Students
Each year, 10 to 15 qualified future Jewish professionals from all backgrounds are chosen to enroll in the Hornstein Program. A typical student may have been part of a youth movement, worked as a Hebrew school teacher, sat on a community relations task force or raised funds for a synagogue.
Some students are experienced professionals in other fields who are searching for meaningful work that brings their personal and professional identities closer together. No matter what their background, our students chose the Hornstein Program to become critically informed, highly skilled professionals committed to shaping the future of the Jewish community.
The diversity of a typical class adds to its intellectual and professional excitement. Because graduates will be working in an increasingly diverse Jewish community, they confront tough questions about pluralism, tolerance and inclusion in their training. The educational experience at the Hornstein Program presents "living models" of good professional practice.
Second-Year Students
Matthew Feinberg (MA/MBA) graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Brandeis University. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Matthew is passionate about Jewish camping, and has spent the past 13 summers at the URJ Greene Family Camp in Bruceville, TX. While at Brandeis, Matthew was very involved in the Jewish community and was the President of Hillel. His experience as President, combined with five years on staff at Greene (three as a counselor, two as a Unit Head), led him to Hornstein so that he could pursue a career in the Jewish communal world. Matthew is interested in working with Jewish youth, and hopes to become the director of a summer camp.
Hannah Gutterman (MA/MBA) graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Spanish and Jewish Studies. She was raised in Chicago, IL and Greensboro, NC. At UNC, she worked at Hillel and as a counselor at Camp Ramah Darom, where she was a founding camper. Her freshman year, she was a co-founder of Project Dinah, a women's empowerment initiative that received The Irving and Sarah Pitt Campus Creativity Grant from Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She traveled to Israel as a participant in the 2004 Bert B. Weinstein Institute and the 2006 Hillel Student Leadership Mission. She discovered her passion for development work while serving on the student fundraising committee for UNC. Upon graduating, Hannah spent two years in the Women's Philanthropy Division of Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Boston's Jewish Federation). She is a recipient of the Jewish Federations of North America FEREP Scholarship and plans to return to the Federation system upon graduating from Hornstein.
Mary Horrocks (MA/MA) was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She attended Earlham College where she earned her B.A. in Comparative Religion and Jewish Studies. As a 2004 intern at the National Yiddish Book Center, she studied Yiddish language and literature and was also a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship finalist for her project, "Troubled Memory in Yiddishland." Since moving to New England, she has worked in development at a secular Jewish nonprofit. This fall she is teaching seventh grade at a progressive Shul in Brookline, MA, and was recently awarded the Harry Fein Memorial Fellowship. Her interests are wide-ranging, from Holocaust memory and representation in Eastern and Central Europe to Jewish gender studies and literature. Mary looks forward to exploring the Jewish organizational landscape in North America and Israel, and to studying how institutions help shape contemporary Jewish identity.
Jennifer Kirsch (MA/MPP) graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Kinesiology and then went on to get a B.S. in Nursing from Rush University. She is from the Chicago area where she pursued a successful career as a nurse. During that time, she went to Israel, feeling that something was "missing" in her life. It all came together for her during a leadership conference in Jerusalem, where she met other young Jews who cared deeply about the Diaspora Jewish community. She was inspired by the various Jewish leaders at the conference and knew her true passion was to serve the American Jewish community. Since that moment, she has had various Israel and Jewish experiences that have only fueled this passion. Jennifer is hoping to combine her passion for Judaism and nursing to work with Jews who have been affected by cancer or who have the BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations.
Elinor (Ellie) Klein, (MA/MA) graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York, Geneseo College, with a B.A. in English and Secondary Education certification. Ellie worked at The Weber Jewish Community High School for 5 years, first as an English teacher and then as Director of Admission. In the summers, Ellie and her husband, Dan, work at residential Jewish summer camps initiating and facilitating outdoor education and backpacking programs. In the past 2 years, Ellie has been the Director of Admission for the Jewish Community High School of Connecticut, a trip leader for Jewish Funds for Justice, and the director of “In-Home Tutors Connecticut.” Currently, Ellie teaches Iyengar yoga and is the Samuel and Florence Melton Endowed Fellow in the Hornstein/Near Eastern and Judaic Studies dual M.A. program at Brandeis University.
Yael Kletter (MA/MPP) earned her B.A. in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. Originally from Boston, Yael was actively involved in the Jewish community on campus through the local Hillel, serving as a student leader and board member. In addition to her extensive experience with Hillel, Yael developed her political and organizational savvy and knowledge of American Judaism, completing her senior thesis on American Jews and voting behaviors in Presidential elections. She spent the past three years working in Washington, DC, initially at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and then at Hillel's Schusterman International Center. After spending a semester in Israel studying at the Pardes Institute of Judaic Studies she is excited to return to her hometown. Yael hopes to augment her public policy knowledge while exploring the many facets of our evolving Jewish community.
