B-MITZVAH

Meitav Aaron hails from Chicago, where she grew up in the Conservative movement, with two rabbis and Jewish educators as parents. Just like her parents, Meitav was drawn to working in the Jewish world as a college student and has been working in Jewish education since she was 20. A trained painter and makeup artist, Meitav brings a creative and nuanced perspective to Jewish education and enjoys incorporating the arts and storytelling into her approach. Now based in Queens, she is so excited to be joining Kolot Chayeinu and looks forward to starting 5786 with you all. Contact TavAaron@gmail.com.

SONG SERVICE LEADER & TORAH TOTS & SHABBAT SHELI

Ty is a Brooklyn-based guitarist and composer who writes, performs, and teaches music across the spectrum of jazz, rock, and contemporary classical music. He has been leading Jewish music in synagogues for 20 years; he is a founding member of the irreverent chamber jazz quartet Gutbucket; he leads the radical Jewish quartet Bop Kabbalah; and he writes chamber music that’s been performed by JACK Quartet, Anti-Social Music, Sara Schoenbeck, and Bearthoven. In his secular music life, he has played with the American Composers Orchestra, John Zorn, Ethel, Glenn Branca, Kaoru Watanabe, Frank London, Rhys Chatham, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Brian Chase, and many others. His music appears on Cuneiform Records, Tzadik Records, Cantaloupe Music, Enja, Knitting Factory, NRW, and Gut Records. He has been featured on National Public Radio, Radio Free Europe, and numerous college and independent stations across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and Europe. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the London Jazz Festival, Paris Jazz Festival, Belgrade Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne, the Bang on a Can Marathon, Earshot Jazz Festival, Jazz Saalfelden, Worldport Jazz Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and Warsaw Summer Jazz Days. Guitar Player called Ty's music for Gutbucket "kinetic punk jazz opuses" that “reveal an explosive concoction containing lethal doses of Ornette Coleman, King Crimson, John Zorn, Black Sabbath, Stravinsky, and Fugazi." Contact TyCiterman@gmail.com.

LEARNING SPECIALIST

Pauline David-Sax is an educator, writer, and Kolot member. As an educator, she spent 18 years working in NYC public schools as a teacher, literacy coach, and assistant principal. As a writer, she's the author of two picture books for kids and several plays for grownups. As a Kolot member, she participates in the Gemilut Chasadim committee and the Kolot Oral History Project, and you can sometimes find her playing violin at Kolot services. Contact Pauline@kolotchayeinu.org.

KITAH HAY

My name is Dovy, I’m 25 years old, and I’m a musician and music educator living in Brooklyn! I attended Berklee College of Music and am currently a songleader with the non-profit Tkiya, where I lead fun Jewish musical events for children and their families at temples and schools throughout NYC. I am also a Jewish vinyl and CD collector, and have a passion for studying the rich history of both radical Judaism and Jewish radicals! Contact DovyE@kolotchayeinu.org.

KITAH DALED

Aviva Gerwein is a Jewish educator, writer, and comedian living in Queens. Originally from Berkeley, California, Aviva has called New York home for the last four years. She has worked in Hebrew schools and Jewish summer camps since 2018 and believes that passing down Jewish culture and knowledge through the generations is sacred work. She also loves painting, cooking, exploring the city, and finding new kinds of cheese at Trader Joe’s. Contact AvivaGerwein@kolotchayeinu.org.

KITAH ALEF & BET

Cathy has a background in art and preschool education. Having been married to a rabbi for many years, though, she seems to always be teaching in a synagogue! Cathy moved to Brooklyn from San Diego, California, recently to be near her children. One daughter and family live in Park Slope, and the other daughter lives down the street from Lincoln Center. She has twin granddaughters in the city and a delicious baby grandson in Park Slope. She is thrilled to be here, working at Kolot Chayeinu. Contact CathyKamin@kolotchayeinu.org.

SHABBAT SHELI & TORAH TOTS & WHAT'S UP?!

Amanda Miller is an educator, healer, theater artist, and writer committed to community building and collective transformation. She has facilitated workshops and taught classes to people of all ages at nonprofits, summer camps, synagogues, community centers, and public schools on community organizing, social justice, mindfulness, Jewish studies, and the arts. Amanda has served as an educator in the NYC Jewish community since 2010, and currently works with youth and families at Lab/Shul and Kolot Chayeinu. She is going into her 15th year as an educator and program leader at Kolot! An award-winning solo performer and published author, she views the arts as a powerful tool for education, healing, and social change. Contact Amanda@kolotchayeinu.org.

B-MITZVAH

Greetings! My name is Jael. My favorite animal is the kangaroo, I’m a Sagittarius, and I love to cook. I’m thrilled to be embarking with you into this school year. I envision a space in which, together, we can be curious and honor ourselves and our world. I look forward to beginning! Contact JaelScott@kolotchayeinu.org.

KITAH HAY (ASSISTANT)

Hi! My name is Sam, and I’m so excited to start my first year at Kolot! I love to teach about Jewish history and explore the Torah with my students. Being in nature is important to me, and I spent this summer teaching in Prospect Park. In my free time, I love to read, go camping, and play with my cat Cookie. Contact SamShear@kolotchayeinu.org.

K'TANIM & B-MITZVAH

Irene Siegel loves to teach, learn, dance and DANCE, sing, and write (though she much prefers “having written"), and translate, and organize communally. She especially loves organizing with JVP and JFREJ and doing human rights work, research, and teaching over many years in Palestine/Israel. Some favorite projects past and present include: a dance project with refugees in Greece; teaching dance and yoga to a small community of Jewish Kenyan subsistence farmers amidst roaming sheep and cows; being part of the awesome Aftselakhis Purimspiel, the Butoh Rockettes, Sarah Cameron Sunde’s creations, and There's No Law improv collective; and teaching college literature and gender and cultural studies. Irene also loves teaching Arabic and delights in sharing the connections between Arabic and Hebrew with her lovely Kolot students! Irene holds a PhD in Comparative Literature (Arabic/French) from UC Berkeley. Lots of love to Kolot CLP, my favorite place to work yet. Contact Irene@kolotchayeinu.org.

KITAH GIMMEL & B-MITZVAH

Zachary is an artist and cultural organizer going into his 9th year teaching at Kolot Chayeinu. He is currently in the MFA program at City College for creative non-fiction. Zachary is a Yiddishist, studier of folk singing traditions, believer of diasporic Jewishness, language nerd, lover of food and cooking, and always looking to dance. Contact Zach@kolotchayeinu.org.