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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

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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

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Ed Horwich

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

Shanni Solomon

Hampstead Garden Suburb

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

Tamir Goodman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Professor Alan Silman

Kenton

An Epidemiologist's perspective - making sense of Covid 19

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

Birmingham Central

Head of the English Department at the Institute for Torah and the Land of Israel

Dr Helen Fry

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

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.

Vivian Aisen

Vivian Aisen

Kenton

Director of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel

Mark Halawa

Mark Halawa

Kenton

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

Ari Sacher

Ari Sacher

Stanmore & Canons Park

Scientist who worked on the Israeli missile defence system, Iron Dome.

Eli Beer

Eli Beer

Stanmore & Canons Park

Founder of Hatzala and recipient of many awards including Social Entrepreneur of the year, Israel (2010)

Beatie Deutsch

Beatie Deutsch

Stanmore & Canons Park

Israeli marathon champion, Olympic hopeful & Charedi mother of five(!)

Anne "Chani" Neuberger

Anne "Chani" Neuberger

Hampstead Garden Suburb

Director of Cybersecurity at the National Security Agency (NSA)

Jonny Benjamin MBE

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.

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

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

Jonathan Grodzinski

Kenton

Hear the fascinating story of his family's kosher bakery

Debra Brunner

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

Luciana Berger

Luciana Berger

Central

Women that Rock: Luciana Berger

Miriam Marson

Miriam Marson

Barnet

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

Alan Dein

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

Saar Kadmon

Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue

Betrayals in espionage. Saar is an espionage expert and lecturer

Rabbi Dan Lieberman

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.

Caroline Smith and Keyron Hickman-Lewis

Caroline Smith and Keyron Hickman-Lewis

Kenton

Mission to Mars 2020

Dr Adam Rosenthal and Hayley Minn

Dr Adam Rosenthal and Hayley Minn

St Albans

Genes, mutations and cancer: the BRCA story and others

Jonathan Ornstein

Jonathan Ornstein

Edgware

The rebirth of Jewish life in Poland

Rabbi Keleman

Rabbi Keleman

Alei Tzion

Educating our children - Jewish or not Jewish Schools

Benyamin Cohen

Benyamin Cohen

Mill Hill East

What a rabbi's son learned from spending 52 Sundays at 52 churches

Yanky Fachler

Yanky Fachler

New West End

Author, historian, founder and chair of the Jewish Historical Society of Ireland

Hagai Segal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bettina Caro

Shenley

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

Natalie Cumming

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

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

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

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

Chrissy Watt

Central

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

Anne Luder

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

Rabbi Yehuda Pink

Cockfosters and N Southgate

Rabbi Pink is a Sofer (scribe) with over 30 years experience

Professor Colin Price

Professor Colin Price

Richmond

Head of the Department of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University

Michael Rainsbury

Michael Rainsbury

Borehamwood & Elstree

Live and exclusive tour of the Israeli President's house

Dr Efraim Zuroff

Dr Efraim Zuroff

Bushey and Kenton

"My Life as a Nazi Hunter"

Amanda Weinberg

Amanda Weinberg

Edgware

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

Alex Claire

Alex Claire

Stanmore & Canons Park

Former chart topper, shomer shabbos, turned down tour with popstar Adele due to Pesach

Ari Schonbrun

Ari Schonbrun

Stanmore & Canons Park

9/11 survivor tells his story

Rebbetzin Slovie Jungreis Wolff

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

Dr Charles Landau

Hampstead Garden Suburb

Trial of the "Atom Spies" - 70th Anniversary of the sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

John Ware

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

Rebbetzen Elisheva Goldschmidt

Cranbrook

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

Professor Shirli Gilbert

Professor Shirli Gilbert

Brondesbury Park

Turning points in Jewish history Kristallnacht and the Six Day War

HE Tzipi Hotovely

HE Tzipi Hotovely

Richmond

Israeli Ambassador to the UK

Mala Tribich MBE

Mala Tribich MBE

Central

Women that rock; Mala Tribich MBE, a holocaust survivor

Dr Alan Mendoza

Dr Alan Mendoza

Central

Israel and Gaza: Behind the spin

Charlotte Korchak

Charlotte Korchak

Hampstead Garden Suburb

An in-depth understanding of the history of the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts

Avner Avraham

Avner Avraham

Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue

From Massad to Hollywood. Mission to capture Eichman, Operation Finale

Deborah Levison

Deborah Levison

Edgware

Ripples in a pond: The effects of violence through generations

Tamara Finkelstein

Tamara Finkelstein

Mill Hill East

What's a nice Jewish girl doing in charge of farming policy?

Rebbetzen Shoshana Tugendhaft

Rebbetzen Shoshana Tugendhaft

Hadley Wood

British Museum Tour - an archaeological exploration of Jerusalem's temple periods

Mia Hasenson-Gross

Mia Hasenson-Gross

Cockfosters and N Southgate

'Never again' is happening again: The persecution of Uyghurs in China

Judge Vera Mayer

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

Keren David

Borehamwood & Elstree

Vehi-she'ada - anti-semitism in every generation

Simon Goulden

Simon Goulden

Cockfosters and N Southgate

Establishing, Expanding, Entertaining

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