Jessica Lowenthal (MA/MBA) graduated from George Washington University with a B.A. in Religion. She grew up in the Boston suburbs and returned last year to work at the American Jewish Committee. During high school, she was involved in NFTY and, as an undergraduate, was active in Hillel. After graduation, she worked for American University Hillel and was able to lead their Birthright program for the past two years. Since spending a semester in Israel during high school, she does her best to go back as often as possible.
Madeline Mayer (BA/MA)hails from Leawood, KS. She completed a BA in Near Eastern/Judaic Studies and Education Studies in May 2011. For her senior honors thesis, Madeline conducted a case study of how a service learning program in a Jewish day school affects how the students understand serving Jews versus others. In the past, she has interned in: Major Gifts at American Jewish World Service; Development at Breakthrough Cambridge; and in Marketing at the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. She interned in Development at Mayyim Hayyim this past summer and continues to work there during the school year. Madeline looks forward to pursuing a career in Development following graduation
Monica Pevzner (MA/MPP) earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She comes from a family of Russian Jewish immigrants and was raised with a strong appreciation and connection to Judaism. She was the first member of her family to have a Bat Mitzvah ceremony and stayed involved in the Jewish community throughout her high school years. While attending university, Monica took on leadership roles at Hillel and the Jewish sorority. After completing her Bachelor's Degree in 2008, she began working at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University where she studied Russian Jewish identity and the long-term impact of the Taglit-Birthright Israel program. In addition to her work at the Cohen Center, Monica continued her participation in the larger Jewish community by teaching 5th and 6th grade at Boston's Temple Israel. Monica is a recipient of a Brandeis Genesis Institute scholarship for Russian-speaking Jews.
Bella Shapiro (MA/MA) graduated from St. Mary's College of California with a B.A. in Integral Liberal Arts. She was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was raised in the Bay Area, California. She also spent a semester studying abroad at Oxford University, England. After graduation, Bella spent 10 months living in Jerusalem and participated in a unique Israel Government Fellows program through which she was able to intern at both the Israel Ministry of Tourism and at the non-profit organization, MEMRI. Bella is interested in working within the realm of Hasbara on college campuses.
Dmitry Shaplyka (MA/MBA) earned a B.A. in Choreographic Arts from Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts and has a professional background in choreography and ballroom dance. He created and managed a professional dance troupe, volunteered and competed as the part of the Belarusian Paralympic Team, achieved the World Champion in Latin Dance title, and co-founded a non-profit organization for the rehabilitation of disabled children through dancing. For several years he was an account manager in a prominent advertising agency in Belarus, but discovered his passion for Judaism after joining Minsk Jewish Campus and working on creating a vibrant community among young Jewish adults in Moishe House Minsk. He is passionate about social justice, Jewish identity, and efficient business practices, topics he hopes to explore in the Hornstein dual MA/MBA program. Dmitry is an alumnus of the Brandeis Collegiate Institute and a recipient of the Special Award for talented youth from the President of Belarus.
Julia Smirnova (MA/MBA) was born in Nizhne Novgorod in Russia and immigrated to New York in 1992 with her family. She spent 5 years in Israel as a teenager, and considers herself Israeli at heart. In 2003, she came back to New York, but hopes to return to Israel eventually and to raise a family there. She earned a B.A. in Sociology from Brooklyn College and most recently worked at their Tanger Hillel House. In her role as Program Coordinator there, Julia participated in volunteer programs, community service missions, and social events. She also worked at the Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations (COJECO) as a Jewish educator in a Russian day care center, and interned with the Council of Jewish Organizations of Flatbush where she dealt with immigration cases. In the near future, Julia would like to give back to her community by directing a camp for teenagers and young adults of Russian Jewish background. Julia is a recipient of a Brandeis Genesis Institute scholarship for Russian-speaking Jews.
Samantha (Sami) Stein (MA/MBA) attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison earning a B.A. in Hebrew and Semitic Studies and Jewish Studies. As an undergraduate, Sami was involved in almost every aspect of Hillel, and initiated the MASA Israel Journey Campus Representative internship on campus. Sami is interested in the intersection of business management and Jewish organizations, and worked for Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. While in Chicago, Sami was involved with Anshe Emet Synagogue and Jewish United Fund's EZRA Multi-Service Center.
