosters and N Southgate
Join Professor Reif, Founding Director of the Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library on 'The Historical and Religious Importance of the Cairo Genizah'

Judy Karbritz
Woodside Park
Judy is co-founder of The Jewish Poetry Society. She gives talks on various subjects locally and on cruises and writes a regular column for Harrow and Barnet Borough Times

Jeanette Marx
Bushey
To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Jeanette will be sharing the emotional story of her mother Mascha Nachmansson z"l, who endured the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz and Ravensbruck concentration camps.

Yaki Asael
Woodside Park
A discussion with Yaki Asael, an Israeli Farmer about the shmita year. As one of the first group to settle Har Hevron as farmers, Yaki, father of 9, has vineyards and olive groves and operates a strict shmita policy.

Professor Alan Silman
Kenton
An Epidemiologist's perspective - making sense of Covid 19

Rabbi Moshe Bloom
Birmingham Central
Head of the English Department at the Institute for Torah and the Land of Israel

Dr Helen Fry
Ahavat Yisrael
Author of the book Spymaster: The Man who Saved MI6; the biography of Thomas Kendrick, known as the 'British Schindler'

Rabbi David Mason
Northwood
Rabbi Mason is one of the leaders of Eco Synagogue., looking at the Jewish take on our communities becoming more sustainable.

Mark Halawa
Kenton
An amazing story of Mark Halwa - the Kuwaiti Muslim who found out he was Jewish whilst at University

Ari Sacher
Stanmore & Canons Park
Scientist who worked on the Israeli missile defence system, Iron Dome.

Eli Beer
Stanmore & Canons Park
Founder of Hatzala and recipient of many awards including Social Entrepreneur of the year, Israel (2010)

Beatie Deutsch
Stanmore & Canons Park
Israeli marathon champion, Olympic hopeful & Charedi mother of five(!)

Anne "Chani" Neuberger
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Director of Cybersecurity at the National Security Agency (NSA)

Jonny Benjamin MBE
Hadley Wood
Award-winning mental health campaigner, film producer, public speaker, writer and vlogger from London

H.H. Judge Martyn Zeidman Q.C.
Cranbrook
How a judge works when dealing with serious criminal cases and an approach to sentencing

Tony Bloom
Brondesbury Park
Owner of Brighton & Hove Albion FC - What A-Levels do you need to become the owner of a football club?

Jonathan Grodzinski
Kenton
Hear the fascinating story of his family's kosher bakery

Debra Brunner
Cockfosters and N Southgate
The Together Plan supports Jews in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe yearning to re-discover Jewish life

Miriam Marson
Barnet
A trip down memory lane. Helping communities reconnect with their heritage, making it the community it is today

Alan Dein
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Curator of "Music is the most beautiful language in the world: Yiddisher Jazz in London's East End 1920's - 1950's"

Saar Kadmon
Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue
Betrayals in espionage. Saar is an espionage expert and lecturer

Rabbi Dan Lieberman
Cockfosters and N Southgate
Rabbi Dan Lieberman is only the fifth Rabbi to lead the Perth Jewish community in 129 years. Hear the story of Jews in Australia then and now.

Dr Adam Rosenthal and Hayley Minn
St Albans
Genes, mutations and cancer: the BRCA story and others

Benyamin Cohen
Mill Hill East
What a rabbi's son learned from spending 52 Sundays at 52 churches

Yanky Fachler
New West End
Author, historian, founder and chair of the Jewish Historical Society of Ireland

Hagai Segal
Brondesbury Park
With expertise on geopolitics, terrorism and Middle-East affairs, Hagai is a lecturer at New York University London, and a consultant who has advised a range of organisations in over 30 countries and has participated in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiation.

Simon Prais
Birmingham Central
Simon is a colour expert, artist and author of 'On the Sixth Day God Created Colour'. His book tells the fascinating story of 'Gematriart', an inspiring new art genre and innovative approach to Torah communication - the fusion of Torah and colour science.

Rebbetzen Naomi Lerer
St John's Wood
Rebbetzen Naomi Lerer is the CEO of Noa Girls, a charity providing young women in the Jewish community with practical emotional and therapeutic support. As well as a child and adolescent psychotherapist, she is also Rebbetzen of Central Synagogue.

Sara Balabanoff
Edgware
Sara is Head of User Research at NHS England and talks about her experiences of living with a BRCA gene mutation. Sara has undergone extensive preventative surgery to massively reduce her risk of getting certain cancers

Dr Debra Fertig MD
South Hampstead
Mindfulness and self-compassion workshops. Dr Fertig holds board certifications in Psychiatry and Lifestyle Medicine. She has served with the US Government since 2003 and held overseas postings as a Regional Medical Officer of Psychiatry.

