Our Team

Rabbi Daniel Allen (z"l)

Strategic Development Campaign Consultant

Rabbi Daniel Allen (z”l) was a special assistant to the CIE Board engaged in long term planning and development. For forty years he served with distinction in multiple positions across the Jewish communal world. Twice he served as the Executive Vice Chairman of the United Israel Appeal (UIA) and Senior Vice President of the Jewish Federations of North America. In this role, he worked with federations explaining the work of the Jewish Agency for Israel and directly oversaw the work of the Israel Education Fund (IEF). Allen also managed the UIA- US Congressional grant which over the past 40 years now totals more than $1.7B. UIA is also responsible for $30M in donor advised funding for Israeli amutot (charitable organizations) He worked as the chief professional of the Masorti Foundation, the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), and the UJA Young Leadership cabinet. Additionally he served as head of the American Red Magen David for Israel (ARMDI), boosting is annually giving six fold. Prior to that, he served for eight years as a Hillel director at Michigan State University and Emory University. His breadth of knowledge about Israel and American Jewish philanthropy and extraordinary experience of working with Israel based institutions provided CIE with unique perspective and guidance Rabbi Allen was married to Mary Lou Frishberg. They are the parents of three children and Saba/Safta to four children. Read More

Araceli Gonzalez

Outreach Affiliate to Hispanic Communities

Araceli Gonzalez is a May 2020 BA graduate from the University of Rochester with a degree in International Relations, and minors in Political Science, and Psychology. Araceli was a four-year recipient of the Renaissance and Global Scholarship and the US Department of State Opportunity Funds. She was born in Paraguay and served in several service capacities while in school; she was a project supervisor for an internship program in the Dominican Republic and worked as a peer advisor with the Center for Education Abroad and as office assistant and tour guide for the admissions office at the University of Rochester. In 2018, Araceli became part of the Campus Allies Mission to Israel. At CIE she is engaged in marketing CIE programs, crafting Israel related materials, and shaping content to Spanish speaking audiences.

Dr. Tal Grinfas-David

Day School Education Specialist

Tal is the Day School Education Specialist at CIE. In July 2011, she became the Elementary School Principal of the Epstein School in Atlanta, GA. She earned her doctorate from Capella University in 2011 in curriculum and instruction, an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Portland in 2006 with honors, a Bachelors of Education in the Advanced Teaching Certification Program focusing on English as second language at Beit Berl Teacher Education College, Kfar Saba, Israel from 1997-1999, and a B.A. from Boston University in 1995. In 2005, she came from the Portland Hebrew Academy to join the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel as the senior curriculum designer. From 2005 to the present, she led and conducted the pedagogy portions of the ISMI/CIE one-week Israel Education Teacher Workshops.

Michele Freesman

Israel Research Assistant and Teen Program Manager

Michele Freesman joined CIE in January 2020. In 2015 Michele graduated with honors from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania where she received a BA in Economics and International Studies with concentrations in the Middle East and Conflict and Peace Studies. She completed her degree with an independent study project to understand the potential impact the sale of Israeli natural gas would have for Israel’s diplomatic and economic cooperation with its neighbors. In the middle of her fourth year of college, Michele started her career at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). While at AIPAC, she served as the Senior National Engagement Field Organizer engaging, teaching, and mobilizing hundreds of college students each year. As the Israel Research Assistant at CIE, she covers all areas of contemporary Israel, and composes website materials. As Teen Program Manager she coordinates CIE teen programs, interfacing with national Jewish organizations, institutions, as well as individual teens directly.

Michael Jacobs

Communications Consultant

Michael Jacobs is a veteran print and online journalist whose career has included USA Today, The Washington Times, Patch.com, daily newspapers in New Jersey and North Carolina, and the Atlanta Jewish Times. A native of New Orleans who grew up in Virginia, he is a third-generation graduate of Tulane University. A freelance writer and editor in the Atlanta area, he works on media relations and content creation for CIE.

Steven Kerbel

Educational Specialist

Steven Kerbel began consulting with CIE in 2015 on the Certificate in Israel Education Program (CIEP). He is the Principal of Steven Kerbel Educational Consulting in Rockville, Maryland. Before this, he served as Director of Education for Congregation B’nai Tzedek and Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, Maryland for a combined 14 years. Prior to this Steve was the inaugural Retreat Director of Capital Camps & Retreat Center. Steve has also been a full-time faculty member at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville and an educational consultant to the Seaboard Region of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Steve is currently a national vice president of the Jewish Educators Assembly, the organization of Conservative Movement Jewish educators. In what seems like a different lifetime, Steve earned a law degree and was in the private practice of law for eight years. Steve is an alum of University of Maryland, College Park, where he met his wife, Judy, and they have two daughters. Among Steve’s consulting activities, he facilitates wine tastings featuring Israeli wines and teaches about the geography of diversity of Israel through its wines and wine makers.

Debbie Sasson

Young Adult Israel Learning Specialist

Joining the CIE staff in September 2020, Debbie Sasson brings a wealth of blended Israel teaching from formal and informal educational experiences. For nine years she taught middle grades at the Atlanta Epstein School; she taught for three years at congregational schools in Westchester, NY, and for six years she has continued to be a “yoetzet,” parent liaison and staff trainer, at Camp Ramah Darom in Clayton, Georgia. For the last two years she managed a project-based learning program connecting teens to Israel at the Israeli American Council. She has taught in New York public high schools as well. Debbie was educated at Emory University and earned her Masters Degree in secondary school education and teaching at Manhattanville College. At CIE she will write curriculum and engage in high school and young adult Israel programming. Her passion for history and document based learning will characterize her contributions to CIE’s work.

Debi Snow

Research Assistant

Debi provides extensive research aligned with our ongoing projects to support CIE’s mission of providing Israel education. She also edits documents for publication, works with staff on the organization of our annual teacher workshop, and supports staff in furthering our outreach into the Atlanta Community.

Dr. Eli Sperling

Israel Specialist

Eli has been actively engaged in issues relating to Israel and the greater Middle East since the beginning of his under-graduate education at Evergreen in Olympia, WA. After receiving his BA in Middle East Studies and Political Economy in 2006, he moved to Israel to pursue an MA in contemporary Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University. During his four and a half years in Tel Aviv, Eli worked as a research assistant to prominent Israeli scholar, Yosi Kostiner, and worked with numerous political and humanitarian organizations. He led student groups and other international delegations around Israel and spent two years researching the social, political and economic conditions of the Sinai Bedouin living in Dahab, Egypt. He is a fluent Hebrew speaker who also reads Arabic and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East. Eli manages ISMI’s and CIE’s internship programs; writes, researches and edits materials released by the Center; gives presentations at CIE workshops and conferences; and contributes to the day-to-day operations of the Center. He holds a Ph.D. from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israeli history.

Heather F. Waters

Office Manager

For twenty years, Heather has worked with Ken Stein as an administrative assistant, program administrator, and now office manager. For the past ten years, she has been the primary organizer of the week-long pre-collegiate teacher Israel education workshops.

Dr. Kenneth W. Stein

President