As the school year begins, The Leffell School is excited to welcome several new hires, including these teachers from Israel joining the high school and middle school.
Yaniv Cohen will be joining the Hebrew department at the high school. Previously he taught Hebrew at a high school in Rishon LeZion and a prep course for the Israeli version of the SATs. He also served as a combat medic and a medics instructor in the IDF. Cohen earned his bachelor’s from Tel Aviv University where he majored in Hebrew culture and linguistics, and he earned a master’s from Hebrew Union College and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is very much looking forward to working with Leffell students and experiencing firsthand the different yet overlapping cultures of an American independent Jewish day school.
Ariel Menashe is joining The Leffell School as a high school Talmud teacher. Menashe earned a law degree, LLB, and a bachelor’s in governmental studies, diplomacy and strategy from the Reichman University in Herzliya (formerly the IDC). He went on to receive a Diploma of Education and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from Tel Aviv University. Menashe worked for over 10 years in the legal field in Israel as a lawyer, both in the Israeli state attorney’s office and in top Israeli corporate law firms before deciding to pursue his true passion: education. He has worked for the last few years at Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem as a mechanech teaching civics, Talmud, Tanach and advanced educational programs in constitutional and international law and human rights.
Amir Lis will be joining the Hebrew faculty at Leffell’s middle school. Lis arrived in the United States as a shaliach of the World Zionist Organization. While he will be teaching Hebrew at Leffell, he also has extensive experience as both a homeroom and mathematics teacher in Israel. He is a passionate representative of the country and is excited to share his love of the language and of Israel with the middle school students, particularly as they prepare for their eighth grade Israel experience. After serving in a special military unit in the intelligence corps, Lis earned his bachelor’s in mathematics and policy and education management and his MBA, both from Tel Aviv University.
Cohen, Menashe and Lis are joining already strong Hebrew and limudei kodesh departments, and their fresh perspectives and energy will enhance the teaching at The Leffell School.
