ots@ohrtorahstone.org.il

Amir Dadon – Helsinki, Finland

Jerusalem-born Amir got his first taste of shlichut as a child, when his father worked as an educational emissary in Canada and in Ireland. After working in Jewish education for the past four years, Amir will now become the assistant rabbi of the Helsinki Great Synagogue, the only synagogue in the Finnish capital. His wife, Orit, will teach in the Jewish kindergarten and establish a women’s learning program. “There’s no Jewish high school, so we want to work closely with the youth to continue their Jewish heritage-awareness and strengthen their identity,” says Amir, who will be the first Straus-Amiel graduate to serve in Finland. “But I’m not going alone,” he insists. “I have the program’s tremendous support system behind me, with an open line to the faculty and staff for any questions or crises that may arise.”

Chaim Possick – St. Louis, Missouri

Chaim and his wife Meirav will be involved in  formal and informal Jewish education in St. Louis, where Chaim will also be a member of the Torah Mitzion kollel. “We both come from learning environments; I studied in yeshiva and Meirav studied in midrasha,” says Chaim, who, like Meirav is an English-speaker who grew up in Israel. “Beren-Amiel takes what you know and gears it toward emissary work in terms of values and knowledge. We learned what to teach and how to teach it, as well as how to approach people in the community.”

Ari Ellis – Winnipeg, Canada

California-born Ari began his studies at Yeshivat Hamivtar-Torat Yosef, earned his semicha from the Joseph and Gwendolyn Straus Rabbinical Seminary, and completed the Straus-Amiel Practical Rabbinics Program. He will assume his first rabbinical position as spiritual leader of the Herzliyah Adas Yeshurun Synagogue, a congregation of some 150 families that has been without a rabbi for more than a year. His wife Tikvah, who also hails from California, will teach in the Ohr Hatorah nursery school on the shul premises. “I have heard of many young rabbis who have had to figure out everything from scratch when they start working in a new position,” Ari says. “Thanks to my studies in Straus-Amiel, I’m starting out with a keen knowledge of the challenges that face the community. The program gave us a taste of the kinds of questions that will arise – and the kind of mistakes to avoid.”

Elad Assouline – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A native of Ashdod, Elad will teach Jewish studies and Hebrew in all grades at the Torah Academy of Greater Philadelphia in Wynnewood, Pa. He will also be the school’s program director, responsible for all holiday and Israel-related programming. Elad’s wife, Yifat, will teach in kindergarten and fourth and seventh grades. “At the Beren Institute, we heard from former shlichim who shared their own experiences, and the teachers also gave us wide perspectives of what to expect in the Diaspora Jewish community,” Elad relates. “Among other skills, we learned how to speak in public. But in addition to preparing us for our work, our studies have really excited us about going and about the impact we can  make.”

Moshe Na-Ohr – Auckland, New Zealand

“When we got married, Merav and I both set shlichut as a goal, to work in strengthening Jewish life in the Diaspora,” says Moshe. “We sought a program that would provide us with the tools and training to best prepare us for realizing this dream.” After completing their studies at Straus-Amiel, the Na-Ohrs are headed for Auckland, New Zealand, where Moshe will serve as assistant rabbi of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation. In addition, Moshe will be responsible for supervising kashruth in the area, teaching Hebrew and Jewish heritage, and preparing bar and bat mitzvah students. Merav will assist him with educational and programming duties. “The Auckland community is a diverse mix of native New Zealanders plus South African, Russian and Israeli immigrants who have settled there. The program gave us an awareness of the particular nature of this community, as well as the tools to work effectively with the members of the congregation,” Moshe says. “We’re already armed with a range of ideas for family and holiday activities, classes and sermons.”

Shmuel Bloom – Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

A native of South Africa who has lived in Israel for 12 years, Shmuel remembers the positive influence of emissaries on his own childhood, and decided to follow in their footsteps to have a similar effect on Jewish children in the Diaspora. He will serve as director of the Hamilton Hebrew High School and will also teach at the Hamilton Hebrew Academy. Shmuel’s wife Taly, who is a Toronto native, has recently completed her MBA and will serve as director of community affairs for the 3000-member Hamilton Jewish community. “My roots are in the Diaspora, so I don’t feel that I’m just starting my exposure to Diaspora Jewish life,” Shmuel emphasizes. “But the training we received in the Beren Institute was extremely practical in preparing us for a host of situations we may face and questions we’ll be asked.”

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