Faculty

Search by LAST NAME or filter by DEPARTMENT to find FACULTY members. Hover over each faculty member for contact and bio information.

Mr. Avi Mandel

Tanakh, Contemporary Israel, Jewish Philosophy

lowym@maayanot.org

Mr. Mike Lowy

Technology Associate

meyersc@maayanot.org • ext 200

Mrs. Chana Meyers

Director of Learning Center

millera@maayanot.org

Mrs. Allison Miller

English

mintzr@maayanot.org

Ms. Rebecca Mintz

Math, Chemistry

pasternake@maayanot.org

Ms. Esti Pasternak

History

pecarick@maayanot.org

Mrs. Ksenija Pecaric

Art

nagard@maayanot.org

Mrs. Delia Nagar

Spanish

nayers@maayanot.org

Dr. Sofya Nayer

Calculus

orens@maayanot.org

Ms. Sivan Oren

Hebrew

pultmana@maayanot.org

Mrs. Adeena Pultman

Film & Law

reinerb@maayanot.org • ext 151

Mr. Benny Reiner

Director of Information Technology

resnicks@maayanot.org

Mrs. Sara Resnick

Biology, STEAM

rappst@maayanot.org

Ms. Tammie Rapps

English

roperb@maayanot.org • ext 105

Mr. Bill Roper

College Guidance

rotenbergc@maayanot.org

Mrs. Chani Rotenberg

History Department Chair, Co-Director of Humanities Enrichment & Interdisciplinary Programming

rosenbauma@maayanot.org

Mrs. Ariella Rosenbaum

Computer Science

saffernc@maayanot.org

Mrs. Chanie Saffern

Math Department Facilitator

samuelsy@maayanot.org • ext 231

Mr. Yaakov Samuels

History

rudolphy@maayanot.org

Mrs. Yael Rudolph

Fitness Instructor

sandersj@maayanot.org • ext 224

Coach Jen Sanders

Athletic Director

sandmane@maayanot.org

Ms. Eleorah Sandman

Talmud

schriero@maayanot.org

Mrs. Ora Schrier

Director of Religious Programming, Tanakh

schapiros@maayanot.org

Mrs. Shifra Schapiro

Tanakh, Creative Writing

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Mr. Avi Mandel

Tanakh, Contemporary Israel, Jewish Philosophy

About Mr. Avi Mandel

Mr. Avi Mandel joins our Judaic Studies faculty from Israel, where he earned a Certificate of Advanced Jewish Studies and Diverse Learner Education Certification at the Day School Educators Program of Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. He received a Master of Jewish Education (MJEd) degree and Certificate in Jewish Day School Education from Hebrew College, Schoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education in Newton, MA, and a B.Ed. in English and Jewish Thought at Herzog Academic College in Alon Shvut, Israel. Mr. Mandel studied at Yeshivat Otniel and Yeshivat Beit Orot. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a military religious coordinator (mashak dat). Since 2013, he has student taught toward his teaching degrees at elementary schools in Israel, as well as Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles and the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, PA.

Mr. Mike Lowy

Technology Associate

email: lowym@maayanot.org

About Mr. Mike Lowy

Mr. Michael Lowy is a Technology Associate at Ma’ayanot. Prior to joining Ma’ayanot's faculty, he was an IT Analyst and Manager at various corporations and organizations. Mr. Lowy’s responsibilities include supporting the Technology Department’s mission of ensuring the smooth functioning and usage of the school's technological resources.

Mrs. Chana Meyers

Director of Learning Center

email: meyersc@maayanot.org

ext: 200

About Mrs. Chana Meyers

Mrs. Chana Meyers is Director of our Learning Center. She has a B.A. in Elementary Education from Stern College and a MS.Ed. in Special Education with a concentration in learning disabilities from Hunter College. Prior to joining the Ma'ayanot faculty, Mrs. Meyers taught for 19 years at the Moriah School as a classroom teacher, student support teacher, and teacher in the maximum support of the Gesher Yehuda program. She also worked at the Stephen Gaynor School in New York.

Mrs. Allison Miller

English

email: millera@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Allison Miller

Mrs. Allison Miller teaches English. Most recently, she taught English, AP English Language and Composition, and a “Writing About Food” course at TABC. She participated as a mentee in the Jewish New Teacher Project, which provides professional development and mentorship to new teachers. Mrs. Miller has also taught English at HAFTR and SAR. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Secondary English Language from the Graduate School of Education at Lehman College, an M.A. in English and American Literature from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University, and a B.A. in English Literature, magna cum laude, from Columbia University.

