MEET
OUR 2023
PRESENTERS

Hailing from New York, Montreal, Arizona, Wellington, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Jerusalem, Christchurch and Auckland of Course!

Petra Galler Petra has loved baking since she was seven and for the last five years has done it full-time. She picked up a spatula at age 20, after dropping out of a BA in psychology. She worked in restaurants across Auckland, became a recipe developer at My Food Bag, and then shifted to Melbourne which gave her the taste for being a pastry chef. She launched her business, Butter Butter during the first lockdown in Melbourne, and it’s now the title of her new cookbook, published in April this year.	Kosha Dillz Known as Kosha Dillz, Rami Even-Esh is an Israeli American Billboard-charting hip-hop artist. Based in NYC, he has performed in 50 states and in 12 countries, on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, at the BET Awards, and as a TEDx talk. Most recently he earned the coveted spot on VH1's Wild 'N Out, a hip-hop improv comedy game show. With his new fame from TV as "The Jewish Rapper", Kosha Dillz's street performances create viral hits intended to bring communities together.	Rabba Yaffa Epstein Rabba Yaffa Epstein is the Senior Scholar and Educator in Residence for The Jewish Education Project, where she supports, empowers, and trains Jewish educators. Prior to that, she was the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program at the Wexner Foundation, and the Director of Education, North America, for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. She received Orthodox Rabbinic Ordination from Yeshivat Maharat and holds a Law Degree from Bar Ilan University.
Nicole Maor Advocate Nicole Maor is the Director of the Legal Aid Center for Olim (LACO) of the Israel Religious Action Center of the Israel Reform Movement. Under her leadership, LACO has advised and represented more than 100,000 new immigrants from all walks of life and from all streams of Judaism. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she was one of the founders of Netzer Sydney. She made aliyah in 1989. Nicole holds a Master’s Degree in International Law and International Relations.	Rabbi Ed Rosenthal Executive Director and Campus Rabbi of the Suncoast Hillel, Rabbi Ed is passionate about Jewish life and spirituality, Israel and the Jewish People. Before joining Hillel, he was a congregational rabbi at Beth Shalom and then in Brownsville, Texas. He's also the founder of Tikkun HaYam/Repair the Sea created out of his passion for Judaism and the Sea. Rabbi Ed wants to show the wonders of the underwater world through Jewish eyes, while raising awareness about the myriad threats it faces.	Noam Bedein Noam is a Photojournalist and Innovative Conservationist. He is the Founder and Director of the Dead Sea Revival Project and Middle East Ecotourism. His work links visual art to environmental activism and environmental diplomacy and has been recognised and endorsed by National Geographic, CNN/VR, NASA, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Bahrain Embassy in Tel Aviv and many other global news outlets and academic institutions.
Vinita White Vinita hails from Bangalore, India and has lived in New Zealand for over 20 years. Her day job is Director of Carpe Diem Kids, a business she has been running for nearly 15 years. Vinita’s family have been part of the Jewish Community since 2018. Her eldest daughter Eleasha is Rosh Auckland for Bnei Akiva and her son Sam is in Israel doing the Shnat programme, Israel By Choice. She also enjoys Indian cooking and entertaining.	Shimmy Feintuch Shimmy Feintuch, LCSW CASAC-G is a New York based professor, psychotherapist, writer, and public speaker. In his psychotherapy practice, Shimmy focuses on addiction, relationships, and stress reduction. He has taught at Touro College’s Mental Health Counseling program, and is now teaching at Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Shimmy lectures on emotional wellness, mindfulness, and the intersection of LGBTQ+ issues and traditional religious values.	Jacqueline Knight Jacq is a Regenerative Organic Dairy Farmer with a Masters in Philosophy. Her special interest is in Ethics, particularly around primary food produce. Pre Covid Jacq facilitated Communities of Inquiry for GATE (Gifted and Talented) students in two schools in conjunction with Auckland University School of Philosophy.
Tanya Thomson Tanya is a lawyer, mother to three and a longtime LIMMUDnik, all of which should give her the skills to facilitate a LIMMUD bookclub session without it ending in tears.	Sir Peter Gluckman Sir Peter holds a Distinguished University Professorship in the University of Auckland where he heads the Centre for Informed Futures, New Zealand. From 2009-18 he was first Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and science envoy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where he founded the Small Advanced Economies Initiative (an informal policy forum led by New Zealand with 6 other countries including Israel). He is president of the International Science Council (ISC) (2021-2024).	Sacha Sampson Sacha has been in several leadership roles for Bnei Akiva, and is currently the NZ representative of the AZYC, the roof body of the youth movements across NZ and Australia - including Habonim Dror ANZ and Bnei Akiva NZ. Her role involves facilitating collaboration supporting the movements with resources and advice in areas including education, logistics and wellbeing promotion. For Limmud, Sacha is excited to be bringing together her passions - youth empowerment and Jewish education.
