Staff

Rebecca Zimmerman Hornstein

(She/Hers)
Executive Director

Rebecca is an experienced grassroots organizer and political educator with a passion for building movements for justice grounded in Jewish community and history. She has a B.A from Macalester College and rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Rebecca's previous professional roles include working as the organizer for the North Shore Labor Council (AFL-CIO) where she fostered solidarity among union members to build power for all working class people, and working as T'ruah's rabbinic peer educator. She has been a leader in work to organize the North American Jewish community for immigrant justice, for Palestinian equal rights and against the rising threat of white nationalism. She is an alumnus of the JOIN for Justice Organizing Fellowship and the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. She currently lives in Lynn, Massachusetts with her partner, Jonathon, and puppy, Mishka. Reach Rebecca at rebecca@circleboston.org.

Ali Rice

(She/Hers)
Deputy Director

Ali Rice is a fundraiser and community organizer working to build interdependent and just community spaces. Over the past eight years, Ali's professional roles included working in grant writing, major gifts, communications, and event planning. She has most recently been at JOIN for Justice, a Jewish community organizing training institute and at Rian Immigrant Center and RefugePoint, both immigration and refugee-focused nonprofits. Ali received her BA in International Relations with a concentration in Human Rights from Connecticut College. She loves matchmaking, braiding Havdalah candles, group singing, hiking slowly, and spending time with friends and family. Reach Ali at ali@circleboston.org.

Sandy Martin

(She/Hers)
Director of Operations

Sandy has worked for, and volunteered with, youth organizations and community coalitions in the Boston area for more than 30 years. She was the coordinator of the South End/Lower Roxbury Youth Workers' Alliance for more than ten years- an organization which became a model for other neighborhoods across the city. Sandy's parents both grew up in Jewish Roxbury, and she is happy to be working with Boston's Jewish social justice community. She is also very happy spending time with her granddaughter. Reach Sandy at 617-566-6281 or by email at sandy@circleboston.org

Meira Soloff

(She/Hers)
Education Director

Meira has a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in Near Eastern and Judaics studies from Brandeis University and a Masters in Teaching Early Childhood Education from The Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. She has worked as a teacher in the Boston Public schools and in a variety of out of school settings. Prior to that she worked as an advocate for equitable urban development and displacement prevention in Boston and the surrounding areas. She is also an alumnus of the JOIN class of 2010. During her free time, Meira loves singing circles, biking, and reading. Reach Meira at 617-566-6281 or by email at meira@circleboston.org

Zohar Berman

(They/Them)
Social Justice and Cultural Organizer

Zohar is a Yiddishist and Diasporist who is passionate about building strong and healthy Diaspora Jewish communities. Born and raised in an interfaith household in New Hampshire, they were part of economic justice organizing efforts from a young age. They received a BA in both Politics and Middle Eastern Studies from Mount Holyoke College, where they focused on social movement studies and examined the linguistics of collective organizing. In college they trained and worked as a peer-to-peer social justice educator and facilitator, and served Mount Holyoke's Jewish Student Union as chair. From 2018-2019, Zohar learned and worked at the Yiddish Book Center, first as a student in the Steiner Summer Yiddish Program, where they helped to transcribe editions of ILGWU's Yiddish newspaper Gerechtigkeit, and later as an indexer for the Wexler Oral History Project. They served previously as fellow for Repair the World Baltimore, assisting food justice activists to improve food distribution and working alongside Baltimore's Black farmers to ensure that Black communities in Baltimore continued to have access to fresh produce. Zohar most recently worked as assistant project manager for the Princeton Geniza Lab, whose team is dedicated to researching documentary materials primarily in Judeo-Arabic from the Cairo Geniza. Reach Zohar by email at zohar@circleboston.org

