1. it starts with an
idea
2012 Fellowship
Jewish educational entrepreneurship

3. Introduction
Jewish Education has always been one of the highest values for our people, but it has not always been the most innovative. Today,
more than ever, we need creative and effective approaches to Jewish Education. It gives me the greatest pleasure to welcome you to a
celebration of resourceful and responsible innovation in Jewish Education, the Launch Night of the first Threshold Fellowship.
Threshold has grown out of the Nachlaot Community, known for its passionate and “out of the box” Judaism. The creativity and fresh
perspectives of our unique community are ready to be harnessed; providing an environment well suited to incubating new ventures.
We have brought together a diverse and non-denominational group of talented men and women from all over Israel, individuals who
have been blessed with a vision for impacting Am Yisrael. Those of us who have shared in this process have watched them become
a powerful circle of peers, complementing and supporting one another, evolving as a professional cohort that I hope will continue to
thrive well past this program.
Around these individuals many others have gathered. The Nachlaot volunteers who formed the Steering Committee and created this
magic yesh m’ayin, the educational and communal leaders who did such a great job helping us select the Fellows, and the invaluable
Mentors and Coaches who were a crucial and definitive component in the quality of what has been achieved. In the name of the
Fellows, the community, the organization, and in the name of Am Yisrael, I thank you for your time and amazing efforts. Please see
tonight’s achievements as your own.
Frayda Leibtag’s performance as Program Coordinator was simply excellent, and we could not have done it without Yehoshua Looks,
HaOhel’s Managing Director, who stepped up to the plate whenever needed. Thanks to both of you. Thanks as well to the PresenTense
Group, whose know how and well-honed guidance powered the entire program. Most of all thanks to the Fellows, for believing in
yourselves, for believing in us, and for believing that Am Yisrael is worthy of your energy and dedication.
Behatzlacha!
‫ויהי נועם ה‘ אלוקינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו‬
Rav Aaron Leibowitz
Dean, HaOhel Institutions
Threshold, Sulam Yaakov, Shirat Devorah

4. Rebecca Aminoff
Kol Hadassa
www.kolhadassa.org
ebecca has a Master’s degree in Educational
Leadership, as well as experience teaching
and working with high-school students,
both in mainstream schools and in programs for youth
at risk. Over the past few years, Rebecca has recognized
a growing need in the community for a program
that addresses the issues facing Olim teen girls. Kol
Hadassa is a two year program, based in the heart
of the Ramat Beit Shemesh community, combining
academic studies with a student-run business, in a
strong Torah environment. The program is geared
towards teenage Olim who are seeking an alternative
educational environment. It is a chance for them to
receive a high school diploma, to gain life skills and to
develop into healthy, confident young women.
“The classroom of the future will be unlike any that most
of us have sat in. It will be much, much better.”

5. Natanel &
Uri Schneider
Michelle Cohen
Schneider Learning:
Al Pi Darko
Shabbat of a Lifetime
www.shabbatofalifetime.com
habbat of a Lifetime offers incoming
tourists the opportunity to have an
authentic Shabbat experience at the home
of a host family living in the heart of Jerusalem.
Shabbat of a Lifetime was co-founded by Michelle,
originally from Columbus, OH, who holds a Master’s
degree in Jewish Education, and Natanel Cohen,
originally from South Africa, who shares his passion
for Jerusalem as a tour guide of many years.
Michelle and Natanel have travelled the world, from
Nepal to Guatemala, and even spent six months
living in India with their two wonderful children
running a Bayit Yehudi center, which influenced
their conception of Shabbat of a Lifetime.
“‫”סולם מוצב ארצה וראו מגיע השמימה‬
”Have your feet on the ground and your head in the
heavens.”