Kenneth Brummel Kenneth joined Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki as curator of international art in April. Recently curator of twentieth-century art at Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, he was from 2014 to 2022 assistant and associate curator of modern art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. Co-curator in 2021/22 of the internationally acclaimed 'Picasso: Painting the Blue Period', he holds a MA in Art History from The University of Chicago and is a specialist of 19th and 20th Century art.	Asher Etherington Asher is a 27 year old resident of Christchurch, the current President of the Canterbury Hebrew Congregation, an admitted but not practicing Barrister and Solicitor, and a drug harm reduction volunteer with Know Your Stuff NZ. Through his side project 'AI.Torah', Asher is illustrating the entire Torah using an AI text-to-image generative model. You can follow him on Instagram at @ai.torah	Dr Sheree Trotter Sheree, of Te Arawa iwi, is the co-founder of the Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation and the Indigenous Coalition for Israel. She has completed a history PhD from the University of Auckland on the topic of Zionism in New Zealand.
Isaac Bentwich Isaac, a MD and entrepreneur, is Honorary Consul of New Zealand in Israel. He has founded several Bio-AI ventures, contributing significantly to the fields of life sciences and technology. A passionate believer in the synergy between NZ and Israel, he led the first Israeli-Kiwi Ag-Tech company, CropX, which went on to be recognised as a leader in precision agriculture and farm management solutions. His current company, Quris-AI, harnesses AI to develop safer, more personalised drugs faster.	Elissa Brent Weissman Best known for the popular Nerd Camp series, Elissa is an award-winning author of novels for young readers. Her two most recent books, The Length of a String and The Renegade Reporters, were PJ Our Way selections for ages 9-13. Originally from Long Island, Elissa spent many years in Baltimore City, where she taught creative writing to children, university students, and adults. She currently lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Her debut picture book, Hanukkah Upside Down, comes out this year.	Rabbi Esther Jilovsky Rabbi Dr Esther Jilovsky serves Wellington’s Temple Sinai and loves teaching Torah to all ages and backgrounds. She was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2021. She also holds a Masters in Jewish Studies from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Holocaust memory from the University of London. She is the author of Remembering the Holocaust: Generations, Witnessing and Place, and co-editor of In the Shadows of Memory: The Third Generation and the Holocaust.
Dame Lesley Max Formerly a teacher and a journalist, Dame Lesley is a social entrepreneur who co-founded Great Potentials Foundation. She has filled a number of roles in Jewish communal life and Jewish advocacy, including currently as a Trustee of Jewish Lives.	David Robinson David has had a long career in law, including 24 years as a judge. His involvement in Jewish communal life includes service on the boards of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, the Chevra Kadisha and as a co-founder and Trustee, together with David Shieff and the late Roger Moses, of Jewish Lives.	Michelle Wise Michelle Wise is the current president of the Beth Shalom progressive synagogue in Auckland, and chair of KiwiPJ, the network of progressive communities around the country. She's an avid reader and tries to find time to read between her busy schedule as a doctor and academic, wife to Nic, and mum to Maia and Jonah Szecket.
Grace Shira Pooley Grace is a Gallery Assistant and Visitor Guide at Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki. She holds a BA in Art History and Economics from the University of McGill in Montreal, Canada, where she was the director of The Fridge Door Gallery. She has contributed to exhibitions in Canada, The UK and most recently in Wuhan, China.	Stephen Fisher A well-known business and community leader, Stephen is the managing director of Fisher International Limited. He was awarded the Queen’s Service Order in 1994 for services to the community and the Chevalier of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) in 2002. Stephen has chaired the youth development organisation Spirit of Adventure Trust for the past 50 years and chairs the Lou and Iris Fisher Charitable Trust. He's involved in not-for-profit organisations and has various trusteeships and directorships	Tessa Duder A multiple award-winning author, CNZM and OBE, Tessa has published nearly fifty works of fiction and non-fiction for both children and adults. Her best-known novel 'Alex' was adapted for a 1993 movie; also works on Margaret Mahy, Sir Peter Blake, Auckland’s pioneer settler Sarah Mathew, James Cook, and 'The Sparrow', a historical novel set in early Auckland. She is Vice-patron of the Spirit of Adventure Trust and a Trustee of the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust.