Melissa Sawyer Grair

(They/She)
Communications Manager

Melissa Sawyer Grair (they/she) is Boston-based Midwesterner who has recently made a career pivot to communications after teaching high school English for six years then web development to adults for three years. She earned a Bachelors in Education and a Masters in Teaching from Kent State University. In addition to their duties at BWC, Melissa freelances as a web developer. When she's not building websites or working with the team at BWC, you can usually find them hanging out with their daughter, Moses. Melissa also enjoys spending time with her nieces, reading, listening to audiobooks, taking care of their plants, playing with their furbabies, and being in nature. Reach Melissa by email at communications@circleboston.org

Carly Dreme Calbreath

(She/Her)
Youth Education Programming Recruitment and Retention Coordinator

Carly is a Jewish educator and creative facilitator as well as an actor and writer of multiple mediums with a particular passion for sci-fi, fantasy, and Shakespeare. She’s ecstatic to bring her experience as a community organizer and project manager to BWC's youth education recruitment and retention efforts. Carly has had the joy and privilege of collaborating with the Gragger team for the spiel the last two years. As a convert to Judaism and a Californian very far from home, BWC was one of the first communities where she felt at home after moving to Boston. Reach Carly by email at youtheducation@circleboston.org

Derek David

(He/Him)
Music Director, A Besere Velt Yiddish Chorus

Since 2018, Dr. Derek David has been music director of ‘A Besere Velt’. An accomplished composer, conductor, and music educator based in Boston, Derek’s music has been performed in Europe and throughout the United States. Prior to his work with A Besere Velt, he was choir conductor for the men’s and women’s choirs at Walden School (2015-2017). With degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory, he is currently Lecturer in Music at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TEACHERS

Mateo Alejandro

(He/Him)
Shule TA, Vov (6th Grade)

Mateo Alejandro (he/him) is a disabled, transgender, neurodivergent, Indigenous immigrant from Paraguay. This is his 5th year teaching at BWC Shule! He is deeply committed to fostering an accessible and inclusive classroom. His favorite Jewish value is “Tikkun Olam- repairing the world”; which is intertwined with the values of Vov. He is excited to join Vov this year as they explore identity, wrestle with history and deepen their role in building a just future.

Mateo is a proud JOIN (Jewish Organizing Institute & Network) Fellowship Alumnus. When he is not at Shule, you can often spot him around MA leading and participating in direct action protests for all forms of justice and organizing projects in order to build a better world. You can also find him volunteering at an Assisted Senior Living Community running Shabbat/Jewish themed activities or playing with his sweet service dog, Tilly!

a person with short hair, glasses, and facial hair wearing a mauve shirt and holding two ice cream cones and smiling at the camera

AvirLev

(He/They)
TASC Coordinator

AvirLev (he/they) is a first year rabbinical student at Hebrew College. He has a particular dedication to making the terms "justice" and "Jewish" synonymous, and has a special love for more niche Jewish history and culture. He has previously spent five years in the labor, electoral, and environmental movements as both a professional and an activist. In his personal life, he takes bowling way too seriously, plays a good amount of board games and DnD, and collects jokes (so please share any and all jokes – no matter how bad!).

Meredith-Wynn Barber

(They/She)
Shule Teacher, Pre-K/Kindergarten

Meredith-Wynn Barber (they/she) is a teacher at a local synagogue and a lover of Yiddish. They have been involved with the BWC for the last three years via A Besere Velt chorus. In addition to Yiddish, their academic interests lie in linguistics and Holocaust studies. They formed beautiful friendships and were introduced to some great music at the Steiner Summer Yiddish Program at the Yiddish Book Center. While their family is comprised of Bavarian Jews, Meredith-Wynn takes particular interest in engaging with Polish and other Eastern European Jews; they see some of these friends when she cycles from Auschwitz-Birkenau to the JCC in Kraków annually in the Ride for the Living. A bisl (a little) Yiddish goes a long way there. They love treating their pittie, Lester, to a swim, and she adores listening to diasporic Jewish music around Boston.

