OUR TEAM
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MakomNY has a vibrant team of experienced professionals, educators, clergy, musicians, volunteers and participants that bring a fresh and dynamic energy to our community.
JESSICA STEINMAN, High Holy Day Cantorial Soloist
We are thrilled to welcome Jessica Steinman BACK to our MakomNY family. Jess will be with us as our Cantorial Soloist for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the Shabbat following Yom Kippur. Jessica Steinman has been a Cantorial Soloist since the age of 17 when she started singing at her home congregation in St. Paul, MN. She has a Bachelor of Music for Vocal Performance from NYU and a Masters Degree as a Marriage and Family Therapist. Jessica has led services for multiple congregations across the country, including Makom LA with Danny Maseng. When not singing in synagogues, she works full time as a psychotherapist and a Clinical Director for a treatment center in Los Angeles. Her free time is filled with laughing and loving her biggest music loving fan, Ruby, her 9 month old daughter. Please enjoy these videos of Jess singing her heart out! Hamilton Adon Olam Makom T'filat Haderech Shalom Rav 
SHERRY GUTES, Director, Education and Programs
Sherry is thrilled and honored to partner with Rabbi Bravo to create outstanding, meaningful and impactful learning and programming opportunities for the MakomNY Community. She comes with many years of experience as a Jewish communal professional and takes great joy in her work as a Jewish educator, reaching and teaching children, adults and families. She believes that her work with MakomNY brings together the sum total of all of her experiences in different and unique ways, especially as the educator and leader of MakomNY's MOADON (our version of religious school). 
DAVID BRAVO, Musical Director
David makes high level music an accessible part of our worship and learning, serving as music director, accompanist, producer and arranger. He oversees choir opportunities, recordings for MakomNY and arranging concerts and musical programs of all kinds for MakomNY. He works in partnership with Rabbi Bravo, and a variety of cantors, cantorial soloists and musical guests, to bring an exceptional level of music and song to prayer and activities within the community. 
JACKIE KLIGERMAN, Special Educator
Jackie is an educator with our Moadon. She greets the students each day, and works with smaller groups of students. Jackie is a retired special educator who served as a teacher, clinician, administrator and school principal in a variety of public and private educational settings throughout her career. She holds a doctoral degree from Teachers College, Columbia University where she taught courses in psychology and education. 
SCOTT ECKERS, B'nai Mitzvah Cantorial Soloist, Teacher
Dr. Scott Eckers is an educator, historian, cantor, and entertainer. For most of his 21-year teaching and administrative career, Scott taught social studies in Syosset; he is now with Great Neck Public Schools. From 2005 to 2022, Scott taught Hebrew, Yiddish, Jewish culture and music at the Workmen's Circle's I.L. Peretz Jewish School of Nassau. He is thrilled to be joining the faculty at Makom, where he has helped lead services for several years. Scott has served as the high holidays cantor at Marathon Jewish Community Center for many years, and is now continuing that role at the consolidated Etz Chaim/Hollis Hills Jewish Center. He is an active member of East Meadow Jewish Center, where he regularly leads services and formerly directed Junior Congregation. Scott is a trustee and past president of the East Meadow Board of Education, a member of the New York State Theatre Education Association board of directors, and a member of Actors' Equity Association. He is proud to be Jenny's husband and Jacob's dad. 
RACHEL BIELER, Teacher
Rachel serves as a teacher for grades 3rd-7th grade at MakomNY’s Moadon. She has been teaching in both public school, Jewish day school and congregational school settings for many years. She has been with MakomNY since its inception and she cannot think of a more welcoming and meaningful place to embrace Judaism. She is also thrilled to be once again teaching at Moadon, in a totally new, student-centered way. 
SIMA MATTHES, Teacher
Sima is joining us for her third year at Moadon, where she teaches our Aleph (3rd-4th grade) students as well as our 6th and 7th graders. She previously worked in congregations in Old Westbury and Lynbrook, and as the Jewish Culture Specialist at the Friedberg JCC's summer camp. By day, Sima is the Director of the Family Planning Grant Program at Nassau University Medical Center, as well as a freelance donor communications specialist. She deeply believes in personally connecting students with prayer and ritual, and has a passion for working with students with different learning styles. She is the proud mom of Teddy, who attended Moadon and became a bar mitzvah in 2018. They share their home with two cats, Flash and Oscar, both of whom made appearances when we held our classes on Zoom in 2020. She received her BA from Ithaca College and her JD from New York Law School. |
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