6. Chaim Davids
Super Slav Quail Farm
www.moshavmesorah.com
y twelve years as a traveling chef, winery
cellar-man, and butcher have shown me
the emphasis that chefs place on high
quality ingredients. Super Slav Quail Farm is a small
shkitah (ritual slaughtering) program dedicated to
expanding gourmet kosher products by introducing
“game birds” to the market. These birds will be raised
for their meat and eggs, catering to a niche market
of restaurants, specialty shops, and caterers- at first,
in Israel. In Kosher spheres, high quality ingredients
are often extremely difficult to locate based on their
limited production. In the spirit of tradition and
reconnecting to the land-based heritage in Judaism,
I pledge to uphold the highest standards of kashrut
and sustainability.
‫”להתענג בתענוגים ברבורים ושלב ודגים״‬
“Our rich culinary tradition has inspired me to launch this
program.”

7. Leora Ezrachi-Vered
Shonim
www.zeirim.blogspot.com
honim is a community for Young Adults of the
Reform movement in Israel. Shonim provides a
platform for prayer, social action, Jewish study and
political activism. Offerings will include programs, seminars
and community centers run by young adults in Jerusalem,
Tel Aviv and Beer-Sheva.
Leora was born in Jerusalem to an American mother and an
Israeli father. She grew up in the Israeli Reform Movement
and is currently the National Director of the Reform Youth
Movement. Following her army service as an education
officer in the IDF, Leora obtained a B.A. in Jewish History and
is now pursuing an M.A. in the same field.
“Henrrietta Szold is one of my heroines. She was ahead of
her time; she knew how to organize, advancing projects and
motivating people while never forgetting her commitment to a
Liberal Jewish Identity. She had a clear vision of the potential of
Israel.”

8. Tamar Field-Gersh
& Akiva Gersh
Tiyul B’Aretz
www.tiyulbaretz.org
iyul B’Aretz is a university-accredited and MASA-
sponsored study abroad program in Israel that is
unlike any other. On Tiyul B’Aretz there is no campus,
no classrooms, no dorms or dining halls. Taking the learning on the
road, we seek to give college students an academic experience
that goes beyond the classroom walls while incorporating
values that are often missing from mainstream education,
such as personal growth, spiritual development, tikkun olam
and community living skills. Students will gain a more intimate
experience of Israel than they ever could on a traditional study
abroad program by traveling throughout the semester through
the diverse regions of Israel and living in a variety of communities.
Tiyul B’Aretz was co-founded by Tamar and Akiva Gersh who have
been working in the field of Jewish education and programming
for over a decade, including directing a traveling summer
program in the U.S. and Israel for Jewish teens for the renowned
92nd St. Y in New York City.

9. Rabbi Fivel
Yedidya Glasser
P’tach Libi
www.ptachlibi.org
ivel studied at top Ivy-league universities (Dartmouth,
Harvard) and Israel’s leading Anglo yeshivot. Raised in
rural New York State to love the outdoors, he has been
developing a unique niche teaching about Judaism, spirituality
and the environment, both formally and informally for over a
decade. Fivel’s love of Torah and the Jewish People is infectious.
He also has the ability to bridge ancient wisdom and modern
paradigms. P’tach Libi offers a unique fusion of wilderness
experience with Traditional Jewish ideas that imbues students
with the tools necessary to develop a strong and lasting Jewish
identity. Through multiple models, using the best of experiential
programming, themes of identity, leadership and spirituality are
explored. Come out to look and discover what is deep inside.
“The biggest problems facing our community are apathy, boredom
and impatience, coupled with a lack of real leadership. This leads to a
lack of Jewish unity and no shared purpose. WE MUST BE RELEVANT
AND INSPIRE!”

10. Yaakov Lehman
When Boy Meets Girl:
A Kabbalistic Perspective
hen Boy Meets Girl: A Kabbalistic
Perspective is a stunning twelve-
part film series, created by a crew
of top international filmmakers, that takes some
of Torah’s deepest, most profound secrets on
male/female relationships and self-transformation
and combines them into a cutting-edge film
experience geared towards a universal audience.
Based on a tried and tested curriculum that has
blown away thousands of students worldwide
over the past seven years, our goal is to make a
major contribution to this generation’s spiritual
culture by producing one of the most stunning
pieces of Jewish media ever conceived.
Yaakov Lehman’s previous film project “Cruisin’
with DAJUS” was seen by tens of thousands
of people and recently won Best Film at the
Jewlicious Film Festival.

