A Jewish Hebrew Immersive After School Program
Our Staff and Teachers
Lori Kipnes
Interim Executive Director
lori@keshernewton.org
(617) 244-5390
Lori, who joined Kesher in 2017 and has most recently served as Director of Curriculum, Learning, and Inclusion, is thrilled to take on the role of Interim Executive Director! Lori reinvigorated Hebrew proficiency principles at Kesher and moved our Yahadut curriculum to full project-based learning.
Lori has experience teaching children from preschool through 8th grade in day school, supplementary school, camp and tutoring settings. She has a background in Jewish pluralistic settings, including the Jewish Community Day School of Greater Boston (JCDS) and Gann Academy. As a teacher and a parent, Lori has worked with children with many different learning styles and is well-versed in differentiated instruction and inclusion protocols. She lived, worked, and raised four children in Karmiel, Israel; two of her daughters live there still. Lori holds a Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education with a concentration in Hebrew additional-language instruction from the Delet Program at Brandeis University. She also earned a Master of Social Work from Simmons University and a BA from Wesleyan University in Women’s Studies and Religion. In her spare time, Lori enjoys reading, theater, and spending time with her family and friends.
Beth Kozinn
Director of Operations
beth@keshernewton.org
Beth Kozinn is excited to be in her second year at Kesher. A graduate of Brandeis University and Suffolk Law School, Beth has worked primarily in the non-profit sector. During her 25 years working for the Union for Reform Judaism, Beth served as a regional office manager, executive assistant, event planner, and program coordinator for Introduction to Judaism programs. When not at Kesher Beth enjoys volunteering at Temple Beth Avodah and Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikveh, gardening, reading, exercising and music. Beth lives in Newton with her husband and they have a daughter who is a junior in college.
Cassie Seinuk
Anafim Teacher
(grades 4-5)
Rosh Drama
cassie@keshernewton.org
We are thrilled to welcome back Cassie Seinuk to the Kesher team! Cassie began at Kesher in 2013 as an Assistant Shorashim teacher, and has taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies, as well as directed the Hebrew-infused Kesher musical and Kesher's arts-based learning program for many years after. Cassie is a Jewish Cuban playwright and AEA stage manager with a BA from Brandeis University with High Honors in Theatre Arts and Creative Writing, and her MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen from Lesley University. Currently, she is an Instructor of Theater Arts at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Cassie has experience working with all ages, including running youth services at Temple Reyim, and directing the Hebrew-infused musicals at Camp Yavneh and Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. Cassie lives in the metrowest area with her husband and two young children.
Liora Simhi-Nielsen
Shorashim Ivrit Teacher
(grades K-1)
Liora is thrilled to continue to be part of the Kesher Newton team in a full teaching capacity! She comes to Kesher with over 17 years of experience teaching elementary school-age Hebrew and Jewish studies at Temple Sinai of Brookline. She also previously worked as an in-house substitute teacher for Kesher Newton in 2017, as well as the K-1 teacher at the Kesher After-School in Cambridge in 2018. Liora holds a B.A. in Political Science and Middle East History from Tel Aviv University. Outside of Kesher, Liora is a Real Estate Agent for Unlimited Sotheby's International Realty. One fun fact about Liora is that she spent 7 years working as a flight attendant/security agent for EL-AL when living in Israel. Liora currently resides in Brookline with her husband and has three young adult children.
Deborah Krause
Shorashim Yahadut Teacher
(grades K-1)
Deborah is a Registered Horticultural Therapist and received her B.S. Horticulture with a minor in education from Cornell University. She created and developed the horticultural therapy program at Perkins School for the Blind where she was on faculty for 40 years dedicated to working with students with blindness, visual impairments, and multiple disabilities. Deborah also works in a variety of programs, bringing horticulture to people of all ages and abilities. She enjoys volunteering at Jewish Big Brothers/Big Sisters, being involved in Temple Beth Avodah, playing piano, cooking, gardening and spending time with her daughter and their two rescue dogs. Deborah is excited to bring her love and knowledge of Judaism, kibbutz life in Israel and Jewish family life to the students at Kesher.
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Lisa Corfman
Assistant Shorashim Teacher
(grades K-1)
Lisa’s heart is in creativity, teaching, and Judaism. She holds a BFA and Advanced Certificate from Endicott College and continues to grow creatively. Lisa teaches at museums, libraries, camps, and after-school programs. She thrives with Judaic arts, whether making, selling, teaching, or showcasing in the arts. Lisa has been teaching in Jewish after-school since 2017. As a spiritual woman, she is so happy to nurture the hearts of Kesher students – fostering life-long growth in young learners is so important to her!