Ms. Rebecca Mintz

Math, Chemistry

email: mintzr@maayanot.org

About Ms. Rebecca Mintz

Ms. Rebecca Mintz, Ma'ayanot Class of 2006, returned to her alma mater as a faculty member of the Math and Science departments. Ms. Mintz holds an MSW from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and a B.A. from Stern College in Philosophy and Jewish Studies, where she was valedictorian in both General and Judaic Studies. She is a Shoel U'Meishiv for Drisha and Mechon Hadar summer programs and a mashgicha at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. She has also been a Fellow at Mechon Hadar, where she engaged in immersive study of Jewish texts, and at Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps Fellowship, where she studied and analyzed tools for combating poverty and building community in New York City. She has supervised the care of adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness at HASC Residential Services and has worked in a wide array of social services.

Ms. Esti Pasternak

History

email: pasternake@maayanot.org

About Ms. Esti Pasternak

Ms. Esti Pasternak is a new member of our History department. Previously, she taught Judaic Studies in the Middle School at Manhattan Day School. She is completing a Masters of Social Studies Education Grades 7-12 at Columbia University Teachers College and holds a B.A. in Jewish Studies and Political Science from Stern College, where she was awarded the Herman Gerofsky Memorial Award for Excellence in Jewish History. Ms. Pasternak has worked an intern for AIPAC.

Mrs. Ksenija Pecaric

Art

email: pecarick@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Ksenija Pecaric

Mrs. Ksenija Lea Pecaric joins our art department with more than two decades of experience in art education. For the past 12 years, she has been the art teacher for grades K-8 at Yeshivat Noam. She taught English and Hebrew calligraphy, painting, drawing and tile design at Bais Yaakov Machon Ora High School for Girls in Passaic. For three summers, she taught a course on Fashion & Color Theory, Drawing, Stamp Making, Printmaking, and Clay sculpting at Bergen Community College Summer Program for Teens. As a fine artist, Mrs. Pecaric has exhibited her work in solo and collective exhibitions across the United States, as well as in Poland and the Czech Republic. Mrs. Pecaric has illustrated book covers and books, including the Book of Esther. She has an M.F.A. in Fine Art Education from Pedagogical University in Krakow, Poland. She also attended the School for Fashion Design in Krakow, the School for Graphic Art in the Department of Photography in Prague, and the School for Design in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Mrs. Delia Nagar

Spanish

email: nagard@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Delia Nagar

Mrs. Delia Nagar joined Ma'ayanot's faculty to teach Spanish. Born in Mexico, Mrs. Nagar studied to be a “Tecnico Profesional en Turismo,” a Professional Technician in Tourism at Colegio San Agustín in Mérida Yucatan, Mexico. She also received vocal training at the prestigious Ampaaro Rubins in Mexico City and worked for many years as a professional performer, including being the recorded voice for children’s programming for Parson Education. Most recently she has worked as a Spanish translator for early intervention programs and as a Spanish teacher for the Yeshiva Ketana of Passaic High School.

Dr. Sofya Nayer

Calculus

email: nayers@maayanot.org

About Dr. Sofya Nayer

Dr. Sofya Nayer teaches AP Calculus. She earned both a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Moscow, and an Ed.D. from Teacher’s College at Columbia University. Dr. Nayer is a tenured Professor of Mathematics at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), where she has been teaching math courses, including Basic Skills, Probability and Statistics, and the full Calculus sequence (Calculus I, II and III), for over three decades. During her tenure at BMCC she also mentored students in planning and conducting special research projects, many of which have been presented at professional conferences.

Ms. Sivan Oren

Hebrew

email: orens@maayanot.org

About Ms. Sivan Oren

Ms. Sivan Oren has joined our Hebrew department. Ms. Oren has a B.A., M.A., and teaching certificate from Tel Aviv University. She taught for eight years at Hayovel High School in Herzliya before coming to the United States.

Mrs. Adeena Pultman

Film & Law

email: pultmana@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Adeena Pultman

Mrs. Adeena Pultman holds a J.D. from Rutgers University and a B.A. in English from Queens College. Her course Film & Law brings to life our most important constitutional rights through the use of film and other media. Mrs. Pultman also coaches our College Bowl team. For the past two years, Mrs. Pultman taught Current Events, in which she engaged her students with challenging discussions about the state of affairs in Israel, the Middle East, and throughout the world. She exhibits her great communications skills and attention to individualized instruction as a talented fitness instructor.

