Sean Carlin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sean works full-time at the Union for Reform Judaism, as an Assistant Director at Camp Harlam in Pennsylvania. Sean graduated with a degree in elementary education from Penn State University, spending his summers at Harlam where he filled many roles including radio specialist, supervisor and a Cornerstone Fellow. Before working full-time at Harlam, Sean spent 18-months as an educator at Central Synagogue in New York City.
Na’ama Dahan, Golan Heights, Israel
Na’ama was a counselor at URJ Crane Lake Camp in Massachusetts. She graduated from “Rabin” – a post-high school program that trains youth adults for Zionist leadership. During her IDF service, Na’ama was a non-officer Educational commander, developing a program that examines the relationship between border police soldiers and their connection to Judaism.
Alec Ewig, New York, New York
After studying political science and economics at Columbia University and graduating in 2012,Alec went on to work for two political polling firms in Washington, D.C. He came back to New York in 2015 to work as a data analyst for the Union for Reform Judaism, so you can’t blame the 2016 polls on him! Alec enjoys thinking about Jewish philosophy, discussing politics, and playing board games in his free time.
Iris Ferreira, Paris, France
Iris began the rabbinic programme this year at Leo Baeck College in London. Before moving to England, she lived in Paris where she was a member at the liberal CJL synagogue and earned degrees in Hebrew and Jewish studies. She has teaching experiences in synagogue settings and at Limoud France.
Adi Finzi, Givat Ada, Israel
Adi lives in a small settlement in the north of Israel. She was released from the army 2 years ago, where she served as an operations officer in the Intelligence unit. Adi has been a counselor for the past two summers at URJ- Eisner in Massachusetts. Adi is going to study politics and international relations at Ben Gurion University in 2017.
Tom Francies, London, England
Tom currently studies full-time at Goldsmiths University in London, training to be a social worker. He worked for LJY-Netzer, the Progressive Zionist Youth Movement of Liberal Judaism for three years, and has also been an active member of Yachad Youth and the New Israel Fund. Currently, Tom is also involved in volunteering for the 2016 Limmud UK Conference where he is chairing social & experiential programming, which involves everything from disco yoga to glass blowing.
Arthur Hatchuel, Paris, France
Arthur is a student in public policy and will soon join the French civil administration to work for better planning, housing and transportation policies. Over the past ten years, Arthur has been increasingly involved in the CJL, a Paris-based Reform-Conservative community. In 2010, he co-founded and became the pianist for Shabbat Rock, an innovative service mixing prayers and famous tunes from the pop-rock-blues repertoire. Arthur enjoys traveling abroad and gathering with Reform Jewish communities, such as in Brazil, in Berkeley, California, where he studied last year, and in Israel, where he went on Birthright last summer.
Liliana Jendroska, Heidelberg, Germany
Liliana is currently studying geography, politics, and economics at Heidelberg University, to become a high school teacher. Since 2014 she has led Netzer Machanot and this summer she will lead LJY Netzer Machane in England. Liliana recently got elected as head of Netzer Germany (Mazkira).
Sara Jensen, Tel Aviv, Israel
Sara grew up in the reform synagogue Kol Haneshama and in the reform youth movement Noar Telem. Prior to her service in the IDF, Sara participated in the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism’s post-high school gap year (Mechina) in Jaffa. After her army service she worked for Shnat Netzer and in the past 3 years Sara has been a group leader educator in NFTY in Israel. Sara is Currently studying industrial design in Tel Aviv.
Emily Kahn-Perry, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Emily attends Indiana University where she is majoring in human development and family studies and minoring in nutrition and psychology. She has attended URJ Camp Coleman in Georgia for the past five summers as a camper, counselor, and programmer. She has participated in both the Olim and Cornerstone Fellowships and is a NFTY-SAR and a NFTY in Israel alum.
