Mimi Farb

Mimi Farb is The Idea School’s new beit midrash and Hebrew teacher. Farb is an American-Israeli educator dedicated to helping students find and develop their voices as part of our Torah heritage as their full selves. Farb draws on her experiences in the ultra-Orthodox community, diverse yeshivot, academia and maker studios to design heart-centered, experiential and empowering Torah learning experiences for her students. Before joining The Idea School, Farb developed and taught in a number of innovative batei midrash, including those at HUC’s Jerusalem campus, Oakland Hebrew Day School and The People’s Beth Midrash. Farb has also organized communities for justice in Western Mass and co-created the Girls in Trouble Curriculum.

Trained as a Kevah Teaching Fellow and SVARA Educator, Farb received her master’s degree in Jewish Education from Hebrew College in conjunction with the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, and her bachelor’s in religion and mathematics at Mt. Holyoke College, where she worked to develop interfaith student leadership.

In her free time, Farb practices yoga, dances, enjoys the great outdoors and strives to live in close relationship to her sources of food as a sourdough baker, pickler and trained shochetet.

David Karpel

The Idea School welcomes David Karpel as a humanities teacher. Having just completed his 20th year teaching English and social studies at the high school and middle school levels, Karpel, his wife Marni, and their two dogs have recently moved to Riverdale. Fan of the Oxford comma and well-placed semicolons, David loves learning something new every day, connecting and collaborating with colleagues and students, reading and sharing great books, watching quirky, artsy movies, and hunting for treasures in used book stores. Of Jewish Cuban ancestry, Karpel is also very passionate about how exploring our own personal cultures and identities as well as those of others enriches our everyday living experience.

After receiving a bachelor’s in English, Karpel attended graduate school for an M.F.A. and has written many stories, essays and poems, some of which have found their way to publication in The New Times Broward-Palm Beach, The Good Men Project, When We Turned Within: Reflections on Covid-19, and most recently in Musipedia of Metal, where he’s a regular contributor of music reviews. From 2014-2020, he was an editor and regular contributor to Hevria, a blog for Jewish creatives. David has also studied Okinawan karate, achieved a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, earned a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and practiced krav maga for over 10 years.

Avi Kramer

Avi Kramer joins The Idea School as a Hebrew and music teacher, as well as a project specialist working with students on their Judaic Studies passion projects.

“Teach the youth according to their ways, so that also in their old age they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Inspired by the words of King Solomon, Kramer believes that an education should resonate deeply and guide a person throughout their lifetime. He sees the learning process as a collaboration between teacher and student, and recognizes Inquiry Centered Learning as a most effective way to share a formative educational experience.

Kramer has worked at SAR Academy, Or Zarua Hebrew School and The Barrie Camp. He earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Queens College, and received yoga and meditation certification from the Sivananda Organization. He enjoys composing music in his free time.