Alumni Spotlight : May '09
Name: Tamar FoxLainer Intern Hebrew University, Spring '05
Position: Associate Editor, myjewishlearning.com
Tamar graduated from the University of Iowa in December of '05, and then went on to receive an MFA in fiction writing at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. While in graduate school, she taught cooking and Jewish History for a Sunday school at a local Orthodox synagogue. Between her two years in Nashville, she was also summer fellow at Yeshivat Hadar in New York City. During this time, Tamar worked as a religion blogger for Jewcy.com. Tamar began working at her current position in October, and loves working as a Jewish educator without having to deal with discipline problems. She is also a writer for The Jew & the Carrot, and sits on their board of directors.
What the Lainer Interns Program Did For Me: Writing is my passion, but Jewish education is really where I come from. I think the Lainer class helped me to see that I could bring those two things together in a way that would make sense for me, and also make me a good educator. I also metioned my class professor during the interview for my current positon, and it turned out that he was one of the founders of myjewishlearning.com!
Alumni Spotlight : April '09
Name: Aimee Weiss
Lainer Intern Hebrew University, Fall '06/Spring '07
Position: MidWest Director, USD Hagshama and MASA Israel Journey with the Jewish Agency for Israel, World Zionist Organization and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
She provides high school students, college students and young professionals with Israel programming in their schools and communities, and helps them find programs in Israel. Aimee volunteers as the Hub Coordinator for PresenTense in Chicago running local invents, including Creative Zionist Circles, salon-inspired forums where the next generation seeks answers to questions about Jewish identity in the digital age in order to solve the problems facing the Jewish People in our time.
What the Lainer Interns Program Did For Me: For me, the Lainer Interns Progam was a safe space to learn and talk about how I can contribute to our Jewish legacy with professors and peers all interested in constantly learning and searching for fresh ways of creating positive changes in Jewish education.
Alumni Spotlight : March '09
Name: Jennifer Zwilling
Lainer Intern, Hebrew University, 1992-93
Position: Director, Senior Jewish Educator Initiative at Hillel's Schusterman International Center in Washington, DC
Hillel's Senior Jewish Educators provide Jewish opportunities and mentorship to students on the peripheries of Jewish life. The educational approach of the senior Jewish educators is to explore uniquely Jewish responses to the ‘Big Life Questions' facing all young adults. Currently there are five senior Jewish educators on campus and we will expand to ten educators in 2009-2010.
I have been working for Hillel for over four years. Prior to Directing the Senior Jewish Educator Initiative, I was Director for Human Resources, focusing on professional development, the creation of a Success Factor model for Hillel professionals and related planning, feedback and evaluation tool.
Prior to Hillel, I worked for the JCCs of Greater Boston for 7 years, creating a new initiative for teens, and doing planning work with the agency executives and with several department managers.
What the Lainer Interns Program Did For Me: The Lainer Interns program helped me to understand that there were actually careers in the Jewish world other than "rabbi."
I live in Washington, DC with my husband and 18 month old son Max and am still in touch with many friends and colleagues from my year at Hebrew University.