Eliana Klein, Frisco, Texas
Eliana is studying audiology and speech language sciences at the University of Northern Colorado. She is co-founder and president of her UNC’s Jewish Student Union, JewNC. This will be Eliana’s third summer as a counselor and tenth summer overall at URJ Greene Family Camp in Texas.
Oleksandr Kovalchuk, Kiev, Ukraine
Oleksandr is a 22 years old drama theatre director. He has a bachelors’ degree and is currently studying for a master of theatrical arts in Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. Oleksandr came to Netzer and to his congregation when he was 13 and since that moment he has conducted an active Jewish lifestyle. He is now a madrich of Netzer Olami.
Alyssa Kress, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Alyssa works full-time for the Union for Reform Judaism as an assistant director at Camp Harlam in Pennsylvania, where she spent eight summers as a camper and staff member. She is also an alum of NFTY-PAR, NFTY in Israel, and the URJ Kutz Camp, and she served on the NFTY North American Board. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 with degrees in communication and political science.
Tara Levine, Astoria, New York
Tara works full time as the Director of Youth Engagement at Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, New York, where she works directly with Reform Jewish teens in youth group, retreats, Hebrew school, NFTY, and more. Tara is a recent graduate of HUC-JIR’s certificate program in Jewish Education for Adolescents and Emerging Adults. She spent this past summer on the leadership team at URJ Crane Lake Camp in Massachusetts.
Dzmitry Makarchuk, Minsk, Belarus
Dzmitry graduated from Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, and works full-time as an educator. He is very involved in Netzer FSU movement. Throughout the year, he is a madrich at Netzer FSU camps.
Barak Malichi, Elyahkin, Israel
Barak studies music production at BPM College in Tel Aviv. He is a past staff member of the URJ Crane Lake Camp and is a NFTY in Israel group leader. Barak is also a guide in “Aharai” (a movement for youth at risk), a staff member of the Jewish Agency training and scanning team, and a guitar teacher.
Noa Nitzan, Gedera, Israel
Noa grew up in Gedera and was a counselor in the youth movement “Young Maccabi.” After high school, she went to Mechina “Minesharim Kalu” in Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, where she studied about Israel, traveled around the country, and volunteered with at-risk youth, people with disabilities, and with other populations in need. She finished her military service as a war room operator on the Gaza division in December 2015. In summer 2016, she was a counselor in URJ Camp GUCI in Indiana.
Tamar Paley, Ramat Gan, Israel
Tamar is in her 4th year of jewelry design studies at Shenkar College of Art and Design in Ramat Gan. From a young age, Tamar has been involved in Telem, the Reform youth movement, where she took on many leadership roles. Prior to her service in the IDF, Tamar participated in the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism’s post-high school gap year (mechina) program in Jaffa. After her army service, she participated in “Tnufa,” an entrepreneurial and leadership program for pluralistic social activism within the community.
Didi Poliak, Long Island, New York
Didi attends the University of Delaware where she studies human services. She grew up at URJ Eisner Camp in Massachusetts, where she has spent the past 11 summers. Didi just returned from a semester in Jerusalem where she participated in the Nachshon Project – a new program that brings together future Jewish professionals.
Veronika Popova, Moscow, Russia
Veronika graduated from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, where she studied public relations and advertising. In 2010, she joined Netzer in Russia and is currently an active member of this movement. Veronika takes part in several projects of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, such as being a member of the Moscow congregation, Le-Dor Va-Dor.
Dan Rattan, Passau, Germany
Dan is a Student of governance and public policy at the University of Passau. He attended Netzer camps since he was 9 years old. He has been in several leadership positions in Netzer Germany including rosh machane and mazkirut. He also took part in the Netzer gap year program, Shnat Netzer in 2011-12.
Adi Sharabi, Mevasseret Zion, Israel
Adi is currently studying economics and political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She completed her army service six months ago, in which she dealt with international relations. Adi grew up in the IMPJ congregation Kehilat Mevasseret Zion, where she is tutoring youth for their bar and bat mitzvah. Last summer she was a Jewish education counselor at URJ Eisner Camp in Massachusetts.