Michael Bailes

Michael is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and manager of the Wealth Advisory Group at First Financial Bank.  He sits on several local charitable boards and has lectured on a variety of banking and other legal related topics. Michael is married to Amy, a physical therapist at Childrens Hospital and Cincinnati native.  Amy and Michael have two wonderful daughters who are each very involved in a variety of school, religious and extracurricular activities.

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.

Brent Gutmann is new to the teaching staff at Mercaz. 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 Hyde Park with his wife. 

Ed Kuresman

Ed Kuresman grew up in Cincinnati and returned in 2002 after earning his business degree from Bowling Green State University.  Ed has been active in the Jewish community; presently serving on the board or a committee of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, and Adath Israel Congregation.  For the past several years Ed has served on the Council for Jewish Life and Learning which has provided an excellent background on the educational opportunities available in Cincinnati.  Outside of his work with the Mercaz seniors, Ed is a principal and portfolio Manager with Madison Wealth Management

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.

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.

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. 

Rabbi Irvin Wise is a Cincinnati native and a Woodward High School graduate. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Indiana University and an MA in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion.  His Rabbinic ordination was also received from HUC in 1979.  He has served as the Director of Student Activities and Assistant Rabbi at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, and as the Executive Director of the Hillel Foundations of Ohio University and the University of Minnesota.  Rabbi Wise has been the Senior Rabbi of Adath Israel Congregation since 1992. He is married to Kathy, with whom he has three daughters – Ora, Shalva, and Tehila, all Mercaz graduates. 

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.

Our Chaverim M’Yisrael: Gaby Silver & Matan Moyal

Gaby Silver is looking forward to celebrating her 19th birthday while in Cincinnati. Her parents immigrated, separately, to Israel from England as teenagers and then met and married in Israel. She has two younger siblings. Gaby was very involved in the Israeli scouting movement while growing up. She also loves to dance and participate in any creative art or craft activity. Gaby's goal this year is to break down the stereotypes that Americans may have about Israel and teach our community about her "real" Israel. 

Matan Moyal is 19 years old. His father came to Israel from Morocco and his mother's family is from Libya. Matan has an older brother and younger sister. In high school, Matan majored in Physics and Electronics. He was also very involved in the Israeli scouting movement. Over the past few years, he and Gaby worked together in their scout troop, leading others and training the younger guides. Matan has taken this year of service because he feels it is important that Americans learn about Israel. He feels that American Jews need the existence of Israel, and that Israeli Jews need the connection with Jews of the Diaspora.