11. Rabbi Hillel
Uri Schneider
&Darko Learning:
Chaya Lester
Schneider
Al Pi
The Shalev Center
www.shalevcenter.org
t the Shalev Center, we are pioneering the
field of Jewish Personal Growth. We take
Jewish wisdom and make it experiential,
applicable and explicitly relevant to our most intimate
lives. In addition to our counseling center, our unique
array of workshops, retreats, classes and groups aim
at enhancing relationships, self-awareness, meaning
and well-being. We have already witnessed the
transformation of hundreds of lives through this
exciting synthesis of Judaism and personal growth.
The Shalev Center was co-founded by Hillel and
Chaya Lester. Hillel, a Rabbi and therapist, has over 20
years of experience as a meditation teacher. Chaya
is a psychotherapist, Jewish educator and widely-
published writer. They are both passionate about
creating frameworks for personal transformation,
providing tools and opportunities to go deep and grow.

12. Matthew Mausner
The New Jerusalem Talmud Project
www.newjerusalemtalmud.org
atthew Mausner (B.A., History, Yale, & M.A.,
History & Interdisciplinary Studies, Bar Ilan)
managed software development projects for
Wall St. firms, including Goldman Sachs. He learns part-time
at Yeshivat Sulam Yaakov in Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem
Talmud Project is a cognitive mapping platform, a wiki for
controversy, and a methodology for critical thinking, inspired
by the wisdom and format of the Talmud. It addresses the
polarization impoverishing debate in education, academia,
politics, and the blogosphere. The NJT shows multiple sides
of controversy and commentary on one page, and structures
interaction to bring intelligent filtering to any complex
subject. Employing cutting edge technology, expert scholars,
moderation, and crowdsourcing, it realizes the promise that
the Talmud is the world’s ‘original hypertext.’
“There was a time when Hillel and Shammai argued; they heard
each other and others heard them. And the world is a better
place for it.”

13. Uri Schneider
Schneider Learning: Al Pi Darko
ri Schneider is an innovative educator, speech-
language pathologist and entrepreneur. In addition
to building Schneider Speech into an international
practice with 5 offices in NY and Israel, he has embarked on a
passionate journey to pave the way to educational success for the
next generation of Jewish learners. Too often, education fails before
it begins because it’s predicated on a one-size-fits-all solution.
The two-part platform individualizes the learning experience, and
ensures that students achieve their fullest potential - no students
should fall through the cracks. The research-based assessment
and pin-pointed lessons can be embedded into a wide range
of educational models and institutions; (1) assessing learners’
skills and styles, and (2) providing customizable modules and
experiences to drive skill mastery and educational success.
“The Jewish maxim “chanoch lana’ar al pi darko - educate the
student according to his way,” is far more necessary and more
possible today, than ever before. Individualizing education is the
way to empower learners to achieve independence in their Jewish
learning experience.”

14. Baruch Shapiro
Israel Herb School Fellowship
www.israelherbschool.com
srael Herb School, our flagship program, offers
young Jewish adults a unique experience living close
to the land, studying herbal medicine intensively,
while growing in familiarity with our Jewish tradition and its
modern expressions. Wild Plant Seeders, our second project
is now beginning the process of reseeding the hillsides with
wild herbs and flowers. Located at Moshav Aviezer in the
Emek Haelah, we have just completed our pilot program with
12 students from around the world who came to live and
learn together for the 4 month program. We are expanding
our offering to include an arts emphasis to accompany our
botanical medicine and farming apprenticeship. We enjoy
working with like-minded organizations to further our goals
of stability, growth, and generosity.
Baruch Shapiro has been working in environmental and
educational endeavors for 18 years. He is an active participant
in land restoration in the Emek Haela through the Wild Plant
Seeders project, teaching children and adults how to care
for personal and planetary health.