Sasha Berenstein

(She/They)
Yiddish Teacher

Sasha Berenstein (she/they) is a current participant of the Yiddish Book Center's Yiddish Pedagogy Practicum, a Klezmer musician, and LGBTQ+ inclusivity activist on unceded Duwamish territory in so-called Seattle. She began her work in transgender/queer inclusivity in the Yiddish language with compiling a glossary of Yiddish transgender/nonbinary/gender-neutral terms that can be found on the League for Yiddish's “Words of the Week” page and on Medium, which later became the primary vocabulary source drawn from by the authors of Undzer Mishpokhe: A Queer Yiddish Curriculum Supplement. Since then, Sasha has led related workshops and trainings for inclusivity in Yiddish pedagogy, while continuing Yiddish language instruction centering accessibility and identity for queer, trans, and disabled folks. Sasha is also especially passionate about creating inclusive educational environments for immunocompromised folks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, adapting Yiddish curricula to online formats to meet the needs of the growing demographic of people who can't safely or reliably attend class in person.

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Nathan Bernstein

(He/Him)
Shule Teacher, Daled (4th Grade)

Nathan Bernstein (he/him) is an artist and Yiddishist living in Jamaica Plain. He studied linguistics, philosophy, and Yiddish in school and currently teaches pottery classes during the week. He deeply enjoys the outdoors, reading, cooking, playing traditional Indonesian music, and spending time with his cat Mow Wow.

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Lara Brennan

(She/They)
Shule Teacher, Alef (1st Grade)

Lara Brennan (she/they) is a proud member of BWC, and is excited and honored to be teaching Shule this year! During the week she works with students ages 5-12 as the program manager at KidsArts Afterschool and Summer Program in Jamaica Plain. She loves working with elementary age students and is inspired by their wisdom, creativity, and ability to imagine a better world! Lara can also be found reading, exploring grassroots theatre, and singing with A Besere Velt Yiddish Chorus.

Hinde Burstin

(She/Hers)
Yiddish Teacher

Hinde Ena Burstin (aka Lererin Hinde) is a native Yiddish speaker and a Yiddish teacher, writer, researcher and literary translator. She has taught Yiddish and Yiddish literature courses at countless institutions in Naarm/Melbourne, Warrane/Sydney and New York including, for over ten years at Monash University, where she was awarded a Faculty Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. Hinde is a widely published Yiddish literature scholar who has presented guest lectures on Yiddish literature in New York, Boston, LA, Montreal, Paris, Brussels and Cape Town, as well as in Naarm/Melbourne and Warrane/Sydney.

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Celia Fischer

(They/Them)
TASC Teacher

Celia Fischer (They/Them) hails from the great Jewish diaspora of Brooklyn, New York. They are a creative writing student at Emerson College. In High School, they were a part of the Kehillat Community Group of Beijing. Celia is fascinated with Jewish history and global movement and aims to visit every historical Jewish diaspora. In their free time, they love to read, do crossword puzzles, and pamper their cat Milo.

Abby Howell

(She/Hers)
Yiddish Teacher

Abby has taught Yiddish classes at the Boston Workers Circle for over a decade. Abby first learned to speak Yiddish as a teenager at the University of Texas. She has a B.A. in linguistics and M.Ed. in education of the Deaf. Her infectious enthusiasm and pedagogical expertise combine to create an exciting, inclusive classroom environment for Yiddish learners of all kinds.

Pauli Katz

(She/Her)
Shule Teacher, Giml (3rd Grade)

Pauli Katz (she/her) loves teaching Shule at Boston Workers Circle. During the school week, she can be found teaching at Next Wave Full Circle, the therapeutic alternative middle and high school in Somerville. During the summer, she is often found at Camp Kinderland, which she also attended as a camper. And as a graduate of Shule, and of Somerville public schools as well, she's been loving the opportunity to work in and carry forward all the major educational spaces of her childhood.

