Zoe is the Associate Director of Jewish Content at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, CA. Her work at the JCC allows her to strengthen all things “Jewish” that the JCC does — which to Zoe means: richer Jewish text study, deeper engagement with Israel, more sustainable efforts for social justice. 

 

In 2016, after three years of full time Torah study at various institutions, Zoe made aliyah and began her work at BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change. There, she founded Beit Midrash TLV – the first ever full time program for secular Jewish learning in English. Zoe understands that Israeli Secular Judaism has a lot to teach the American Jewish community about how to be a learned and identified Jew while also not being traditionally observant. She also believes that exposure to Israel and the Hebrew language are essential for strengthening Jewish identity in the diaspora. Her work demonstrates her commitment to expanding access for other American Jews to experience these ways of being Jewish. 

 

After three years at BINA, she decided to come back to America in order to translate these experiences to her home turf. The OFJCC and BINA teamed up to create Zoe’s position. Eventually, her plan is to found a BINA style secular yeshiva in America– a place where all Jews, of all backgrounds, can learn Torah and the whole Jewish canon. 

 

Zoe studied religion at Wesleyan University, and earned a Masters in Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School. She is a Wexner Graduate Fellow, and a member of the Schusterman Foundation’s ROI community. She is an alumna of many immersive Israel and Jewish learning programs, including NFTY’s EIE, Kivunim, Pardes, and Yeshivat Hadar. Zoe is proud to teach for BBYO, HillelU, and the Wexner Service Corps.