Staff
Professor Joseph Reimer
Director
Joseph Reimer is an associate professor and former director of the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University. Trained at Harvard University as a developmental psychologist, he has focused his research interests on the synagogue as a context for Jewish education, Jewish experiential education and the development of Jewish identity. His book, "Succeeding at Jewish Education: How One Synagogue Made it Work," won the 1997 National Jewish Book Award. Professor Reimer lectures and consults widely. He especially enjoys designing professional development opportunities for educators in schools and informal settings.
Rabbi Bradley Solmsen
Associate Director
Rabbi Bradley Solmsen is also the director of Brandeis University's two summer programs for high school students: BIMA and Genesis. Rabbi Solmsen was ordained at The Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and received a master’s degree in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He has held fellowships at the Melton Center Senior Educator's Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Institute for Informal Jewish Education at Brandeis University. He has extensive experience as a Jewish educator in Israel and the United States working with teenagers and college students and training Jewish educators.
Julie Shumofsky Chivo
Program Manager
Julie Shumofsky Chivo has worked at the IJE since 1999 providing logistical support. Since 2007, Julie has worked on bookkeeping for BIMA and Genesis. She has a master’s degree in Jewish Communal Service from Brandeis University and a bachelor's degree from Lehigh University.
Dvora Goodman
Senior Educator
Dvora Goodman is also an associate director of BIMA and Genesis at Brandeis University. At the IJE she works primarily with the projects on Community Hebrew High Schools, as well as developing curriculum with Communiteen. She has a master’s degree in Jewish Communal Service from the Hornstein Program at Brandeis. Dvora has worked extensively with teenagers and Jewish educators in the summer and year-round on Israel trips and at Genesis at Brandeis. Before beginning full-time work at Brandeis in the fall of 2006, Dvora was the associate director of the Kesher Community Hebrew School After School in Cambridge, Mass., where she worked for six years on all aspects of the school including curriculum development, teacher training and supervision, program development and fundraising.
Rachel Happel
Rachel Happel is an associate director of BIMA and Genesis at Brandeis and works as an educator for the IJE. Rachel has been a Jewish educator and arts educator for 15 years and has worked in a variety of settings, including youth groups, religious schools, summer camps, after school programs and public schools. Before joining the staff of BIMA, Genesis and the IJE, Rachel served as the Havayah Director at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, where she oversaw formal, experiential and family learning for grades six-12. Rachel earned her M.A. and M.B.A. from the Hornstein/Heller program at Brandeis, and holds a bachelor's degree in studio art from Williams College. Rachel was a fellow in two IJE initiatives.