Rabbi Dr Samuel Landau
Birmingham Central
Samuel is a clinical psychologist as well as an academic and activist. He is the Rabbi at Barnet United Synagogue, a lecturer at UCL and delivers therapy to the community, with a huge breadth of wisdom, depth of insight and compassionate empathy.

David Pearlman
Highgate
David will talk about his collection of 100,000 postcards, written over two centuries, that he donated to the Hebrew University and the remarkable story in pictures of the Golden City

Jonny Gould
Cockfosters and North Southgate
Jonny has formerly broadcast on Sky News, Smooth Radio and Talksport among others. He is both a sports journalist and political commentator and over the past few years has created his popular Jewish State podcast

Leon Sassoon
Hampstead
Leon is a specialist textiles and carpets dealer, with many years experience in the industry at the prestigious C.John Gallery. He discusses the artistry and symbolism in tapestries and ornate carpets from around the world.

Alexander Jakobi
St John's Wood
Alexander was a member of the founding team of Formula E, working alongside the CEO to lead investor relations, strategic and commercial development as an advisor. He is Managing Director of GP Sports Holdings and manages a number of Championship-winning Formula E and Formula 1 drivers

Bettina Caro
Shenley
Bettina is a Casablancan-born artist, renowned for her vibrant depictions of Sephardi life, family and Jewish festivals

Natalie Cumming
Kenton
Author of 'The Fiddle', Natalie tells the story of her family's escape across Russia, fleeing the Bolsheviks. They carried a violin which later accompanied her aunt into the Nazi death camps and their horrors, where she played in the Auschwitz women's orchestra, which helped save her life.

Nadia Ragozhina
Enfield
Hear author and journalist Nadio Ragozhina talk about her family's history, and their life after escape from the Holocaust, which she wrote about in her latest book 'Worlds Apart'.

Sophia Ziff and Gemma Arnold
Edgware
A workshop for parents about how to look after children's mental health with experts Sophia and Gemma of 'ToddlersTeensandBetween'

Jason Schron
Birmingham Central
Founder of Rapido Trains in Canada, one of the world’s best-regarded model railway manufacturers in the world.

Chrissy Watt
Central
Sleep: Those all important ZZZ's. An online session with Chrissy Watt, Associate Trainer at JAMI

Anne Luder
Potters Bar
Horticultural expert and garden designer - a talk on the origins of Tu B'Shevat and trees of the Bible

Rabbi Yehuda Pink
Cockfosters and N Southgate
Rabbi Pink is a Sofer (scribe) with over 30 years experience

Professor Colin Price
Richmond
Head of the Department of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University

Michael Rainsbury
Borehamwood & Elstree
Live and exclusive tour of the Israeli President's house

Amanda Weinberg
Edgware
A medieval Italian village with a Jewish past, Amanda talks about discovering the magical village of Pitigliano

Alex Claire
Stanmore & Canons Park
Former chart topper, shomer shabbos, turned down tour with popstar Adele due to Pesach

Rebbetzin Slovie Jungreis Wolff
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Author, renowned lecturer and parenting instructor. Leader of Hineni Couples and has taught about life, relationships and marriage for more than 30 years.

Dr Charles Landau
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Trial of the "Atom Spies" - 70th Anniversary of the sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

John Ware
Hampstead
BBC journalist who reported on antisemitism in the Labour Party. His talk is entitled Labour: For the many – and the Jew?

Rebbetzen Elisheva Goldschmidt
Cranbrook
"My Journey to Judaism" - growing up in a Christrian home to becoming a Rebbetzen

Professor Shirli Gilbert
Brondesbury Park
Turning points in Jewish history Kristallnacht and the Six Day War

Mala Tribich MBE
Central
Women that rock; Mala Tribich MBE, a holocaust survivor

Charlotte Korchak
Hampstead Garden Suburb
An in-depth understanding of the history of the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts

Avner Avraham
Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue
From Massad to Hollywood. Mission to capture Eichman, Operation Finale

Deborah Levison
Edgware
Ripples in a pond: The effects of violence through generations

Tamara Finkelstein
Mill Hill East
What's a nice Jewish girl doing in charge of farming policy?

Rebbetzen Shoshana Tugendhaft
Hadley Wood
British Museum Tour - an archaeological exploration of Jerusalem's temple periods

Mia Hasenson-Gross
Cockfosters and N Southgate
'Never again' is happening again: The persecution of Uyghurs in China

Judge Vera Mayer
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Almost twenty years ago Vera Mayer made history by becoming the very first Israeli to be appointed a circuit judge in the UK.

Keren David
Borehamwood & Elstree
Vehi-she'ada - anti-semitism in every generation