Kfir Mizrahi
Nitzanim Ivrit Teacher
(grades 2-3)
kfir@keshernewton.org
Kfir Mizrahi is a native Israeli from Jerusalem, who moved to the States in 2010. For many years Kfir worked as an Emergency Room nurse. Kfir is also an Israeli Folk Dance Instructor and DJ. He has taught religious school at Congregation Beth Israel in Worcester, Or Atid in Wayland and Temple Emunah in Lexington. Kfir loves sharing his love of Judaism, Hebrew and Israel in his teaching.
Yoni Buckman
Nitzanim Ivrit/Yahadut Teacher
(grades 2-3)
Yoni@keshernewton.org
Yoni comes to Kesher with eight years of Hebrew and Judaic Studies teaching experience in Maryland, DC, and Colorado. Yoni aims to discover each student's intrinsic motivation for learning and nurture their curiosity to launch a lifelong love of discovery. In Yoni’s free time, he enjoys exploring Massachusetts with his dog, reading non-fiction books, improving his coffee brewing technique, and sitting in meditation.
Saja Azem Khawaled
Middle School Ivrit Teacher
Boston-Haifa Connection Coordinator
saja@keshernewton.org
Before coming to the US, Saja was an elementary school math and science teacher at the Yad b'Yad school in Jerusalem, an integrated, bilingual school for both Jewish and Arab students in Israel. Saja was also a summer science school program instructor for Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology, a children's instructor for ALUT-Israeli Society for Children with Autism, as well as a computer and robotics instructor at Taibe High School. Saja holds a B.A. in chemical engineering from Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, as well as General and Advanced teaching certificates from the David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem. Saja taught Shorashim Hebrew and was a Lifnei Kesher teacher in the Spring of 2021 at Kesher Newton. Saja currently lives in Cambridge with her husband, who is doing a post-doc at MIT, and her young daughter.
Joe Wolke
Middle School Yahadut Teacher
joe@keshernewton.org
Tiyyulim
Curriculum Consultant
Joe Wolke teaches the Judaic studies portion of Kesher Middle School. Joe is a recently retired Technology Consultant who’s passion has always been the study and teaching of Jewish history and culture. A Brandeis University graduate with more than 40 credit hours in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS), Joe is a lifelong student who continues to study in synagogue and community based programs. He regularly participates in the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America’s online and group sessions and will once again, this summer, be attending Hartman’s Community Leadership Program in Jerusalem. He has also participated in the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism’s National Leadership Training Program (Sulam) for synagogue leaders. Joe has taught both student and adult classes in American Jewish history and for many years gave bus tours of Jewish Chicago. He loves seeing children (especially his grandchildren) develop the same love of Jewish history and culture that he has. He is excited to be continuing with the Kesher Newton team in developing and teaching this exciting Judaic studies program for middle school students.
Liz Levin
Project Based Learning Consultant
Liz Levin grew up in Baltimore in an active Jewish family, belonged to Jewish youth groups, and attended summer camp affiliated with Habonim Dror, a Labor Zionist organization. As a teen, Liz began working in Jewish education as a tutor and youth group counselor, and she served as a delegate to the World Zionist Congress in Israel.
In college, Liz majored in History and Religious Studies at McGill University in Montreal. She holds a Certificate in Jewish Informal Education, Leadership, and Camping from Hebrew College and a Certificate in Teaching English to Young Learners from Cambridge University. She earned her MA in Religious Education from Hebrew Union College in 2014 and has been running formal and informal Jewish educational programs in the Boston area for a decade. She is currently the Jewish Experiential Educator at the JCC of Greater Boston. Liz lives in Waltham with her husband and three young daughters.
Nomie Bental
Director of KesheRoked
nomie@keshernewton.org
Nomie moved to Boston from Israel a couple of years ago where she was working at the Ministry of Social Affairs. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin and earned a Masters in International Business in Paris. Previously, Nomie worked in public diplomacy at the Consulate General of Israel to New England and as an Education Specialist at the Milton Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital. Nomie has been dancing since before she could walk, and has performed, taught, and choreographed in dance troupes around the world. In her imaginary spare time she loves to travel, salsa dance, and also directs ONOT-Kayitz (Boston's Middle School and High School Israeli Dance Performing Troupes).
