Talya Wiseman
Talya is the Head of Jewish Life at Moriah College High School and the Director of IST. She is passionate about Jewish education and deepening students’ connection to Judaism and Jewish Peoplehood through meaningful experiences.
Talya grew up in Perth and has worked at Jewish Schools in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
Lee-Ann Morris
Lee-Ann grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, and emigrated to Australia 13 years ago, with her husband and 3 children who all attended Moriah. She graduated from university with Honours in Industrial Psychology and has worked at the College for the last 12 years, managing all things Jewish in the EDJE. She gets great joy out of seeing students benefit from programs such as Counterpoint, chaggim celebrations at school, and particularly IST, which she has been on more than 6 times. Lee-Ann is looking forward to seeing the fruits of her labour and also exploring ways of enhancing the tour for future years.
Davi Smith
Over the past few years, Davi has been deeply involved in providing Jewish life and feels ready to impart these values to the Year 10 IST Group. For schooling, Davi started at Kesser Torah and then moved to Moriah from Years 9-12, graduating in 2019. Following Year 12, Davi went to Yeshivat Har-Etzion where he learned about Torah Law, Jewish Philosophy, and Jewish thought, in preparation to come back and work within the community. Currently, Davi is set to finish his Bachelor of Business, majoring in Finance at UTS. Davi has spent 5 years in a leadership capacity at Bnei Akiva, serving this year as the State Director, worked within Masada’s Informal Jewish Team, and spent the past 3 years working in Moriah as a Tefilla leader, EDJE Member, Counterpoint executive as well as a coach and casual staff member in Moriah’s Sports department.
“My passion for Jewish life has been due to the madrichim and opportunities afforded to me throughout my life, and I can’t wait to provide the same opportunity to the Year 10 IST group!”
Kovi Smith
Kovi graduated from Moriah College in 2019 and went to Israel on Bnei Akiva’s MTA Program in 2020, where he studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion for a year. Kovi is a member of the High School EDJE department, a Year 10 Jewish Studies teacher, the current Treasurer at Bnei Akiva, and is studying Data Science at UNSW, majoring in Business Data Science. Ever since returning from IST in 2017, it has been a dream of Kovi’s to return to Israel as a Madrich on IST. Kovi fulfilled this dream on IST 2022 and since then has been all the more eager to go again and show the students what it means to be a proud Jew. The missing piece of his experience last year was Poland, and being that Kovi has been teaching this cohort about the Holocaust, he feels that going to Poland with them will be deeply meaningful for himself and his students. Kovi wants to help every student find their connection to Judaism and he is extremely excited to take this year’s IST and grow alongside this year group in our homeland.
“My advice for IST 2023 is: Say yes to every opportunity presented to you, fully immerse yourself in the experience and most importantly, have fun!”
Adam Jankelowitz
Adam attended Moriah from Preschool through to Year 12 and engaged in almost all opportunities that the College provided. Being involved in the music and sports program, he learnt the meaning of being a member of a team, of loyalty and commitment. Growing into a leadership role, Adam had the honour of being elected as College Captain of the graduating class of 2020. Adam is currently a member in the High School EDJE department and is studying a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Advanced Computing at the University of Sydney.
Reflecting on his time at Moriah, which he feels privileged to have had, it is the experiences outside of the classroom that Adam remembers the most. His participation in Counterpoint, Na’aleh and IST allowed him to form lifelong connections with Madrichim and instilled in him a deep love and passion for Israel and Judaism. Adam cannot wait to spend 5 weeks in Israel with the Year 10’s, forming strong connections with every student whilst providing them the opportunity to grow and express their pride in the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
Rabbi Gad Krebs
Rabbi Krebs is the College Rabbi. Prior to his commencement at Moriah, he was a congregational Rabbi for over 16 years and is also a qualified psychotherapist and conflict mediator. Rabbi Krebs’ association with Moriah dates back to his involvement with the Experiential teams from 1998-2006. Since then, Rabbi Krebs has been involved in an impressive array of communal initiatives and projects, including regularly presenting workshops, on a variety of topics, to students and staff at the College. He is a passionate Zionist and has served in the IDF. He has 4 children, 2 of whom currently live in Israel. Rabbi Krebs is excited to share his love of the land, the people and our heritage with our community, both on IST as well as in the College in general.
Sarah Miller
Sarah graduated from Moriah College in 2019 and is currently studying Psychology at Macquarie University. After school, she spent a year in Israel in Bnei Akiva’s MTA program studying at Midreshet Harova. Sarah’s own IST experience was a highlight of her time at school, further developing her love for Israel and the Jewish people through this incredible experience. Following her year in Israel, she has been a madricha and in leadership positions at Bnei Akiva for three years as well as being a tefilla leader at Moriah and working in the community. Sarah cannot wait to be a part of IST, to share this incredible journey alongside the year 10s, learning about our land and people!
