Our People
Our Board
President: Tahlia Gordon
Vice-President: Athol Chiert
Treasurer: Tom Levi
Secretary: Leanne Moss
Board Members: David Balkin AM & Jill Shapiro
Our Staff
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER:
John Hamey BEd, MEdLead
John is a passionate educator with an extensive background in school leadership in both independent and Jewish day schools in Sydney. John worked at Moriah College for twelve years, serving as college principal for seven. During this time, John immersed himself in the Jewish life of the College, developing a love for Jewish culture, history, traditions, ethics, and Hebrew. John counts his many visits to Israel with young people as some of the most moving and transformative experiences of his life as both an educator and a person deeply committed to his own spiritual growth. John started his career as a teacher of history, religious education, and Studies of Religion in secondary schools, understanding the critical link between student well-being and spirituality.
John has spent the past few years specialising in inclusion and diversity within school contexts, fostering a strong sense of belonging for all. John is deeply committed to finding ways to link young people with their Jewish heritage and community.
John is responsible for leading BJE’s strategic priorities, overall management, and engagement with parents and the community.
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS:
Lianne Cohen CA, H Dip Tax
Lianne is a chartered accountant with more than 25 years’ experience in senior financial and operations management roles with strong strategic capability and proven success managing, driving and adapting to change.
Lianne is committed to BJE’s mandate of ensuring that all Jewish children have the opportunity to connect with their Jewish heritage. Coming from a professional environment, Lianne expects high standards of quality and excellence in BJE dealings with all stakeholders, both internally and externally.
As Director of Operations, Lianne manages the day-to-day operations of BJE to ensure BJE organisational effectiveness and efficiency. She works closely with the executive team in developing new initiatives, business planning and operational efficiency and with the Board on BJE’s strategic direction.
Her role includes leading and directing the BJE’s overall commercial, financial and operations functions, financial and operational performance reporting, managing BJE’s compliance obligations, developing and maintaining BJE’s policies and managing contracts with third parties.
HEAD OF JEWISH LIFE:
Ronnen Grauman BA, Grad Dip Ed, MEdLead
Ronnen is very passionate about and committed to Jewish education. He recently joined BJE as the Head of Jewish Life and is very excited to be in this new role. Prior to BJE, Ronnen worked at Moriah College in a variety of roles. He was Head of Department (Jewish Studies) for 12 years and then became Director of Jewish Studies working with both Primary and High Schools. In 2018, Ronnen was appointed Head of Jewish Life and Learning where he worked with students and staff from the ELC’s through to Year 12. Throughout his 26 years at Moriah, Ronnen also taught Jewish Studies, Jewish History and Classical Hebrew as an HSC subject and has been involved in setting, marking and judging HSC examinations for many years. Ronnen has also accompanied students to Poland and Israel on numerous educational programs.
Ronnen is now responsible for the teaching and learning of Hebrew, SRE and the Extension program and works closely with the educators and curriculum developers. He will also be supporting the youth engagement team and broadening the parent engagement offerings.
Ronnen is married to Natalie and is the proud father of 3 children.
ADMINISTRATION & EDUCATION COORDINATOR:
Heidi Turner
Heidi has worked in admin for over 25 years, in areas such as marketing, advertising, finance and in the medical field. She has also worked in education for the past 14 years.
Heidi holds a degree in Business Administration and a diploma in Business Administration (Legal). On top of her busy schedule, she also is a mother of two young adults.
DATABASE & ENROLMENT OFFICER, ISRAEL PROGRAM ADMIN MANAGER:
Cyndi Taylor
Cyndi is a versatile professional with expertise in both business administration and education. Over the past decade, she has honed her skills across a range of nonprofit organisations, from small to large.
She has a genuine passion for developing relationships and supporting families to achieve the best outcomes for their children.
As BJE’s Enrolments and Database Officer, she leverages exceptional organisational ability and empathy to ensure a seamless enrolment process for families navigating our varied programs.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Cyndi is also a devoted mother of two university students.
SHINSHINIM:
Yoav Rubin
Yoav comes from Kiryat Ono, where he lives with two siblings and his parents. He enjoys physics and
computers, and his hobbies include astronomy, playing basketball and taekwondo. Yoav is a
counsellor in the Scouts, for Grade 4 combined with special needs, Grade 8 and this year he is a
head counsellor for Grade 7. Yoav taught himself to play the Piano during the Covid outbreak and
learned guitar and the ukulele as well.
Yoav is looking forward to talking about the beauty of Israel and the people who live there. He loves
the diverse natural environments that exist in Israel from the desert to the beach and of course the
snow on Mt Hermon. He also loves the spirituality of Jerusalem and, most importantly the sense of
family that exists amongst the Israeli people.
Yoav is excited to begin his year of service in Sydney.
Shalev Leonzini
Shalev is from Haifa and has 2 older brothers, both of whom are studying at university. One brother
was a professional mountain-bike rider and the other served as an officer in the
IDF. His mother is a history teacher, and his father is an investment banker.
Shalev played professional tennis for more than eight years, after which he joined the Jewish scout’s
organization. Since then, he has participated in 2 delegations to Finland and Switzerland as a group
leader. He is a fitness fanatic and recently competed in a half marathon. There are 3 things Shalev
loves about Israel: the geography, the food, and the culture.
