Hebrew Language and Literature Department - Faculty List

Mrs. Merav Tal-Timen, Hebrew Chair, was born and raised in Israel, where she earned a B.A. in Education from the David Yellin College for Education in Jerusalem. She taught in several schools in Israel before coming to the United States. She is now studying toward her Master of Arts degree in Jewish Education. Mrs. Tal-Timen joined the Ma’ayanot faculty in 1998, and has since been involved in teaching Hebrew Language and Literature, and chairing the Hebrew Department. She advises the Hebrew newspaper, Michutz Lakufsa, as well as the Israel Awareness Committee’s many programs, and also initiated and directs the Kochav NoladCompetition, which brings Israeli songs and poetry to our student body. Mrs. Tal-Timen encourages her students’ love for and devotion to the Hebrew language and the land of Israel.

Mrs. Tamar Appel teaches Hebrew, History, and Jewish History at Ma'ayanot, and serves as Chairperson of the History, Jewish History, and Jewish Philosophy Departments. She also administers the Tikvah High School Scholars program at Ma'ayanot. Mrs. Appel has a B.A. and an M.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also completed her coursework toward a Ph.D. and won the Penn Prize for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching. She will be the Assistant Principal for Academic Life at Ma'ayanot beginning in September 2010.
 

Mrs. Rookie Billet, Principal, has earned a reputation as an inspirational teacher, a beloved high school administrator, an eloquent public speaker and educator, and an insightful community leader. In over three decades of involvement in formal and informal Jewish education, Mrs. Billet is known to her students and colleagues as a wise, caring mehanekhet, and a strong, devoted leader and mentor. Her classroom experience includes teaching courses in Tanakh, Jewish Thought, Halakha, Hebrew Language and Literature, and Algebra at the high school level, and a medley of sociology courses at the college level. She holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College, Phi Beta Kappa; a B.Ed. and Hebrew Teacher’s Diploma from Yeshiva University; and an M.A. from the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She studied in the Israeli program at Michlalah and was a fellow in the Senior Educators Program at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. Prior to her tenure at Ma’ayanot, Mrs. Billet served as Assistant Principal at Stella K. Abraham and Yeshiva University High Schools.

Mrs. Rachel Zygler is an Ivrit teacher at Ma’ayanot. She also serves as a ninth-grade mehanekhet and Torah Bowl adviser. Mrs. Zygler earned her B.A. at Brandeis University, where she studied Psychology and Hebrew Language and Literature. She has a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from the Davidson School in New York.