Vanessa
Di Francesco
Vanessa has been teaching at Moriah for 16 years and is the Head of Education Support. She works closely with staff and students across the College. Vanessa has been to Israel several times now but is super excited about this year’s trip! Her first journey in 2019 was an unbelievably memorable and enlightening experience but she expects IST 2023 will surpass her past experiences in leaps and bounds. She is so happy to be joining the current Year 10 cohort and staff and overjoyed to be a part of this inclusive and transformative journey.
Rivka Maynard
Rivka was born and grew up in Sydney, and now teaches Jewish Studies at Moriah. She is passionate about finding which aspect of Judaism connects each student to their heritage and enjoys cultivating a classroom with balanced written work with lively discussion and debate ( in true Jewish style). Rivka’s first trip to Israel was on IBC (Israel By Choice) program in her gap year in 2009, where she was awed by the beauty and rich history of the land and took immense pleasure in exploring the many facets of Israeli life. she has been back several times since, but this will be her first time taking a student tour there- for which she is very excited.
Hilary Kahn
Hilary came to Australia from South Africa with her husband Raphael in 1979 shortly after getting married. Their 3 children Talya, Gabrielle, and Joel were all born in Australia, and they are now blessed to have seven grandchildren. Hilary taught at Masada College for 17 years, and since 1997 has been teaching Jewish History and Studies of Religion at Moriah College. This will be her fourth IST and Hilary feels it is a great privilege to be accompanying Moriah children to Poland and Israel. She looks forward to sharing this deeply formative experience and hopes they will return to Sydney with an enhanced commitment to their Jewish heritage and to our beloved Israel.
Belinda Lax
Belinda Lax immigrated to Sydney from Johannesburg 21 years ago with her husband and young family and joined Moriah College in 2010. She spent three years in Israel as a child and from then onward, has loved being a part of anything and everything that has to do with Israel. Belinda started her career at Moriah in the Primary School and since 2013 has worked in the Jewish Life Department in the High School currently as their Jewish Life Project Manager. Belinda has been inspired and fortunate to be a part of the initiatives and opportunities that the school puts forth, including staffing a trip to the northern territories and the highlight of her career at Moriah has been being a part of the IST team and continues to be inspired by the invaluable opportunity to be involved with the students as they travel and grow through this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, IST. Belinda has two daughters who attended Moriah for the duration of their schooling, and both have an ongoing connection to Moriah and its students. Belinda is excited to join the IST team once again for 2023.
Tasin Ospovat
Tasin graduated from Moriah College in 2020 and spent her gap year in Israel on the Bnei Akiva program Limmud. After the ‘best year of her life’, Tasin returned to Sydney to give back to the Jewish Community. Tasin is in her second year studying a Bachelor of Psychology Honours at Macquarie University. When Tasin is not studying or working she spends her time volunteering and has taken on significant leadership roles such as the Head of Juniors for Bnei Akiva and logistics coordinator for Friendship Circle Getaways. Tasin is extremely passionate about Informal Jewish Education and loves being a prayer leader at Moriah and a Madricha on Counterpoint! Tasin cannot wait to share her love for Israel with the current year 10’s as well as make long-standing connections with each and every student while they grow and experience Israel’s unique beauty.
Ariel Turkia
Ariel Turkia is a passionate educator with a deep love for history and heritage. After, graduating from Moriah College in 2008, he went on a transformative gap program with Hineni, sparking his interest in informal education. In 2014, Ariel completed his Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts, and since then, he has been actively involved in formal and experiential education. He served as the High School Coordinator for BJE, co-coordinated the BJE Israel trip, and taught at Masada College, attending their MIT Trip and engaging students in their cultural identity and historical significance. Currently, Ariel works at Moriah College, with his enthusiasm for history and education. Residing in Sydney with his wife and two greyhounds, Ariel endeavors to foster his love of history, heritage, and education into the next generation.
Levi Hoffman
Levi Graduated from Kesser Torah College in 2019 and studied at Yeshiva Gedolah of Australia and New Zealand for a year. Levi was excited to be a part of CounterPoint for a second consecutive year and has thoroughly enjoyed his time as a member of Moriah’s Tefillah departments for the past few years. He is studying for a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a diploma in Professional Engineering Practice at UTS. His fondest memory of Kesser Torah College was participating in the Year 10 Israel Experience Tour (IET) and he had the privilege to be an IET Madrich in 2022. Ever since returning from IET in 2022, Levi has aspired to return to Israel as a Madrich on IST. Levi’s goal is to show the students what it means to be a proud Jew and he aims to help every student find their connection to Judaism. Levi is thrilled to take this year’s IST and relishes the chance to further develop with the group in Eretz Yisrael our eternal homeland.
Dror Baraam
Dror is a Hebrew teacher in Moriah College. He grew up in Israel and moved to Australia three years ago. Dror was an English teacher in Israel and also served in the IDF as a Staff sergeant in the Israel Air Defence Command for the Iron Dome and the Arrow defense systems. Dror is excited to help students get familiar with Israel and understand the complex Israeli society. This is the first time he is going on IST and looks forward to changing perspective and being a tourist in Israel with our Year 10.