EXPERIENCE
JUDAISM
TOGETHER

EXPERIENCE
JUDAISM TOGETHER

Our Leadership Team

Sarah English headshot

Director of Education and Youth Programming

Sarah is an Ontario College of Teachers accredited teacher who completed her M.S.Ed. at Niagara University and has focused most of her teaching career on language acquisition. She benefited from being a part of vibrant synagogue life while growing up in the West End and carries her love of Jewish learning to Makom. In her free time, Sarah pursues her long-standing interest in genealogy and also enjoys reading, writing (most often at inconvenient hours of the night when inspiration strikes), and gardening with a permaculture focus. She looks forward with enthusiasm to participating in the Makom community.

 

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Adina Gamse

Managing Director

Adina Gamse has been involved in Makom since 2016, when she moved to Toronto for a postdoctoral fellowship at U of T. She was elected to Makom's Board of Directors in 2017 and transitioned to full-time staff in 2020, right as the pandemic hit. She is enjoying meeting everyone in person!

Adina has a PhD in Mathematics and loves introducing non-mathematicians to the joys of her subject; she combines this with her love of Jewish learning in her Limmud sessions on Mathematics and Mishna. In her free time she enjoys trampolining and flying trapeze.

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Aaron Levy

Founding Director and Rabbi

Rabbi Aaron Levy is a leader in the revival of downtown Jewish life in Toronto. He is the founding director and rabbi of  Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism, named one of North America’s 50 most innovative Jewish nonprofits in Slingshot ’10-’11.  He inspires diverse Jews and non-Jews by fusing ritual and ethical practice, and teaching in an open-minded and intellectually serious style, and by making Judaism’s joy apparent through musical, participatory prayer.  Before Makom, he founded an independent minyan, served as campus rabbi at three Hillels, and led wilderness backpacking trips.  Aaron sits on the Downtown Jewish Community Council, Toronto Board of Rabbis, and the board of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call to Human Rights.  Originally from Rockville, Maryland, he was ordained in 2004 in the first graduating class of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah – The Open Orthodox Rabbinical School in New York City.

Aaron lives near Kensington Market with his wife, Miriam, and sons Elie and Adar.

Our Leadership Council

Leadership Council

Makom Afterschool’s Leadership Council is comprised of parents who volunteer at the beginning of the school year. Leadership Council offers advice, guides policy decisions, and coordinate various projects throughout the year.

Your skills are needed!

We're a grassroots, parent-led program. We're always looking to expand our skill pool. If you're a parent and have skills to offer, please get in touch. We're especially interested in fundraising expertise and event volunteers.

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Makom Board

Makom Families is the family-oriented programming of the broader Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism community.

Makom is organized by Rabbi Aaron Levy and a nine-member Leadership Team (Board of Directors), working collaboratively to plan and run programs, and engaging in a strategic planning process to make Makom a sustainable community and organization.

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