Religious School Teachers & Staff
Religious School Director Karen Sacks
religiousschool@habonim.net │ 212-787-5347 x105
Karen runs our Religious School, providing age-appropriate Jewish education as students transition from Nursery School all the way through b’nai mitzvah and beyond. She has served in the Religious School previously as a youth service leader, teacher, and administrative coordinator.
Barry Waldman
Barry is teaching for his fifth year at Habonim, and is co-coordinator of Lomdim, our program for teen members. Barry comes from a family of Jewish educators and rabbis and previously worked at at Camp Ramah Nyack. Outside of Habonim, he helps companies with with marketing, business, and customer experience. Barry is also a part-time comedian and has performed from Lake Tahoe to Tel Aviv.
Jennifer Brozost (Learning Specialist)
Jennifer is adept at working with a variety of different kids with different needs and learning styles. She has also managed and implemented classroom management procedures in schools and worked with teachers to best support their classroom needs in her over 20 years of experience. Jen has a master's degree in education from Columbia University's Teachers College. She taught second grade for five years and worked as an Admissions Officer at a prominent New York City private school, where her job was to evaluate children and their families. Jennifer has blogged about education for different organizations and has published articles in magazines around New York City. She is also the founder of PEAS-Private Education Advisory Service. Jennifer worked with pre-Gan and Gan students last year and was always ready with a smile and words of encouragement for our children. She lives on the Upper West Side.
Jacob Baim (Vav/Zayin)
Jacob Baim is a Hebrew school teacher and Moishe House resident who brings energy, creativity, and a strong sense of community to his teaching. With a background in theatre and Jewish leadership, he focuses on making Jewish learning relatable and engaging for his students.
Liz Ninyo (Aleph-Bet/Ivrit)
Liz is a native Manhattanite and a life-long West Sider. She enjoys bread baking (pandemic activity), traveling in the US and internationally, and taking advantage of our great museums and activities here at home. And very often, you'll just find Liz enjoying the sunset in Riverside Park with a bunch of friends. Liz is a former attorney and now a preschool teacher here at Habonim.
Tayla Totaiv (Ivrit)
Talya is a senior at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. Originally from Los Angeles, she now lives in New York City for college. She looks forward to creating a meaningful and engaging learning environment rooted in Jewish values.
Rob Silverbush (Ivrit/Music for Tefillah on Mondays, HHOP)
Rob is an engaging teacher of Hebrew language and music. He has performed and taught music to audiences of all ages throughout NY and the Tri-State area.
Hannah Buhasira (Vav/Zayin)
Sloane Harris (Aleph-Bet Assistant)
Noa Rubin (Vav/Zayin)
Dawn Neil (Gan Assistant)
