Bill Anderson

A man with many hats, William Anderson has worked in film, television and video for over three decades. He was the associate producer and production manager on several independent features including Rod Whitaker’s Stasis.  A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, he also taught television production and beginning film production for a year there while working as a live television director for KLRN-TV.  He has recently returned to teaching part time at Brown Mackie College in Cincinnati, Ohio.  In Dallas, he shot and edited news feature stories for Jim Lehrer’s Newsroom. In Texas and then in Los Angeles, he worked on a diverse set of projects from editing demo reels for actors like John Hannah and Hugh Laurie; scriptwriting for the forerunner of reality shows, Divorce Court; to directing industrial films, documentaries and commercials. For the last six years, he has volunteered to help mentor Cherokee Eye, a weeklong intensive film production camp for Cherokee teens in Talequah, Oklahoma.  He is currently working on several documentaries and doing pre-production work on the up-coming feature on the life of the famed gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson. His work has been honored with over thirty national and international awards.

  Rabbi George Barnard

Rabbi George Barnard was born in Cambridge, MA and is a 1969 graduate of Harvard University, receiving a B.A. summa cum laude in philosophy.
He attended HUC in New York from 1969 to 1975, earning the degree of M.A.H.L with honors in Talmud and philosophy, as well as a rabbinical
diploma. From 1971 to 1973, Rabbi Barnard studied Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and received a Masters in Education
from the University of Cincinnati in 1982. Rabbi Barnard has taught high school almost every year since coming to Cincinnati in 1975, at Northern Hills
Synagogue, at pre-Mercaz and combined high schools, and at Mercaz. Rabbi Barnard is the Rabbi of Northern Hills Synagogue - Congregation B’nai
Avraham.

Phyllis Binik-Thomas

Phyllis Binik-Thomas is a contemporary Jewish artist and educator.  She creates one of a kind, hand-calligraphed and hand-painted, personalized ketubot
and other calligraphic art commissions by clients throughout the country.  She is also Director of Education at Beth Israel Synagogue in Hamilton, Ohio. 
Phyllis works with her clients to design a  piece of art that combines a selected text with unique symbols and illustration that are personal to each couple. 
The process of working closely with people to create something meaningful and special to them is just as important to her as is the finished product.   

Mitch Cohen

Mitch is no stranger to Mercaz, and is very excited to be back teaching this semester. Mitch is a Mercaz board member, and has sat on the board for the
past 6 years. He grew up in the Jewish community in Roselawn and at Adath Israel where he serves as their Music Program and Choir Director. Mitch
is a graduate of Walnut Hills High School, and earned a BA with high honors in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, where he received the
Claire E. Hubert award given to the outstanding senior man. He has many interests, including computers. He runs an Internet dot com company he started
with his wife Sherry. Mitch is a teacher at Adath Israel in their adult studies program and has taught in their religious school for the past three years. He
has studied under Rabbi Wise and Alan Weiner at Adath Israel where he chants Haftorah and Torah, and regularly attends daily morning minyan services.
He is married to Sherry and has three children, Jeff & Emily, Mercaz graduates and Ben, current Mercaz student.

Danielle Flicker

Danielle Flicker has been to the US twice already - once as an Israeli scout counselor at a Young Judaea camp in Texas and once as a camper in our own International Scout Exchange at Camp Friedlander.  Danielle graduated from Tchernohovsky High School in Netanya.  Her family includes one brother, one sister, and a cat.  Danielle has been very involved in the Israeli Scouts (Tzofim) in Netanya and has worked extensively as a leader in the Netanya troop.  Danielle  will delay her service in the Israel Defense Force and come to Cincinnati to share herself and teach about Israel in our community.

  Mikey Frank

Mikey Frank has worked in the food service industry for 30+ years. Presently a caterer, she specializes in Kosher menus, from Traditional Ashkenazic to Middle Eastern Cuisine. She has taught cooking classes for children and adults, and is looking forward to sharing our rich and varied cooking heritage and insights into the laws of Kashrut with Mercaz teens. You can find Mikey at the Adath Israel Jarson Education Center, where she has been the administrative assistant for many years. 

Brent Gutmann has been teaching at Mercaz for a couple of years. He was born in White Plains, New York but grew up in Dayton, Ohio.  He attended Indiana University where he studied philosophy.  Brent lived in Dayton, Chicago, and Washington DC before entering Rabbinical school where he is now in his second year at Hebrew Union College.  He has also lived in Jerusalem, Phang Gna Thailand, and has traveled Eastern Europe, the middle east and Asia.  Brent is a newlywed and lives in Deer Park with his wife, and daughter Daria.

   Dan Katz

Dan Katz was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. After his service in the Israeli army, he immigrated to New York City. In New York, Dan attended Baruch College and along with his brother owned a French bistro and later on opened a wine bar. In 2010 Dan Married Laura at Adath Israel. Shortly after, they moved to Cincinnati, to be near Laura's family. Currently, Dan is finishing his undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science at the University of Cincinnati. In his free time, he enjoys exercise of all kinds, especially yoga, as well as cooking and music. 

Zahava spent 32 years as a teacher at Yavneh Day School.  She mentored countless teachers and brought many new programs to the school.  She
developed a Hebrew enrichment program, creating the materials from scratch.  Zahava has taught Hebrew to everyone from preschool age to adults. 
She has also tutored students in bar/bat mitzvah preparation and has spoken to a many groups about her personal life experiences.  She has taught at
Adath Israel’s high school program and at Northern Hills religious school in the past.  Zahava is currently teaching 3rd grade at Adath Israel’s Religious
School.  She also currently serves as an ambassador of Holocaust and Humanity center speaking to Elementary, Junior High and High schools about the
Holocaust and the importance of tolerance.

