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NESIYOT K-7 DIRECTOR

Deborah Strauss is thrilled to be joining CKS as the new Nesiyot director! She can’t wait to work with such an incredible group of leaders, teachers, parents, and students. Deborah is passionate about helping students of all ages develop their unique Jewish identities in an environment that is safe, inclusive, nurturing, and full of creativity, kindness, and joy.

 

Deborah was raised in Buffalo, New York in a home steeped in Jewish tradition and music, and she brings with her a lifetime of experience in Hebrew and Yiddish education, music, and culture.

 

For more than 20 years Deborah served the Workers Circle Jewish Cultural Schools of Manhattan and Long Island in a variety of roles including holiday and arts director, b’nai mitzvah educator/coordinator and core teacher. For her work, she received the Workers Circle Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

 

In the klezmer and Yiddish world, Deborah is one of the leading klezmer violinists of her generation. With her husband, Cantor Jeff Warschauer, she has performed and taught at venues worldwide including the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Great Britain’s Fiddles on Fire, and the Jewish Culture Festival in Cracow, Poland. She is also a highly regarded Yiddish dancer and dance leader. Deborah was a long-time member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, one of the premiere groups of the klezmer revival, and has performed with Itzhak Perlman, Theodore Bikel, and the Klezmatics. Deborah is co-director of both the instrumental music program and the dance program at Yiddish New York and is the co-author of Klezmer Duets for Violin and Accordion, published in 2017 by Universal Edition, Vienna. Deborah studied violin at Rutgers University, ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago, and is currently studying for an MSW at Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

KEHILOFT TEEN DIRECTOR

Tracey Weingarten is leading our teens in Kehiloft, CKS's youth leadership program. Tracey has been teaching our youngest Religious School children since 2008 and loves to be able to still be involved in their Jewish learning throughout their teen lives.  She hopes that having a connection with CKS's youngest members, from kindergarten to high school graduation, instills consistancy and a connection to Judaism and the congregation. Not to mention the naches it gives her! Tracey lives in Kendall Park with her husband Marc and dog Brody. She has 4 children, who she tries to see as much as possible. During the rest of the week, Tracey is a substitute teacher and does Community Outreach for CKS.

Tue, March 19 2024 9 Adar II 5784