Rachel Oshrin
Director of Jewish Family Life & Learning
Rachel Oshrin (she/her) has worked as an educator at West End Synagogue for eight years. At WES, you can often find her writing song parodies, printing custom stickers for the JFLL students, and making s'mores for all occasions. Outside of WES, she works as a stage manager and hosts trivia events. Learn more about Rachel.
Cantor Melissa Berman
Director of Family Education
Meet our Hazzan, Cantor Melissa Berman (she/her), who is not only a remarkable singer and musician, but also an experienced family program leader with a M.A. in Education. Learn more about Cantor Melissa.
Dani Apple
Dani Apple (she/her) is super excited to be back for a third year at JFLL! Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, this little Apple has made a home in the Big Apple. In addition to the WES family, she has been a religious school teacher with Town & Village Synagogue, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, Fort Tryon Jewish Center, and B'nai Jeshurun here in NYC. Dani holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, so lots of music, comedy games, and movement activities are always a go in her classrooms!
Natalie Daninhirsch
Natalie Daninhirsch (she/her) is a Jewish actor, singer, and writer originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received her BA in theatre from Northwestern University in 2023, and she has been in NYC for under a year. She is so grateful to be teaching her first year at JFLL. Aside from her work at WES, she also teaches religious school at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, and she has taken classes in Hebrew and Yiddish. She is a language lover, so she loves teaching Hebrew and incorporating linguistic elements to help her students make sense of the language. She used to work as the Director of Jewish Education for her university’s Jewish Theatre Ensemble, so she is thrilled to be continuing in that vein of work with the JFLL students!