Kulanu Teachers

Guy D. Amdur 

Guy has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2018. He received his BA and MPS from Manhattanville College. Guy is a NYS licensed elementary and Special Ed/Reading teacher. Outside of Bet Torah, he teaches 6th grade ELA and social studies at John Jay Middle School. He has worked over the past 30+ years as a private Learning Specialist, treating learners of all ages/grades and abilities.

Guy has three grown children. His youngest is a college freshman.  Guy loves to sing, read, take long walks, cook, sip strong coffee, be at the beach, enjoy Belgian milk chocolate, watermelon, and spend time with his children.

Debbie Berger 

Debra has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2012 and teaches preschool at synagogue in the area. She has a masters in business.

Debbie lives in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and dog whom she loves to take long walks with and enjoys any quiet time she can get!

Rabbi Brusso 

Rabbi Brusso is senior rabbi of Bet Torah, where he has led a vibrant and dynamic congregation of approximately 550 families in Northern Westchester since 2009. In addition to pastoring, preaching, teaching and leading in the Bet Torah community, Rabbi Brusso is an officer of the the Rabbinical Assembly, a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and served as faculty for the Anti-Defamation League’s Bearing Witness program teaching Catholic school educators about Judaism and Antisemitism. During his time at Bet Torah, Rabbi Brusso has been a vocal supporter of immigration rights and was awarded the 2020 Human Rights Hero award from T’ruah. Read more.

Wendy Cavuoto

Wendy has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2019. She has 20 years of experience in education. She was a former college professor, Red Cross instructor, and tutor. In addition to being a teacher at Kulanu, she is a medical writer.

Wendy is married with two kids, Sammy and Taylor. She loves spending time with her family.

Abby Chargo

Abby has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2010. She is a graduate of Boston University with a major in Judaics Studies and furthered her studies in Rabbinics at Hebrew Union College. Abby also spent three years in Israel, volunteering in the OTZMA Israel Volunteer Program. Her educational career began over 25 years ago at Rodef Shalom in Manhattan. Abby works outside of Bet Torah as a special education teaching assistant in White Plains.

In her free time, Abby enjoys visiting museums, attending concerts and plays, and hiking with her children (Emily, 19 and Lev, 15). Emily and Lev both grew up at Bet Torah and formed some of their core friendships during their time here.

Cantor Ezring

Cantor Gil Ezring joins Bet Torah after moving to Westchester from Long Grove, IL where he served as cantor at Congregation Beth Judea since 2018. In addition to serving as shaliach tzibbur, leading the congregation in prayer, Cantor Ezring taught in the Beth Judea religious school, oversaw the B’nai Mitzvah program, empowered congregants of all ages to read Torah and participate in services, interfaced with Sisterhood and Men’s Club, mentored young musicians and led the synagogue band. Read more. 

Deb Ferman 

Debbie has been involved in education for 32 years and teaching at Bet Torah since 2014. She has a Master’s in Special Education and when not teaching at Bet Torah she is a Special Education Preschool Teacher, currently working in the Bronx.

Debbie and her husband have been married for 27 years and have three children; Emily, Adam, and Ian. Debbie has been a NYS EMT for almost 33 years!

Kenny Green

As a boy, Kenny Green developed an eclectic taste in music, initially leaning toward Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, and later embracing a broad range of rock music, traditional folk music and Jewish music. He studied jazz guitar at Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music, and then entered the burgeoning field of children's and family music.  

In 1992, Kenny started teaching music at Bet Torah. By 1995, he began formal study of the art of Jewish songleading with some of the world's leading experts in the field, including composer Debbie Friedman, Cantor Jeff Klepper, Rabbi Joe Black, cantorial soloist Julie Silver, entertainer Donny Maseng and recording artist Fran Avni. Kenny is one of the founders of the Westchester Klezmer Program, Inc., the largest not-for-profit organization of its kind in the world.

Kenny Green lives with his lovely wife and their beautiful daughter. 

Juli Harris

Juli started working at Bet Torah in 2021. She has over 20 years of experience teaching in secular schools and five years as a religious educator. Juli is certified as a School Library Media Specialist in both New York and Connecticut, and she uses that background to help incorporate the interests of her fifth-grade students – technology, art, music, etc. — into the curriculum, to make Jewish learning fun and relevant!

Juli resides in Stamford, CT with her fiancé, Scott. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, photography, writing, traveling, and the beach! One personal accomplishment: she recently became an adult Bat Mitzvah!

Nili Ionascu 

Nili was born and raised in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem. She concentrated on Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in high school and utilized that knowledge in her service with the I.D.F.’s intelligence division before and during the Six-Day War. After completing her army service, Nili continued her focus on Arabic and Middle Eastern studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she also ran track. 