  Elana Kuperstein Rosen  

Elana Kuperstein Rosen is originally from Toronto Canada.  In college she studied Urban Planning and Sociology.  Elana later completed a two year degree in graphic design.  She has worked in sales and in newspaper layout.  She has also have substitute taught art in Rockwern  Academy for five years, and  I love teaching  Art privately to young children too.  Her hobbies are painting portraits, landscapes and   helping friends to realize their creativity through the arts. She  like to do portraits but have also explored  Jewish calligraphy,  and pottery  where she has created Jewish ceremonial objects.  Elana made a yad, a pointer to read torah  for one sons bar mitzvah.  She has made miniatures out of polymer clay for center pieces for each of  my children’s bar mitzvahs. She has worked with  the Holocaust center and Camp Livingston on several projects with kids. When time permits, she   donate  bricks  she has created for “ Bricks for breast cancer” a  very worthy charity.   Elana belongs to the symphony club and Ohav shalom synagogue.  She is married  and has three sons, one currently in college and the other two currently attend Mercaz.

  Jill Segerman-Timmerman

Jill Segerman, MEd, has worked in the field of education for over 15 years, including over 10 years in Jewish education. Jill's areas of interest are adult learning theory, instructional design, and e-learning. Prior to working in education Jill worked in television production both in Cincinnati and Los Angeles. She uses her background in television production in her creation of e-learning products and educational videos. Jill currently works as an education specialist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

    Rabbi Eric Slaton

Rabbi Eric Slaton has served Beth Israel Synagogue since 1999. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and did an additional year of Study at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. He has previously been the Rabbi for Congregations in Cincinnati, Plattsburgh New York and Lexington Kentucky. In addition, Rabbi Slaton has been civilian chaplain for the Air Force, a prison chaplain for the State of New York and for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He has taught at Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky. He currently serves on the Boards of the Butler County United Way and Rotary Club of Hamilton. His lovely wife of 21 years, Kim Slaton, works for Jewish Vocational Services in Cincinnati. They have three sons.

  Jim Timmerman

Jim Timmerman is currently the Manager of Central Satellite Service; operating satellite trucks for the telecommunications industries.  In addition, he has been a freelance live multi-camera director and producer for 24 years.  While employed at WCPO TV for 23 years, initially as a camera operator Jim worked his way from studio crew chief to director to production and programming director.  Mr. Timmerman has been a guest lecturer at Brown Mackie College, UC, NKU, XU as well as numerous civic and community organizations.  His topics range from television programming and production to employment in the broadcast industry.  He has won numerous regional Emmy Awards in addition to 11 other awards recognizing excellence in broadcasting and television.  Jim grew up in Lima Ohio, were he worked at WLIO TV.  He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio TV and Film from Bowling Green State University, were he worked at WBGU TV.

Rabbi Benjamin Travis

Rabbi Benjamin Travis holds an M.S. in Business from Johns Hopkins University, along with ten years of Rabbinical training. He began formally teaching teens in 1997 while living in Jerusalem, serving on the staff of an English-speaking religious school. After coming to Cincinnati in 1998 to become part of the Cincinnati Community Kollel, Rabbi Travis continued working with teens and college age students, giving weekly classes both in Cincinnati and the Miami University Hillel. He has spent the last several years as a Judaic studies teacher and administrator at the Cincinnati Hebrew Day School.  He is a former captain of a championship Frisbee team and his other interests include tennis and playing guitar. 

Becca Wood is a student at the University of Cincinnati majoring in History with a concentration in Middle Eastern studies and a minor in Political Science.  She spent her senior year of high school as a Madrich, a student assistant, at Adath Israel Religious School which peaked her interest in teaching.  Becca has a passion for the arts, with an avid interest in photography, and is looking forward to bringing this passion and her creativity to Mercaz.  She has also actively spent time over the years learning as much as she can about the holocaust, culminating in a trip to Poland and Israel through March of the Living.  Becca is a graduate of Mercaz and is excited to come back to teach interesting and interactive courses.

  Dara Wood

Dara Wood is thrilled to continue as the Director for Mercaz for this school year.  She was an active part of the Mercaz board for the over five years, serving as chairperson for two years.  She holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Elementary Education and a Montessori certificate.  Dara spent a year substitute teaching with Lakota schools and then served as head teacher at a local Montessori pre-school for 4 years.  She served at Adath Israel as the chair of the religious school board for three years and is currently in her third year as a Vice President of the congregation.  She is looking forward to helping Mercaz continue the growth we have all seen these past several years.  She is married to Rob and has two children, Brittany and Becca, both Mercaz graduates.

  Roni Zeller

Roni Zeller attended Shay Agnon High School in Netanya. Her high school majors include media, economics, and political science. She loves children and often helps baby-sit children from her mother’s Kindergarten class.  Roni has an older sister who is currently serving in the Israeli IDF.  Roni has been involved in the Israel Scouts for nine years.  She also has taken karate for nine years and is currently at a red-stripe/brown belt level.  Roni will delay her service in the Israel Defense Force and come to Cincinnati to share herself and teach about Israel in our community.