In his free time, Shalev enjoys doing all kinds of sports activities including running, gym, soccer and
basketball. He also enjoys reading science and philosophy books and loves being part of the scout’s
movement as it gives him a sense of purpose and meaning
Shalev is looking forward to infusing others with a love for Israel and the Jewish People.
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT OFFICERS:
Roy Halberstadt (Israel Program Coordinator)
Roy is one of the Youth Engagement Officers at BJE. In his role this year, he runs SRE (Scripture) classes in multiple primary and high schools from the North to the East. He also organises events and camps for BJE High School students. Roy was the Rosh Tzevet for the Year 10 Nesiah Israel Program in 2022/23 and will continue to lead the Madrichim this year in the upcoming program. This role involves coordinating, managing and organising the wonderful team of Madrichim (youth leaders).
Roy was an avid BJE student, attending multiple High School camps and events, and is also a graduate of the 2018/19 BJE Israel Program.
Roy has been involved in HaTzofim Sydney since 2016 as a Madrich and is currently filling in as the Merakez (Head of Tzofim Sydney). Through this experience, Roy has developed skills in working with students of all ages, and coordinating major events in the Jewish Community. He is also studying a B. Laws & Commerce at Macquarie University.
Idan Alhassid
Idan is currently studying a B. Psychology and Cognitive & Brain Science at Macquarie University. Idan has been involved with HaTzofim Sydney since 2016, first as a chanich, then as a madrich. This enabled him to participate in a gap year program (Shnat Sheirut) in Israel where he volunteered in a youth detention facility prior to his degree.
He is passionate about leading and mentoring teenagers as well as helping them form deeper connections with themselves, their identity and the community. He loves helping to program and facilitate events, creating engaging experiences that bring people together.
Idan enjoys the company of his family and friends, going to the gym and playing the guitar.
Aaron is one of BJE’s Youth Engagement Officers, helping develop and run activities and programs to engage primary school students, build their connections with other Jewish students and the community, and help them explore what being Jewish means for them.
Aaron has 6 years experience working as a madrich at Hineni as well as holding the role of state president and federal treasurer. Aaron took part on the IBC Israel program in 2020. He is excited to inspire BJE students to develop their connections to Israel, judaism and the community.
Erin Ruby
Erin grew up in Melbourne in a home with Jewish values and strong Zionistic beliefs. She took part in Habonim Dror and BJE. In 2023, Erin was a madricha for Ohrsom, where she helped with coordination and led a group on a 2-week program in Israel.
Having grown up passionate about theatre and the arts, she attended the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS). Erin then moved from Melbourne to Brisbane to complete a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts (Major in Acting, Minor in Entertainment Industries) at QUT. Upon completion of her degree, she has chosen to settle in Sydney.
Jared Super
Jared graduated from Moriah College in 2021 and participated in the Israel gap year program Aardvark.
In 2022, he commenced studying construction project management at UTS. During the same year, Jared traveled to America to work at a Jewish American Summer camp for two months.
He enjoys playing tennis, and his favorite aspects of camp are ruach and engaging in sports.
CURRICULUM DEVELOPER:
Danit Ilsar Dip Ed (Special Education), Professional Development Certificate (Communicative Language Teaching), MEd
Danit grew up in Israel where she qualified as a music therapist and teacher in special education. After arriving in Australia in 1988, she taught at Hillel/Moriah Kindergarten, including teaching Hebrew, Jewish Studies and music appreciation. Since 2010 Danit has been a curriculum writer at BJE, focusing on the primary school SRE curriculum and the Years K-2 Extension curriculum.
Danit and her husband have 3 adult children and a number of grandchildren. Danit enjoys spending time with her family and friends, tending her plants, reading, and playing piano.
SPECIAL PROJECTS ADVISOR:
Cathy Milwidsky Dip in Montessori Early Education, BA Ed, Post Graduate in Counselling, Cert IV in Celebrancy
Cathy was born in South Africa and moved to live in Australia with her young family in 1997, she has worked with families for more than 35 years as an early childhood educator, a family counsellor, and a leader of early years learning and development.
Cathy joined the BJE team in mid 2023 as a Special Projects Advisor, working closely with the team to expand BJE’s offer across Sydney, and focusing on engaging students through afternoon and school holiday programs.
She advocates for the wellbeing of young children, their families and educators; she believes in nurturing meaningful relationships and is committed to growing a lively and loving Jewish community in Sydney.
MARKETING MANAGER:
Michelle Falk
Michelle is the Marketing Manager at BJE and comes with a wealth of knowledge in the digital and marketing sector with over 16 years of experience.
Michelle has had a vast amount of marketing experience specialising in the Non Profit Jewish Sector. Her clients have included JCA, The Choice Foundation, UIA, Shabbat Project Sydney, Youth 2 Israel, Together Never Apart, and Gen17 Survey, as well as providing Marketing, Social Media, Video Production & Event experience working for Believe Advertising, CanTeen, 1st Street Financial, Australian Banking Association, Wolper Hospital to mention a few.
Having had BJE through her high school years, Michelle is extremely passionate about providing students and families with a Jewish Education as well as a sense of community and belonging.
MARKETING COORDINATOR:
Prielle Betito
