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New Family Life and Learning Staff

We are thrilled to announce that three new full-time staff members are joining our Family Life and Learning Department. Calle Schueler, as the new Assistant Director (overseeing Kadima@BJ), will begin on June 6. Michael Harlow will join the team in a more full-time capacity as Music/Teen Educator as of August 18. And Anina Dassa will be joining our department as the next Hebrew Coordinator starting May 15.

-Mike and Becca

 

Calle Schueler (they/she) has been a Kadima teacher at BJ since 2019. She is a graduate of the Albert A. List College Joint Program with Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), receiving a B.A. in History from Columbia and a B.A. magna cum laude in Ancient Jewish Studies from JTS. Calle holds an M.A. in Jewish Education from the William Davidson School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. A native of Syracuse, New York, Calle has worked for a wide variety of Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Museum and the NYU Bronfman Center. They also served as the Judaica Program Area Leader for the JCC of Greater Rochester Camp Seneca Lake, and as a staff member for the Etgar 36 teen summer journey. In addition to her prior experience at BJ, Calle has been a member of the faculty at the Syracuse Community Hebrew School and the Rabbi Jacob H. Epstein School of Jewish Studies.

 

Michael Harlow serves as the Music/Teen Educator at BJ. After graduating from Brandeis University in 2019 he moved to NYC and began working at BJ. Michael developed a passion for Jewish music through his upbringing in a musically talented and religiously engaged family. He further deepened that love when he began working summers as the Rosh Shira (song leader) at Camp Ramah In The Rockies in college. Michael now lives in Brooklyn and is grateful to be a part of the BJ community while pursuing his dreams with his musical duo, Late Night Thoughts.

 

Anina Dassa is a third-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary and a recipient of the Nachshon Graduate Fellowship. Anina grew up in Los Angeles, where she attended and worked at Camp Ramah in California for a total of fourteen years. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018 with a BFA in Interarts Performance, an interdisciplinary degree from the School of Art & Design and School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Anina has studied as a year-long fellow at Yeshivat Hadar and was a preschool teacher at the Chabad of Tribeca. Since starting rabbinical school, Anina has served as the Rabbinic Intern at Princeton University and as a Chaplain Intern at JASA Geriatric Mental Health Clinic. Anina is very excited to be joining the BJ team and looks forward to being part of its tight-knit community.