15. ‫עמיתי התוכנית‬
‫רבקה אמינוף: “קול הדסה” היא תוכנית לימודי תיכון עבור עולים חדשים דוברי אנגלית המשלבת רכישת מיומנויות של ניהול עסקי.‬
‫נתנאל ומישל כהן: “שבת לחיים” היא תוכנית המציעה חוויית שבת אותנטית בבתי משפחות מארחות בלבה של ירושלים עבור תיירים‬
‫בארץ.‬
‫חיים דייוידס: “סופר שלו” היא תוכנית לימודי שחיטה המוקדשת להרחבת האפשרויות בתחום בישולי גורמה כשרים.‬
‫ליאורה אזרחי-ורד: “שונים” היא תוכנית לבניית קהילה עבור צעירים מהתנועה הרפורמית בישראל.‬
‫תמר פילד-גרש ועקיבא גרש: “טיול בארץ” היא תוכנית חווייתית להיכרות בלתי אמצעית עם מדינת ישראל ואזרחיה ומיועדת‬
‫לסטודנטים מחו”ל. הלימוד בתוכנית מקנה נקודות זכות ללימודי תואר ראשון עבור המשתתפים בה.‬
‫פייבל ידידיה גלסר: “פתח ליבי” היא אפשרות מודולרית לחינוך יהודי - סביבתי בלתי פורמלי. התוכנית מאפשרת לגלות את המרחבים‬
‫הפנימיים דרך התנסות במרחבי הארץ.‬
‫יעקב להימן: “כשנער פוגש נערה” היא סדרה של קטעי וידאו אינטרנטיים השואפת לקדם מודל קבלי ליחסי גברים ונשים.‬
‫הלל וחיה לסטר: “מרכז שלו” - מרכז חלוצי להתפתחות וצמיחה אישית.‬
‫מתיו מאוזנר: “התלמוד הירושלמי החדש” הוא פלטפורמה למיפוי קוגניטיבי של חשיבה ביקורתית בהשראה ובתבנית של התלמוד.‬
‫אורי שניידר: “לימוד שניידר: על פי דרכו” פיתוח דרך לימוד אישית עבור כל לומד בתחום של לימודי יהדות על מנת לאפשר ללומדים‬
‫להשיג את מלוא הפוטנציאל הלימודי והאפשרות ללמידה עצמאית של החפץ בכך .‬
‫ברוך שפירו: “ביה”ס הישראלי לצמחי מרפא” מציע תוכנית לימודים של רוקחות בוטנית, חקלאות ואומנות דרך למידה חווייתית של‬
‫נושאים אלה.‬

16. Special Thanks
To our Steering Committee Our Mentors Our Coaches Our RoundTable Presenters
Adi Friedman (Chair) Devora Corn Abby Alfred Moshe Chesed
Batsheva Ganz Hillel Grossman Ron Allswang Rabbi Yehoshua Fass
Noga Hullman Zvi Grumet Jamie David Shuey Fogel
David Katz Sandy Hammer Ammi Dorevitch Ronen Gafni
Lorelai Kude Zev Lanton Chana Mesberg Dov Gordon
Yaakov Ort David Mason Regina Ostrovski David Katz
Marc Rosenberg Eugene Rice Stuart Schrader Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz
Zev Stub Georgina Rice Yoni Sherizen
Moshe Vineberg Nadav Serling Laurie Tamres
Lewis Weinger Zev Stub Lewis Weinger
Howard Weisband Michael Wegier Howard Weisband
Mottle Wolf Galina Vromen
Threshold is an incubator for Jewish Educational Entrepreneurship that enables our Fellows to create their own meaningful ventures
and occupations, while continuing their lifelong dream of living in Israel. www.threshold.org.il
Interested in applying for the 2013 Fellowship or volunteering as part of our Steering Committee, or as a coach or mentor?
Be in touch! info@threshold.org.il
Jewish educational entrepreneurship