Board Members
Simmy Ziv-El, Board Chair
Simmy has been associated with Oranim and the North American Friends organization since moving to the USA in 1971. During these 30 years he has served in many Executive roles in the Education Industry. In 1991 he founded Discourse Technologies, the first technology-based classroom Formative Assessment system. When the company was acquired by ETS in Princeton he joined and was there for 12 years, then ProExam in New York for 4 years and most recently was VP of ACT International for 3 years. In August he joined FineTune Learning as Chief Business Development Officer. Simmy holds a BA (Honors) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, is a graduate of the Kellogg Management Institute at Northwestern University and lived on Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu for 10 years. He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife Benita and they have children and grandchildren in Chicago and Washington DC.
Rabbi Paul D. Schneider
Rabbi Paul D. Schneider received his ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and his doctorate in educational administration from Teachers College, Columbia University. He served as the headmaster of Chizuk Amuno’s Krieger Schechter Day School in Baltimore for 29 years, and following that, was engaged by the congregation to serve as its Director of Congregational Life. After his work in Baltimore, he served as interim educator and rabbi in Rockville, Md., Toronto, and Palm Beach Gardens, Fl. Rabbi Schneider has served as president of both the Association of Independent Schools of Maryland and DC, and the Jewish Educators Assembly. He currently coordinates programs for Galilee Dreamers in the States. He is married to Marilyn Schneider, a CPA , and they have three grown sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law and two delicious granddaughters. His passion is for Israel, and he loves stories.
Mark A. Raider, PhD
Mark A. Raider, PhD is professor of modern Jewish history at the University of Cincinnati, where he also directs the Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Culture. He serves as chair of the university’s Israel Initiative Committee. He is also a visiting professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. After living in Israel in the early 1990s, during which time he studied at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lived on Kibbutz Ravid, he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at Brandeis University. Before joining the University of Cincinnati, he was on faculty at the State University of New York at Albany. In 2019, he spent a semester at the University of Haifa as the Ruderman visiting professor. His recent books are The Essential Hayim Greenberg: Essays and Addresses on Jewish Culture, Socialism, and Zionism (University of Alabama Press, 2017), New Perspectives in American Jewish History: A Documentary Tribute to Jonathan D. Sarna, coeditor with Gary P. Zola (Brandeis University Press, 2021), and American Jews, Zionism, and World War I, coeditor with Zohar Segev and Gary P. Zola, forthcoming. He and his wife Dr. Miriam Raider-Roth live in Cincinnati and they have three children, Jonah (Cleveland), Ez (Cincinnati), and Talia (Denison University).
Des Kaplan
Des Kaplan is a neuropsychiatrist and an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkin University School of Medicine and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Baltimore. He was born in Cape Town, where he attended medical school and was very active in the Zionist Socialist youth movement, Habonim. In 1983 he made Aliyah with over 20 South African Habonim chaverim. In his 13 years in Israel, Des did his housemanship at Shaarei Tzekek Hospital in Jerusalem, was a chaver on kibbutz Tuval, completed a BA in acting and directing at Tel Aviv University, and served as a doctor in the Israeli Air Force. In 1996 Des moved to Baltimore, where completed a fellowship in developmental disabilities at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Hospital, then went on to found and direct an inpatient unit for Autism and Developmental Disabilities at Sheppard Pratt Hospital. In 2013, Des founded Galilee Dreamers with his friend Rabbi Dr. Paul Schneider. Des is currently working as Medical Director of TEAM, an inner Baltimore city mental health program, and living with his wonderful life partner Jill Seidman in the Greater Baltimore area.
Shirley Idelson
Professor Shirley Idelson is a historian, rabbi and journalist and is the newly appointed Director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University. Idelson served as dean of the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), where from 2007-2016 she oversaw all aspects of academic and campus life, and created innovative programs in areas including social responsibility, entrepreneurship and contemplative practice. She is currently completing a book on Stephen S. Wise’s Jewish Institute of Religion and the reorientation of American Liberal Judaism, while also serving as Senior Advisor at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and Visiting Rabbi at Dartmouth College. She has contributed to numerous anthologies, written and reported for Newsday and Minnesota Public Radio, and is co-editor of Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation (Rutgers University Press). A graduate of Dartmouth College with a B.A. in History, Idelson received her rabbinical ordination from HUC-JIR, her Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. She began her career as director of religious life at Vassar College, and prior to joining HUC-JIR, she also served as rabbi at Carleton and Macalester Colleges.
Keith Lindenbaum
Keith Lindenbaum is a patent attorney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up in New Jersey and was active in Habonim and Camp Gallil. In Milwaukee Keith has served on many Boards including the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
