About Makom Community

Beverly is a driven builder of communal Jewish learning spaces. They believe that people can make endless meaning from exploring Jewish wisdom and bringing it into our lives in creative ways. Makom Community invites kids and grownups into learning experiences that do just that. Beverly received a B.A. in Jewish Studies from the University of Maryland then received an M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania in Jewish Education. Beverly was a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar, received the Covenant Foundation Pomegranate Prize, was a Shalom Hartman Created Equal Fellow, and is a graduate of the Mandel Foundation Education Leadership Program. After running congregational schools in Maryland and New Jersey, working at Barrack Hebrew Academy, and leading Makom Community, they have developed over 100 curricula for learners of all ages. Beverly is excited to introduce Makom’s pedagogy, Jewish Placemaking, to communities around the country and see how that supports each community in growing to live up to their values.

Terri is a passionate and strategic relationship builder who works in the intersection of Jewish education and development. Terri has spent her career strengthening the Jewish community in Philadelphia at Temple Beth Zion – Beth Israel, the Hillel at Temple University, and at the Jewish Theological Seminary in the Mid-Atlantic region. Her background is in Jewish Education and she completed her Masters in Jewish Education from the Davidson School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary, with a concentration in Israel Education. Terri had been serving on the board of Makom Community for three years prior to joining the professional leadership team. Terri is inspired by Makom’s thoughtful pedagogy, quality of educators, and impact Makom has on its students their families, and fellow educational leaders across the nation. When Terri is not working, you can find her on the tennis court, enjoying all the food and activities Philadelphia has to offer, and enjoying time with the trees in the Poconos.

Gaby is a musical and energetic Jewish educator who grew up in Central New Jersey. She studied psychology and linguistics at NYU and spent many happy summers at Habonim Dror summer camps. Gaby completed her M.Ed. from Widener in Education. She loves dancing, baking intricate desserts, and making the world a more colorful place. She’s excited to learn, sing, create, and giggle with our amazing students every day of the week! She’s also energized to help bring Makom Community’s pedagogy to the wider community of Jewish educators through our Makom Making programming. Gaby was a Matan Institute Fellow in Cohort 10 where she learned deeply about how to engage all our learners at Makom Community.

Ash (they/them/theirs) is a spirited play arts educator born and raised just outside Philadelphia, where they also earned a B.A. in Theater from Temple University in 2016. They have taught at Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun Religious School, Germantown Jewish Center, with The Bible Players, with Moishe House, and as Jewish Learning Venture’s PJ Our Way Associate 2021-22 to bring multi-modal arts education to a large variety of Jewish spaces. For over a decade, Ash worked at Ramah Day Camp in Philadelphia, wearing many professional hats, including Arts Specialist, Head of Drama and Israeli Dance, and Program Director. At Makom, Ash has also worn many hats, and their passion for Makom’s unique pedagogy manifests in a variety of ways. Outside of educational spaces, Ash makes functional ceramics with their roommate, with whom they also raise two perfect mini golden doodles, Freya and Lucky.

Sara (“Sah-ra”) wears many hats. She is Makom’s bookkeeper, coordinates Beverly’s calendar and supports development and operations, helping keep the Makom ship in shape as we grow. Our former Makom @ Home educator, Sara continues to work with Makom kiddos to offer 1:1 support over Zoom. Sara mostly grew up in Philadelphia, studied Linguistics at Brown University, and now lives in Washington, DC. When she’s not sitting in front of her computer, Sara can often be found singing, tending her balcony garden, or taking walks in her neighborhood (wearing a hat, of course).

Zoe is a passionate and energetic Jewish educator and community builder. Originally from Orlando, Florida, she is a recent graduate of Swarthmore College, where she studied education, psychology, and environmental studies.

Though trained as a traditional educator, Zoe’s passion lies at the intersection of informal education and Jewish community building, fostered by four joyful summers working at Eden Village West, a quirky Jewish farm camp based in California. Both in the classroom and outside of it, she is committed to a practice of teaching and learning that makes room for exploration and wonder, centers relationships, and is rooted in a deep care for the people and places surrounding us. She deeply believes that joy, connection, silliness, and adventure (sprinkled with mud and glitter) are integral parts of work that can change the world, and is excited to delve further into that work at Makom this spring and beyond. 

Outside of work, Zoe enjoys making bread, singing joyfully (and usually off-key), playing bananagrams, writing nature poetry, and swimming long distances for fun.

Miriam Roochvarg (she/her) is a connector who loves facilitating meaningful relationship-building and learning opportunities for people of all ages. She’s been a counselor at a Jewish day camp, taught in the public school system and worked for the Jewish Federation and synagogue in Memphis, TN, and was the Education and Programming Director at a synagogue in Arlington, VA. Miriam loves growing not only as an educator, but as a student. She received her undergraduate degree in Communications from NC State University, has taken classes through Pardes and Hadar’s Project Zug program, and is currently working on her Masters in Jewish Education at Gratz College. As someone who’s been following Makom’s journey for nearly 5 years, Miriam is very excited about the opportunity to fully immerse herself in Makom’s pedagogy and work towards being able to empower other educators with the tools and best practices to bring Jewish Placemaking into their communities. When Miriam’s not working, you can find her exploring local coffee shops, writing spoken word, and enjoying quality time with friends.

Ethan grew up in Central New Jersey – if someone tells you that is not a real thing, they are mistaken  – and just moved to Philly after spending the last two years working at Rutgers University Hillel. He is a graduate of Muhlenberg College, where he studied Media & Communications and Jewish Studies, with concentrations in photography and videography. Over the last decade, Ethan has found ways to weave his passions for communications and Judaism into nearly every position he has held. He has spent time working for several synagogues and Jewish communities, as well as Jewish sleep-away camps in both seasonal and year-round capacities, and Jewish youth groups on both local and international levels. Additionally, he has staffed a college leadership gap year program in Israel. When Ethan is not at Makom, you can find him watching hockey, looking through his camera lens, listening to Jewish music, cooking up some kosher meat, watching the best and newest dramas, comedies, or sci-fi, or hanging out with his cat, Misha.

Sami (She/Her) is a creative and energetic jewish educator who grew up in different states along the east coast including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and culture from New College of Florida in Sarasota and an associates degree in hospitality and tourism management from Valencia College in Orlando simultaneously. She has taught in a few different religious schools (in the states listed above)!! Her most recent teaching experience was teaching toddlers in Taipei, Taiwan. Sami also grew up leading synagogue services and tutoring students in Torah chanting and Hebrew reading. Sami brings her creativity into the classroom along with her patience and understanding to help students relax and express themselves in whatever way works best for their brain. When not at school she can usually be found with yarn trailing behind her as she knits, crochets, makes her own jewelry, dabbles in pottery, and plays card games with her friends. If you do see yarn trailing from her please let her know so that no one trips!