First-year Students
Julie Aronowitz (MA/MBA) spent the past year at Yeshivat Hadar in New York and Mechon Pardes in Jerusalem, learning how the Rabbis endeavored to build a just society. Previously, Julie had spent several years in Boston, first as a fellow with the Jewish Organizing Initiative, and later as the Young Adult Social Justice Coordinator at the Jewish Community Relations Council in Boston. While at JCRC, she facilitated the creation of Reach Out!, a community service and community building program, and brought Jewish young adults into campaign work with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, addressing such issues as access to higher education and credit card interest rates. Julie has also been actively involved with the Moishe/Kavod Social Justice House, where she helped to develop communal vision, infrastructure, and programs, and served on the inaugural board of directors. Julie was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in Sociology. Her vision is to build the leadership and capacity of Jewish communities to be effective and powerful internally, and to effect grassroots social change. Julie has been named a Wexner Graduate Fellow/Davidson Scholar.
Ira Blum (MA/MA) earned a BA in Religion Studies at Muhlenberg College and is very proud to be a part of the Brandeis-Hornstein community. Born and raised outside of Philadelphia, Ira has worked in a variety of formal and informal Jewish educational capacities, including teaching at religious and Hebrew school programs, participating on the executive board of his college Hillel, and as staff at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. Before enrolling at Brandeis, Ira staffed Kivunim: New Directions, a gap year program for North American high school graduates, who studied co-existence and world Jewry in Jerusalem, and then visited ten countries over the course of ten months. He looks forward to increasing his learning of informal Jewish educational models and strategies, as well as studying topics of Jewish identity among a cohort of current and future Jewish leaders.
Matt Brown (MA/MPP) is excited to return to his alma mater (BA Classical Studies and History) to focus on communal Jewish education after a few years of working at the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) in marketing communications. Matt's goal is to help make it more accessible and affordable. Growing up immersed in the Los Angeles Jewish community, Matt was fortunate enough to experience each manifestation of communal Jewish education: day school, supplementary school, summer camp, youth group, and a teen Israel trip. Since graduating he has been involved with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston's young-adult community service program, ReachOut! Matt's passion can be traced to a line from the TV show The West Wing: "You want to be the guy the guy counts on."
Yana Drozdovski (MA/MBA) was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia and made Aliyah with her family in the 1990's when she was five years old. After serving for 2 years in the Israeli Intelligence forces, she attended Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva where she graduated with a BA in Management and Sociology and Anthropology. During her senior year, Yana escorted Birthright participants from New York and became passionate about the Jewish world outside of Israel. Upon graduation, Yana decided to spend a year abroad working as the Israel Program Coordinator at Brooklyn College Hillel in New York. She worked with students from a wide spectrum of backgrounds engaging them in leadership and advocacy programs and strengthening their connection to Israel. The following summer she served as a unit head in the "Chavura" program at camp Tel Yehudah where she worked with teenagers and counselors of Russian backgrounds. Yana aspires to work in organizations that have a goal of connecting Jewish populations around the world.
Dara Freedman-Weiss (MA/MBA) earned a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Rochester. She has worked for many Jewish non-profit organizations including JCCs, Hillels, synagogues, religious schools, and summer camps in Rochester, NY (where she was born), Philadelphia (where she also grew up) and San Francisco. She began graduate work in Jewish Philosophy at Boston University where she also worked as the Hillel/KOACH Graduate Intern designing leadership training workshops for Jewish undergraduates. Dara spent a year studying at Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, where she immersed herself in Jewish texts and Hebrew. Dara's ultimate goal is to work in organizations that engage in outreach, programming, and education in order to encourage participation in and connection to Judaism, Israel and the Jewish community. Dara hopes to continue her life-long Jewish learning as well as to incorporate her passion for Judaic studies, Israel and education into her future career.
Melissa Goraj (MA/MBA), is passionate about bringing strong accounting and financial management practices to the Jewish nonprofit sector to help organizations more efficiently achieve their missions. Melissa has worked as a graduate accounting intern in two Jewish nonprofits in the Greater Boston area and has developed skills in budgeting, internal auditing, and fixed asset management. Melissa is also enrolled in the Bentley Graduate Certificate of Accountancy program and plans to sit for the CPA exam in the fall of 2013. She is a native of Mt. Holly, Vermont and graduated cum laude from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in Philosophy and English. Melissa became inspired to work in the Jewish community while studying abroad at theHebrew University of Jerusalem in 2010. Before attending Hornstein, she worked as a Masa Israel intern and as an Engagement and Marketing assistant at Jvillage Network in Burlington, VT.
