Seven more female educators graduate from Chief Rabbi’s Ma’ayan programme

The latest cohort of the Chief Rabbi’s Ma’ayan Programme has now graduated at a moving ceremony, hosted by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and his wife Valerie, at their home.

The programme provides 18 months of training for outstanding female educators to hold leadership roles in the Jewish community, as well as advisers in the area of taharat hamishpacha (laws of family purity) and women’s health issues. There are now 17 graduates in total, ten from the first cohort and seven from the second.

Many of the Ma’ayanot now occupy roles across the community, either based in their own synagogues or in organisations such as PaJes, the S&P Sephardi community, and the London School of Jewish Studies.

This year’s graduates are Siobhan Dansky, Sharona Fruhman, Dina Golker, Shira Jackson, Pnina Savery, Rivka Zeidman and Aviva Zobin.

Siobhan Dansky has worked in Jewish education for over 20 years. She and her husband worked as youth directors at Mill Hill United Synagogue before moving to South Africa, to serve Cape Town’s Milnerton Hebrew Congregation as their rabbi and rebbetzen.

The couple returned to the UK in 2017 to become rabbi and rebbetzen of Cranbrook United Synagogue. Siobhan holds a BSc in biological science and a PgDip in psychotherapy and counselling. A graduate of the Adam Science Leadership Programme, the Susi Bradfield Educational Leadership Programme and the US MEP Kalla Teacher Training Programme, she is community engagement co-ordinator at the S&P Sephardi Community.

Sharona Fruhman, who has four children, attended Michlala Seminary, Jerusalem and speaks Yiddish and Ivrit. She works as a psychotherapist in private practice with an academic background in psychology and counselling. She has worked in a broad range of clinical settings, including communal charities.

Besides her ongoing attendance at weekly shiurim, Sharona has completed the marriage enhancement United Synagogue training programme, and has organised singles evenings and Shabbatonim. She has delivered professional talks to youth groups, and has been a school governor.

Dina Golker, a mother of five, will become rebbetzin at the Magen Avot community in October this year, having previously been assistant rebbetzin in St John’s Wood. Like Ms Dansky, she also has a PgDip in psychological therapy and counselling and currently works as a clinical manager. Dina is also a qualified psychology secondary school teacher gaining her qualification from the UCL Institute of Education.

Shira Jackson, another Michlala graduate, has a physics and medical physics degree from UCL. As well as having been a high school science teacher, Shira has been involved in informal Jewish education for both adults and teens for a number of years. She is a trained Kallah teacher and is a graduate of the LSJS Susi Bradfield Educational Leadership programme. She and her husband Natan have five young children.

Pnina Savery is a graduate of the Advanced Tanach programme in Matan Women’s Institute for Torah Studies in Jerusalem and the Susi Bradfield Educational Leadership Programme at LSJS. She holds a Bachelor’s in history from Birmingham University, a Master’s degree in Jewish history from the Hebrew University and is a qualified tour guide at Yad Vashem. Pnina studied in Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya seminary in Jerusalem. She regularly gives Tanach shiurim across London and writes for the United Synagogue’s Daf HaShavua.

Rivka Zeidman grew up in Manchester and from her teen years, was involved in tutoring and teaching the fundamentals of Judaism. After qualifying in computer science, she moved to London where she worked for an investment bank, became a teacher, and met her husband Avrohom. They lived in Israel for three years. She now teaches parenting and marriage classes and featured on the Women, Wellness and Wisdom podcast.

Aviva Zobin is the rebbetzen and Ma’ayan of Ner Yisrael, Hendon, where she works alongside her husband, Rabbi Eliezer Zobin, in leading the community, programming, general and Kallah teaching, and pastoral care. The couple have four children. She grew up in Golders Green, earned a teacher’s certificate from Beth Jacob Seminary (BJJ) in Jerusalem and holds a BA in humanities. She is also a graduate of the Susi Bradfield Educational Leadership Programme.