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Mike Mitchell – Director
Mike was born in Glasgow, Scotland, grew up in a traditional Jewish home and the Zionist youth movement, FZY. After spending a year in Israel after High School, Mike attained a degree in Government and Political Theory from the University of Manchester. Following that, he was the FZY National Director before making Aliyah to Israel in January 2000. Since arriving in Israel Mike served in the IDF, worked in the high-tech industry and most recently was a Department Director on Young Judaea's Year Course program. Mike lives in Jerusalem and will be marrying his fiancée Molly in September. If you ever need to find him on a Monday night, he will be somewhere on the football field.
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Amy Gross – Program Recruiter
Once an enthusiastic birthright participant and now an olah chadasha (new immigrant), Amy grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She spent many wonderful summers as a camper, counselor and supervisor at Tamarack Camps. She attended Michigan State University where she received a B.A in English Literature and Jewish Studies. While attending university she spent a semester abroad at the Hebrew University Rothberg International School. For the past two years she has worked as a recruiter for Young Judaea’s Israel programs in Miami, FL. She is thrilled to be part of the WUJS Israel team and looks forward to seeing many of your fabulous faces on the WUJS program. When Amy is not working hard recruiting for WUJS, she can be found at the gym on Emek Refaim.
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Tal Azoulay – Tel-Aviv Program Coordinator
Tal was born and raised in Long Island, New York and studied at the State University of NY at Stonybrook (including a year in England, which he says was rainy). After attaining his BA in Political Science and History he came to Israel as participant of the WUJS October 2001 machzor and made Aliyah immediately afterwards. After 2 ½ years in the IDF, Tal took some time off in New York to be with his family. He came back 10 months later and has been working for Young Judaea since 2006 as the volunteer coordinator in the center and north of Israel. Tal lives in Bat Yam, and is beginning his Masters degree in Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. Tal is also the film buff of the WUJS staff.
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Yael Barkan – Jerusalem Program Coordinator
Yael was born and raised in the Galilee, in the North of Israel. Her career in Jewish service and education began when she was a teenager, as a Madricha in the Bnei-Akiva youth movement. After her army service she went on Shlichut to Irkutsk (Siberia, Russia) for six months, which was followed by another Shlichut to the Jewish youth camp in Saravas, Hungary. Over the past seven years, Yael has been working with Jewish youth and students through various educational programs and was the WUJS madricha (counselor) in 2004-2005. Yael graduated from the Hebrew University with a bachelor degree in East Asian Studies and History and a Masters degree in Conflict Research, Management and Resolution. She loves trekking and has been fortunate enough to fulfill this passion in different countries around the world.
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Yonit Schacher - Madricha
Yonit made Aliya from the United States in the spring of 2007. Growing up, Yonit spent a lot of time in Israel and knew that one day it would be her home. She received her bachelor's degree in social work from NYU and continued on to receive her masters at Columbia University. The majority of her social work experience has been working with youth at risk. After working for two years as a social worker for youth at risk in the South Bronx, Yonit decided it was time to leave her life in the States and experience life in Israel. She participated in a pre-Aliya program where she worked as an intern for the mentally ill and lived in an absorption center in Jerusalem. The experience of working in Israel and living among new immigrants confirmed to Yonit that Israel was the place for her. Yonit can’t be happier with her decision and is excited to share her experiences with the WUJS participants.
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Ori Resheff – Arts Program Coordinator
A veteran artist of more then 25 years, Ori has been involved in the art world as long as he can remember. A third generation artist, he was a faculty member at the "Bezalel Academy of Art and Design" in Jerusalem as was his grandfather before him. Ori is the co-founder and director of "Aspaklaria– Paths to Renewing Jewish creativity," which is a non-for-profit center dedicated to making contemporary Judaism more accessible and relevant to today's life through integration of arts, texts, and spiritual engagement. Ori creates and writes in his studio at Moshav Bar Giora outside of Jerusalem. He is married to Judy an art-therapist and artist, and the proud father of his daughter Maya, a professional dancer, and son Mickie who is now serving in the IDF. |
