JOFEE Network Gathering

Our educator list continues to grow! Check back often for updates … 

Rachel Aronson is an educator, dialogue facilitator, and nature lover living in Brooklyn. She comes to Hazon and JOFEE from Resetting the Table, where she worked to open conversation about Israel across difference on college campuses. She has worked on a community farm, lived in an environmental co-op, and planted gardens on her fire escape to bridge her passions for building community and being around fresh-grown vegetables. Rachel is a former Emerson National Hunger Fellow and has a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology and environmental studies from the University of Vermont.

Judith Belasco is the Chief Program Officer at Hazon. She leads the incredible team that runs all of Hazon’s programs, including JOFEE (Jewish Outdoor, Food, and Environmental Education), retreats at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Teva, Adamah, Hazon Seal of Sustainability, Siach, food programs, and more. Prior to joining Hazon, Judith was the Program Coordinator at Linking Food & the Environment (LiFE) at Teacher’s College, Columbia University. Judith is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and graduated with a Masters of Science in Nutrition and Public Health from Columbia University and holds a Bachelors degree in Urban Studies from Vassar College. Judith lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY with her husband and two children.

Maggid Zelig Golden is Director of Wilderness Torah; he leads countless individuals in wilderness based Jewish exploration through thoughtful and contemplative study sessions. Zelig’s vision for a thriving, earth-based Jewish tradition developed out of a lifetime of nature connection, Jewish leadership, and commitment to environmental advocacy. Zelig invokes mentorship, facilitation, and ceremonial tools to guide an annual cycle of land-based festivals, nature-based rites of passage, and mentorship for emerging young leaders. Zelig was ordained Maggid by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi ztz”l and is currently a rabbinic candidate. He previously worked as an environmental lawyer protecting food and farms and has long guided groups into the wilderness.

Jakir Manela is the executive director of the Pearlstone Center; he founded and directed the organic Kayam Farm which has been incorporated into the Pearlstone Center and has provided leadership and mentorship to countless young professionals searching for meaning on their Jewish journies. The work at Pearlstone demonstrates talmudic agricultural laws and provides hands-on Jewish education for people of all ages. Before coming to Baltimore, Manela spent several years teaching for the Teva Learning Center. He has a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he majored in Hebrew, Jewish Studies and Global Environmental Studies.

Nati Passow is the co-founder and Executive Director of Jewish Farm School and coordinator of the Jewish Communal Farming presence at JNG; he has been a leader in the field of Jewish environmental education for over 10 years, was selected to the Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36,” and was a recipient of the Joshua Venture Group Fellowship for Jewish Social Entrepreneurs. Under his direction, JFS was named by Slingshot as one of the most innovative Jewish organizations in North America for three years. Prior to forming Jewish Farm School, Nati ran an award-winning garden construction program for the Urban Nutrition Initiative in Philadelphia and led service–learning trips in the developing world for American Jewish World Service. Nati has studied sustainable building design and natural building and is a certified Permaculture designer, and holds a B.A. in Religion and Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Yoshi Silverstein is the Director of the JOFEE Fellowship at Hazon; he is also a landscape designer, writer, and educator with over fourteen years’ experience in both Jewish and secular outdoor, food, and environmental education. Yoshi is the founder of Mitsui Design, which strengthens Jewish connections to nature through landscape design and community engagement. He holds a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a B.A. in European Cultural Studies and Near Eastern/Judaic Studies from Brandeis University.