Jeffrey Hast (MA/MBA) was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to his BA in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, he received a certificate in Children's Literature. He spent the previous year in Israel on a year-long program called OTZMA, living in various cities in the north and south, volunteering in many different social and educational settings. Jeff is planning to pursue a career in the Jewish camping world after spending the previous fifteen summers at Camp Ramah Daromin Clayton, GA. While at camp, he has been a unit head for fourth, fifth, and eleventh graders, a counselor for many years, and a hockey teacher. After a few years considering entering the formal education field, Jeff's camp and Israel experiences have led him to Brandeis to become a camp director.
Ira Krakhman (MA/MA) left balmy California where, for the past four years, she had been building a home in the Jewish community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Her most recent role was as coordinator for a fundraising and development team at the Jewish Agency for Israel. Previously, she partnered with the Jewish Agency emissary to the Bay Area Russian Jews, laying foundations for communal engagement and stewardship among her Russian Jewish peers – a charismatic community known as Mishmash. For the past two years, as both professional and volunteer, she has taken great interest in the program's strategic development. Ira's vision is to see the Bay Area Russian Jewish community raise its unique presence through grass-roots innovation and creative engagement of local resources, including local funding sources. Ira's Jewish quest began when she woke up one morning and found herself in Jerusalem where she spent 2006-2007 learning and volunteering. Formerly an English teacher, Ira holds a BA in English from Skidmore College and an MEd from Arcadia University. She immigrated from Odessa, Ukraine in 1990. Ira is a recipient of a Brandeis Genesis Institute scholarship for Russian-speaking Jews.
Dan Lange (MA/MBA) While at the University of Southern California earning his BA in Cinematic Arts, Dan produced a myriad of films, one of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. After completing his degree, Dan spent time working in the film industry before making the decision to turn a lifelong passion for Jewish informal education into a career. He has spent 20 years in Jewish summer camping and is passionate about the field and about creating Jewish community among children and teenagers. Dan spent three years working as the Youth Director at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA before beginning his studies at Brandeis. He was born and raised in northern New Jersey and loves geocaching and attempting to see every movie that is released (even the bad ones). Dan was recently named a Wexner Graduate Fellow/DavidsonScholar.
Tslil Shtulsaft (MA/MBA) was born on a kibbutz in Israel's Western Galilee and raised on Long Island, N.Y. Majoring in History at SUNY Buffalo, Tslil served as the AEPi chapter president where he helped create a sustainable infrastructure for the fraternity during its early years. Upon graduation, Tslil served as the Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow at Indiana University's Hillel where he focused his efforts on over 3,000 "unengaged" Jewish students. It was at IU that Tslil realized his passion for working with the Jewish non-profit world. For the past two years, Tslil has worked as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs at Congregation Beth Israel, Vancouver's largest conservative synagogue. Most recently, Tslil completed the Pardes Institute Summer Educators Tract program in Jerusalem, where he focused his time learning traditional Jewish texts. Beginning in the fall of 2011, Tslil will be living at the Moishe Kavod house in Boston which strives to create community building and social action opportunities for Boston's young adult population. Tslil is an avid traveler and has spent time all over Asia and the Middle East.
Daniel Shulman (MA/MBA) Before entering Queens College, where he earned a BA in Political Science, Daniel spent a year and a half in a Jerusalem Yeshiva studying religious law and learning about the various cultures of Israel. During his undergraduate years, Daniel was very active in the campus Hillel as well as the local AEPi Chapter. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Campus Ministers' Scholarship for fostering good will between the various religious groups on campus. After graduation, Daniel moved to Nashville, TN to work for the campus Hillel at Vanderbilt University. There he worked to develop Jewish student leadership through shared, immersive, and volunteer experiences, engagement, and a love for Israel. As an advisor, the students of the Vanderbilt AIPAC Cadre took home the Campus Cadre of the Year award for consistently going above and beyond. Daniel is passionate about working with unaffiliated Jews and finding ways for them to connect back to their roots.
Yana Tolmacheva (MA/MBA) emigrated from Moscow, Russia to New York City where she was raised in Brooklyn. She has spent the last year in Israel on a MASA sponsored program and then worked as a program coordinator for Oranim. During her undergraduate years at Hunter College where she earned a BA in Psychology, Yana worked at several Jewish organizations including JCC Manhattan and the Jewish National Fund. She worked for two years at a Jewish community center with day camps and after-school programs . Her first trip to Israel was in 2006 with Taglit-Birthright Israel and, since then, she has returned every year. Completing RAJE (Russian American Jewish Experience), a 10-week Jewish leadership fellowship, and Hillel Alternative Break in Netanya, solidified her decision to pursue her professional career in the Jewish community. She has studied abroad in Argentina and participated in an exchange program in Spain. Yana hopes to combine her varied interests and implement innovative programs in the Jewish communal sector.