Nili obtained a graduate degree in education from Hebrew University, and taught Hebrew and Arabic at schools in Jerusalem and East Jerusalem before leaving to work as a film editor in Israeli television. After moving to the United States, she began working at Bet Torah in 1981, teaching Hebrew and tefillot to students with special needs. Since then, Nili has been directing Bet Torah's special needs program and preparing students for their b’nai mitzvot. She is a recipient of the Westchester Association of Hebrew Schools Teacher of the Year Award and the Ernest Rothschild Award for excellence in education. Learn more

Nancy Kapchan

Nancy has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2018 but has been in education for over 30 years. She has a BA in Marketing from the University of Hartford and an MS in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University.

Outside of Bet Torah, Nancy enjoys playing Mah Jongg and taking care of her grandchildren. Nancy grew up in New Rochelle and lives in Stamford with her husband of 41 years. She has three adult children and two grandchildren.

Lauren Poretsky

Growing up in METNY USY, Lauren Poretsky joins us as the Assistant Director of Education and Youth (K-12). She recently served on the educational team at Temple Beth El of Huntington, NY, helping to launch new toddler, youth and family education programs, and plan engaging holiday events and community-wide celebrations. She taught at The Jewish Learning Center at North Shore Jewish Center in her hometown, Port Jefferson Station, NY. Lauren received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Binghamton University and is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Learn more

Nicole Raffel 

Nicole is an elementary school teacher in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. She has taught multiple grades, including Kindergarten, 3rd and 4th. Nicole received her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from NYU.  

Nicole resides in Armonk, with her husband and 2 daughters, and is an active member of Bet Torah. She is excited to make this a fun filled school year with dynamic experiences for all children.

Mimi Rand 

Mimi has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2016 but has been in education for 35 years. When Mimi isn’t teaching at Bet Torah she is teaching at BCHA (Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy). 

Mimi has two sons, Jesse and Shane. She loves art, singing, creating, and of course teaching! 

Abby Reuben  

Abby has been involved in education for 37 years and has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2015. She has a B.S. degree in Nursery through 6th-grade Elementary Education from SUNY Cortland and a Masters Degree in Special Education for Nursery through 12th grade from SUNY Binghamton.  She has taught College and retired early from the New York City Department of Education where she was a classroom teacher, Literacy Coach and Mentor to New Teachers.

Abby is married to her husband Jeff and they have one daughter named Nicole (who will be attending the TLC program at Bet Torah.) She loves to swim, cook, travel (she’s been to 33 countries!), and read books on her kindle.

Bilha Savir 

Bilha has been an educator for 50 years! She is the longest-tenured teacher at Bet Torah having been a teacher here since 1979.

Bilha has a B.A. in Hebrew Language and Biblical studies. She is married with three children and seven grandchildren.

Ellen Sitnik 

Ellen has been working in Special Education as a classroom teacher, evaluator, and currently teacher/supervisor for the Westchester County Early Intervention program. She also is a school district consultant for Northern Westchester. She has been in the education field for 32 years and has been teaching at Bet Torah since 2018. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education.

Ellen is married to her Israeli husband, Eran, and they have three grown children. She lives in Ossining and loves to read, travel and scrapbook. Her favorite activity is cooking and baking with her culinary-trained son.

Ellen Sobel 

Ellen is entering her 12th year teaching at Bet Torah. She is a NYS certified teacher in Pre K – 6 and Students with Disabilities. She has taught in Public Elementary Schools and Jewish Day Schools. As an Early Childhood Educator, she taught in Jewish Nursery Schools. Presently, she is teaching the Fours at Bet Torah Nursery School and this past Summer she worked as a Head Counselor at Camp Keshet.

Ellen is married 35 years to her husband, Jeff. She has two daughters, Brianna and Danielle. They are graduates from Bet Torah’s religious school. Her hobbies are reading, baking, biking, yoga, hiking, and traveling (she’s traveled to Israel 8 times). Fun fact: Ellen became a Bat Mitzvah in 2013 at BT. She is proud to be a part of this wonderful Bet Torah community and to share her knowledge with her students. “Kulanu rocks!”

Phyllis Stone

Phyllis is thrilled to be starting her second year at Bet Torah teaching Bet. She has been teaching in private and public schools for over 25 years. This year marks her 21st year at Mount Kisco Elementary School. She has a B.A. in History from Columbia College of Columbia University and an M.S. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from the Bank Street College of Education.

Phyllis' family moved to Mount Kisco in 1973. She grew up at Bet Torah and went through religious school and Hebrew High School. She was a Madricha at Bet Torah and her children have followed her in her footsteps.  Phyllis’s husband is also an educator and teaches fifth grade at the Leffell School in White Plains. They enjoy traveling, especially on summer vacations!

Robin Wald 

Robin has been involved in education for 16 years and started teaching at Bet Torah in 2005. She is a certified life coach, yoga and meditation teacher, and spiritual wisdom guide/teacher/student. When not at Bet Torah you can find Robin at her own practice, Robin Wald Cosmic Wisdom Coaching. She has a degree in Civil Engineering from Columbia University, and a masters degree in Nutrition Counseling. Robin has three grown children and loves hiking, camping, and visiting national parks.