Our Staff


Michael Freund- Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel

He writes a syndicated column and feature stories for the Jerusalem Post, Israel's leading English-language daily, and he previously served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning in the Prime Minister's Office under Benjamin Netanyahu. A native of New York, he holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Contact Michael Freund


Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum - Rabbi and Educational Director of Shavei Israel
 
Since 1998 he has served as Director of Machon Amiel (training rabbis and spiritual leaders for work in Diaspora communities) and as a judge on the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Conversion Court. Rabbi Birnbaum is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on Jewish faith, practice and philosophy. Between 1985 and 1990 he worked in the World Zionist Organization in various capacities: lecturer to youth in Central America on Zionism and Judaism, Latin America Adviser and Manager of Spanish Publications in the Department of Culture and Religious Education. He was the Chief Rabbi of Uruguay between 1992-1997. He was born in Uruguay and made aliya in 1972. He studied in Har Zion Yeshiva and received his rabbinical ordination in 1982. He holds a Masters degree in Jewish Thought from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University.
Contact Rabbi Birnbaum


Edith Blaustein - Deputy Director - General in charge of administration 

Edith Blaustein is Shavei Israel's Deputy Director-General in charge of administration. Before making aliyah in 2008, she served as Director of the Center for Judaic Studies in Uruguay on behalf of the Jewish Agency. Previously, she was the director of the Yavne Institute of Montevideo, where she prepared educational programming on subjects such as volunteerism and bibliodrama, and authored the book, "Words From the Heart". Edith has an MA degree in education, and worked as a teacher of history and ontological coaching in Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Israel. 
Contact Edith Blaustein


Rabbanit Renana Birnbaum - Director of Machon Miriam (Shavei Israel´s Spanish-Portuguese language Ulpan for return) 

She also serves as Director of the Training Program for Rabbi's wifes in the Diaspora. She continues to work together with her husband Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum in assisting the Jewish community in Uruguay. She has taught primary schools, supervised kindergartens, taught at teacher seminars and lectures to adults. Renana has a Bachelors degree in literature.


Rabbi Chanoch Avitzedek - Director of Bnei Menashe Aliya & Absorption Department

Rabbi Avizedek, who previously served as an emissary of Shavei Israel to the Bnei Menashe in northeastern India, now oversees the organization's various projects related to the aliya and absorption of the community in Israel.  In the past, he has held a number of important positions in the fields of formal and informal education, including Commander of the Israel Defense Forces'  Religious Midrasha, and he also served as an emissary in South America of the “Hanoar veHahalutz” movement and the Jewish Agency's Department for Torah Education in the Diaspora. In addition, Rabbi Avizedek was involved in promoting various educational and settlement projects in Israel, and he was one of the initiators and founders of the musical Yeshiva “Kinor David”. In his spare time, he dedicates himself to agriculture and psychology studies. 
Contact Rabbi Chanoch Avitzedek


David Salgado – Coordinator for the Brazilian and Portuguese Marranos Department.

David served as a communal leader in Manaos and Belén as well as cantor and Hebrew teacher. He was the Jewish Agency’s Aliya representative in Northern Brazil for 15 years. Born in Manaos, Brazil, he made Aliya to Israel in 1982, returned to Brazil, and again made Aliya in 2005. He studied Jewish History and Informal Education at Bar-Ilan University. His army service was in the Golani Brigade.
Contact David Salgado

Tzivia Kusminsky – Coordinator for the Spanish Department descendants of Bnei Anousim and of the Department of the Hidden Jews of Poland.

She worked with needy children as an educator in informal education in the Argentinean community. She also taught Judaism to children who did not receive a Jewish education. Born in Argentina, she made Aliya to Israel in 5762 (2002). A graduate of the Faculties for Political Science and History of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she is now completing her studies towards her Masters degree in Public Policy at Tel Aviv University.
Contact Tzivia Kusminsky
 

Shimrit Ashwal – Assistant to the Chairman and Office Manager

She was a one-year emissary during her National Service at the Mount Scopus School in Melbourne, Australia and worked devotedly with the local Jewish community’s youth. Afterwards she travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, for a year as an emissary for Bnei Akiva and did a lot of work at the local Jewish High School as well as with the adult community. She is taking her second year in law in the Reiss program at the Academic College in Kiryat Ono.
Contact Shimrit Ashwal

Tzvi Khaute – Coordinator for Bnei Menashe

In addition, he is a volunteer in his community in Israel. He responds to queries and questions, accompanies new immigrants during their absorption process in Israel, and teaches at an Ulpan for converts in Kiryat Arba, as well as lecturing on various topics. He was Shavei Israel's emissary to Manipur where he set up the organization’s local headquarters. In India, he taught economics at a high school for four years. After making Aliya, he studied at the Machon Meir Yeshiva. Born in Northeastern India, he made Aliya in 5760 (2000) with his family, along with the entire Bnei Menashe community. He holds a baccalaureate degree in economics from the University of Delhi, India and baccalaureate degree in Jewish philosophy from the Herzog Institute in Alon Shvut.
Contact Tzvi Khaute

Efrat Kedem Tohar – Coordinator of Educational and Occupational affairs for the Bnei Menashe community.

In the past, she worked in treatment through integrating the arts. She worked many years with Holocaust survivors, with teenagers and their parents. She studied anthropology at Ben Gurion University in the Negev. Since then she engages in the realm of treatment and research with special groups, mostly new immigrants. She is a doctoral student in comparative research of the immigration of Jewish women from Syria. She received her baccalaureate degree from Haifa University in Bible and philosophy. She graduated with a Master’s degree from Lesley University in Boston, USA in her field of senior trainer in arts integration.
Contact Efrat Kedem Tohar

Adi Levit – Coordinator of Bet Miriam, Bnei Menashe Community Center in Kiryat Arba and Givat Haharsinah.

She served two years in National Service as a tour guide, in the Hebron Midrasha and at the Visitors’ Center in David’s City. She was born in 1976 in the settlement of Ofrah. She studied for a teacher’s diploma in the Arts at Emunah College in Jerusalem as well as a degree in education specializing in Land of Israel studies at the Herzog Institute in Alon Shvut.
Contact Adi Levit

Avi Mizrahi – Shavei Israel’s Project Director for the immigration of the Bnei Menashe and their first acclimatization in Israel.

Immigration and education emissary in Ethiopia and Turkey. He directed “Operation Moses” and “Operation Solomon” in Ethiopia. He was the Jewish Agency’s project director for the immigration and absorption of the Bnei Menashe who immigrated under the Law of Return. A social worker by profession, his main specialty is the immigration and absorption of Jews in distress such as Ethiopians, Persians, Syrians and the Bnei Menashe.