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Josh Kurtz

(He/Him)
Shule Teacher, Zayen (7th Grade)

Josh Kurtz (He/Him) is a weaver, writer, and educator based in Somerville, MA. This is his first year teaching at the BWC’s Shule, and he’s so excited to support Zayen students as they deepen and expand their Jewish identities! Originally from northern New Jersey, Josh recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School, where he studied Kabbalah, Yiddish, grief, and spiritual care. He’s grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a number of local Jewish communities – including Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, where he was an assistant 5th grade teacher; the Jewish Women’s archive, where he wrote an encyclopedia entry about the incredible artist and Bessere Velt member Mae Rockland Tupa; and the Boston Community Hevre Kadisha, where he serves as a volunteer. He has previously worked as an Avodah Corps Member, a community organizer with HIAS, and a teacher in Brasov, Romania. Josh is particularly passionate about Jewish artistic traditions, and he recently launched the Jewish Craft School, which is dedicated to developing an expansive and creative understanding of Jewish literacy! In his free time, he loves to weave tapestries and scarves, write poetry, go on long runs and hikes, and bake his grandma’s recipes.

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Talia Rodriguez

(She/Her)
Shule Teacher, Hey (5th Grade)

Talia Rodriguez (she/her) is excited about teaching Shule because of her passion for empowering kids with the tools to ask questions and seek out meaning in our beautiful and terrifying world. She has worked with young people aged 5-18, teaching them theater, cooking, and social-emotional skills. Hailing from Maryland, she attended Wesleyan University, where she studied theater and sociology. She credits much of her ethical framework to her Reconstructionist upbringing. When she’s not working with kids, she loves to write, play sports, and spend time with family and friends.

Ari Roth Zimmet

(Ari/Them)
Circle Playtime Teacher

Ari Roth Zimmet (ari/them) is an artist, educator, social worker and proud member of BWC born in raised in Brookline, Ma. They’re part of BWC’s Jewish-Muslim Solidarity committee and intergenerational grief and storytelling spaces. Before becoming a therapist, Ari spent many years setting the table for youth of all ages to make art. Ari sees artmaking as a vehicle for learners to dive deep into their identity and engage with deep topics like self-love, systemic racism and Jewish social justice work. Ari is so excited to accompany the young artists of Circle Playtime (and their families) as they explore, face challenges and discover their own brilliance. When Ari’s not holding space for teens and young adults in therapy during the week, they’re likely swimming, braiding challah, and acting like a lion.

Tess Scheflan

(They/Them)
Shule Teacher, Vov (6th Grade)

Tess Scheflan (They/Them) is a parent, educator, photographer and activist, living in the United States since 2010. They grew up between Israel and South Africa and studied Photojournalism, Middle Eastern History and Arabic. Tess enjoys teaching in ways that center art, justice and action. Tess also teaches at a Brookline Public school and is studying for their M.Ed. Besides behind a lens, you will mostly find them in their classroom, getting into good trouble with their child Lynx, photographing social movements, climbing trees, playing with friends and swimming. Lynx and Tess live in Jamaica Plain with their dog Bastet and two cats- Hades and Ashmedai.

Jonah Sidman

(He/They)
Shule Teacher, Music
Yiddish Teacher

A native of Brooklyn and graduate from Oberlin College, Jonah has been participating in the Boston Workers Circle community for years, coordinating events, making music and studying Yiddish. Jonah now teaches Yiddish to adults and music to Shule students at BWC. Jonah can often be found fiddling for American or Irish folk dances all over the East Coast.

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Char Skidmore

(They/Them)
Shule Teacher, Beys (2nd Grade)

Char Skidmore (they/them) is a long time BWC community member. This is their 4th year teaching Shule at the Workers Circle and their 7th year chairing the Shule Committee. They have two kids in Shule programs - Ari who is a proud member of TASC (Teens Acting for Social Change) and Thea who is excited to join Vov. During the school week, Char can be found teaching Multilingual Learners at the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School. Their previous experience includes teaching Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade for the past 19 years in and around Boston. When not at work Char loves planning special outings and events with their family, hanging out with their cats Jinkx and Dela, cooking, and listening to music.