Rabbi Dean Shapiro Rabbi Dean Shapiro serves Beth Shalom: The Progressive Jewish Community of Auckland. He was ordained by Hebrew Union College and has also served as the Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Phoenix, Arizona. While there, Rabbi Dean served on the Board of Jewish Free Loan, and was a Global Justice Fellow with American Jewish World Service. He is also a mentor to other clergy through the Climate Ambassadors Training Program of Blessed Tomorrow.	Deborah Hart A lawyer by training, Deborah Hart is the chair of the independent review of Aotearoa New Zealand's electoral laws and chair of the Consumer Advocacy Council and serves on the Human Rights Review Tribunal. Following in her mother Inge Woolf's footsteps, Deborah chairs the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and was last year appointed as an expert delegate for New Zealand to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.	David Shenkin David was raised in a traditional Jewish home. He learned to play guitar around the Habonim campfire and later turned this into a music career. An existential crisis led him to the old city of Jerusalem where he spent four years studying at several Yeshivot, and now identifies as (very relaxed) Modern Orthodox - Kiwi style. He started a sound and lighting company in Jerusalem, met his wife and moved back to Auckland to study a BA in Mental Health and addiction, a field he's currently working in.
Diana Witchel Award-winning journalist Diana Wichtel, a member of the Auckland Second Generation Group, worked as a feature writer and television critic with the New Zealand Listener for 36 years. Her memoir, Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father, about the impact of the Holocaust on her family won the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction and the E.H. McCormick Best First Book General Non-Fiction in 2018 and was published in North America and Italy.	Ben Sedley Ben Sedley is a Wellington based clinical psychologist and author of two books about mental health for teens. Everything he knows about connecting with people he learned from his time in Bnei Akiva.	Navina Michal Clemerson Navina was born in London to refugee parents and spent much of her childhood in France. The family emigrated to Israel where she served in the Israeli Defence Force. She's lived in the Netherlands, Italy and now Wellington where she belongs to the Progressive Jewish Congregation, Temple Sinai. She has degrees in biology and psychology and has authored three books, including her latest novel, 'There was a Garden in Nuremberg'.
Rabbi Moshe Rube Rabbi Moshe Rube was born in San Diego and grew up in Cincinnati and Long Island, NY. He attended Yeshiva University and received his ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and a Master’s degree in Music Education from Lehman College. After serving as the rabbi in Birmingham, Alabama for five years, he moved to Auckland to serve as the rabbi of Auckland Hebrew Congregation.	Kristopher Clancy Before moving to New Zealand in 2019, Kris graduated from the University of Houston, Texas, and taught European History and Psychology in Texas for 12 years. He joined the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand in November 2019 as Education Director working to expand the educational programmes at the centre as well as the online presence of the HCNZ. His work assists students and teachers to enhance their Holocaust education and bring the relevant lesson of the Holocaust alive for them today.	Luise Brandt In her youth, Luise was involved in performance arts and activism against nuclear proliferation. She was a member of The Fallout Marching Band in London, The Aunties in Auckland, and Pramazons, a group of women who travelled with prams and anti-nuclear songs and performance pieces. Luise now lives and works in Auckland as a midwife. She visited Germany in 2014 and rediscovered the house that her father was born in. Her puppet show was inspired by this trip.
Christopher J Archer Christopher J Archer is a retired secondary school teacher whose interest in ANZAC history led him to write the book, Saviours of Zion - The Anzac Story from Sinai to Palestine (1916 -1918). In 2017 he took a small delegation of New Zealanders to participate in the centenary commemorations of WW1 in Israel. This led to a relationship with Israelis who share an interest in the history of the State of Israel, culminating in the Silver Fern Memorial unveiled this year.	Arie Rosen Dr Arie Rosen is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law, where he researches and teaches legal philosophy, constitutional theory, and private law. He is a co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Legal and Political Theory and the Secretary of the Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy. Before joining Auckland, he studied philosophy and law at Tel Aviv University and New York University.	David Shieff David’s career has spanned business interests in manufacturing and later, management consultancy. David was also an adjunct senior lecturer in the University of Auckland Business School specialising in strategic marketing. Working in the Jewish Lives team provides him with the opportunity to help build a stronger community, to connect with the lives and history of the Jewish people and to learn more about the amazing culture we are proud to be part of.
Jodi Lewis Jodi was raised by a long line of dance teachers. She is a qualified dance teacher with the Australian Dance Institute, and an ISHTA yoga teacher. She is also an artist and an engineer. In her day job she is a corporate transformation specialist. With a passion for movement, Jodi sees dance and yoga as an opportunity to connect with one's own body and emotions, to calm the mind, and create a space of love within.	Warren Dawson Warren Dawson lives in Tauranga and is a rural businessman and entrepreneur. Warren’s grandfather saw action in the First World War with placement through the holy land. This was the catalyst for Warren's involvement in establishing and co-chairing the New Zealand Israel Friendship Association, which fosters the relations developed in the holy land between the Jewish people and the New Zealand soldiers during World War I.