Mr. Benny Reiner

Director of Information Technology

email: reinerb@maayanot.org

ext: 151

About Mr. Benny Reiner

Mr. Benny Reiner is Director of Information Technology. He has taught the Coding elective and works on Ma'ayanot video production, STEAM Research and Development, and runs the Technology Club. Prior to joining Ma’ayanot’s faculty, Mr. Reiner worked as an Engineer Specialist for The Garb Consulting Group, where he specialized in networking and systems management.

Mrs. Sara Resnick

Biology, STEAM

email: resnicks@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Sara Resnick

Mrs. Sara (Kaszovitz) Resnick, Ma’ayanot Class of 2011, has returned to her alma mater to teach Biology and contribute to STEAM programming. She has a B.A. in Biology from Stern College. Most recently, she taught science and math in the Middle School of Yavneh Academy. She also tutors high school students in Biology, Chemistry, Algebra, and Geometry.

Ms. Tammie Rapps

English

email: rappst@maayanot.org

About Ms. Tammie Rapps

Mrs. Tammie Rapps has joined our English department. Mrs. Rapps most recently served as Head of School at Akiba Academy of Dallas from 2014-2018. Prior to that she worked at Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, MD for 20 years, first as an English teacher and English Department Chair and then as Assistant Principal. She has also taught English at Yeshiva University High School for Girls. She has worked on the editorial board of BabagaNewz, an educational magazine and website, and created their accompanying teachers' guide. Mrs. Rapps has an A.B. in English literature from Princeton University, cum laude, and an M.A. in Secondary English Education from Teachers College of Columbia University, where she was a Mellon Fellows-in-Teaching fellow.

Mr. Bill Roper

College Guidance

email: roperb@maayanot.org

ext: 105

About Mr. Bill Roper

Mr. Bill Roper is an integral part of Ma’ayanot’s college guidance department. Prior to joining the Ma'ayanot faculty, Mr. Roper worked for several years as a college guidance counselor at The Frisch School, and for over thirty years as a guidance counselor at Ridgewood High School and George Washington Middle School. He holds a B.S. in Elementary Education from Kutztown State College, an M.S. in School Administration and Supervision from Seton Hall University, and an M.S. in Student Personnel Services from Montclair State University.

Mrs. Chani Rotenberg

History Department Chair, Co-Director of Humanities Enrichment & Interdisciplinary Programming

email: rotenbergc@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Chani Rotenberg

Mrs. Chani Rotenberg is the Chair of our History Department, Co-Director of Interdisciplinary Programming, and Co-Director of Humanities Enrichment. She graduated from Barnard College with a major in Political Science and a minor in US History, and earned two Master's Degrees: a Master's in Public Administration from NYU and a Master's in Adolescent Social Studies Education from Hunter College. Prior to joining Ma'ayanot's faculty, Mrs. Rotenberg was a student teacher of US History at Manhattan/Hunter Science High School. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Rotenberg has tutored groups of students as part of the AVID College Preparedness Program and has conducted research on various education topics, including STEM schools, teacher quality, charter schools and small high schools, at NYU's Institute for Education and Social Policy.

Mrs. Ariella Rosenbaum

Computer Science

email: rosenbauma@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Ariella Rosenbaum

Mrs. Ariella Rosenbaum has returned to Ma’ayanot to teach AP Computer Science in a distance-learning format. From 2008-2015, Mrs. Rosenbaum taught several courses at Ma’ayanot, including Chemistry, Physics (including AP) and Algebra. In 2016, she moved to Ohio, where she has been teaching Biology, Health, and Advanced & AP Chemistry and AP Physics at Columbus Torah Academy. Mrs. Rosenbaum earned dual degrees, summa cum laude, at Stern College, a B.A. in Physics and a B.A. in Jewish Studies/Bible. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Teaching Physics Grades 7-12 at Teachers College at Columbia University.

Mrs. Chanie Saffern

Math Department Facilitator

email: saffernc@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Chanie Saffern

Mrs. Chanie Saffern, our Math Department Facilitator and teacher of AP Calculus AB, has been teaching and tutoring all levels of mathematics for over 25 years. She currently works for the district in our Learning Center building the confidence and skills of our students. She graduated from Queens College with a major in mathematics and completed her Master of Arts in mathematics education at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her thesis on math anxiety was propelled by an interest in understanding its origin and what we can do to allay it. Mrs. Saffern takes pride in her ability to convey complex information to all students by breaking it down into smaller components. She takes the time to comprehend how the individual student preliminarily understands the material. She taught all levels of mathematics classes at Ma'ayanot from Algebra through Pre-calculus in the early years of Maayanot from 1999-2005.

Mr. Yaakov Samuels

History

email: samuelsy@maayanot.org

ext: 231

About Mr. Yaakov Samuels

Mr. Yaakov Samuels teaches History and serves as the adviser for the Model U.N. team. Mr. Samuels received his B.A. in History from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He holds K-12 State Teacher Certification in Social Studies and designation as a “Highly Qualified Teacher of Social Studies” from New Jersey City University. Mr. Samuels also works with students in all grades to handle any tracking changes or residency issues. He is a practitioner of martial arts and competes in Spartan obstacle course races.

Mrs. Yael Rudolph

Fitness Instructor

email: rudolphy@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Yael Rudolph

Mrs. Yael Rudoph is a fitness instructor who teaches our 12th graders the importance of physical fitness through weight training, aerobics, and exercise. She is also a personal trainer and nutrition consultant at the JCC on the Palisades. She is also a proud alumna of Ma'ayanot's Class of 2001! Go Rapids!

Coach Jen Sanders

Athletic Director

email: sandersj@maayanot.org

ext: 224

About Coach Jen Sanders

Ms. Jennifer Sanders, fondly known as "Coach Jen," serves as Ma'ayanot's Athletic Director. She teaches Physical Education in all grades as well as Health in 10th grade. She holds a B.S. in Psychology, with concentrations in sport psychology and social psychology, from the University of Florida. She is LGI/CPR/FA certified, holds Lifeguard and ACE Personal Trainer certifications, and is a Silver Sneakers Instructor. She is a personal trainer and has worked as an Aquatics Director for Camp Shalom for more than 10 years teaching swimming and supervising lifeguards. Prior to joining Ma'ayanot's faculty, Ms. Sanders worked as a Physical Education teacher at Yeshivat Noam and Ben Porat Yosef, she was the Director of Fitness, Recreation and Aquatics at the YM & YWHA in Clifton, NJ.

Ms. Eleorah Sandman

Talmud

email: sandmane@maayanot.org

About Ms. Eleorah Sandman

Ms. Eleorah Sandman is a new member of our Talmud department. Most recently, she taught Judaic Studies at Yeshiva University High School for Girls and was a Yeshiva University Kollel Fellow at Ramaz Upper School. Ms. Sandman has also been a visiting scholar for the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS), as well as a Sho’elet U’meshivah, Teacher’s Assistant and peer tutor at Yeshiva University. She earned an M.A. in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation at GPATS and a B.A. in Judaic Studies, summa cum laude, from Stern College.

Mrs. Ora Schrier

Director of Religious Programming, Tanakh

email: schriero@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Ora Schrier

In addition to serving as Director of Religious Programming, Mrs. Ora Schrier also teaches Tanakh and Chasidic Thought and coordinates Senior Seminar. Prior to joining the Ma’ayanot faculty in 2014, she earned an M.S. in Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education. She is an honors graduate of Stern College for Women, where she received her B.A. in Jewish Education and Political Science. Mrs. Schrier and her husband are resident scholars at Darchei Noam in Fairlawn, NJ. During the summers she teaches and serves as Assistant Director of Michlelet, NCSY’s Israel learning program for high school girls. She was also a fellow at Brandeis University for the Orthodox Union's Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus.

Mrs. Shifra Schapiro

Tanakh, Creative Writing

email: schapiros@maayanot.org

About Mrs. Shifra Schapiro

Mrs. Shifra Schapiro teaches Tanakh and serves as Co-Director of Professional Development, Middle States Accreditation Coordinator, and faculty adviser of Ma’ayanei Torah. Mrs. Schapiro earned her B.A. in Biology and Judaic Studies as a Distinguished Scholar from Stern College, where she was the Judaic Studies valedictorian. She earned an M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School. Before coming to Ma’ayanot, Mrs. Schapiro assisted in the preparation of several volumes of the series MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and she continues to edit Jewish scholarly works during the summers.