Our Team

Tiferet Nashman, Executive Director
tiferet@shoresh.ca
Tiferet is a Jewish environmental educator and community builder. She holds a Masters in Education and a B.A. in Diaspora and Transnational Studies with a focus on relationships between diasporic and indigenous communities. Tiferet completed the Wild Deer wilderness skills training, and is a recipient of the David Suzuki Award for environmental educators. She has worked with the TDSB, the Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation Department, the University of Toronto’s Multifaith Centre and is founding resident of Moishe Pod Toronto. Tiferet’s life has been woven with Shoresh since its inception and she is thrilled to be serving as Executive Director.

Allie Shier, Director of Marketing and Communications
allie @shoresh.ca
At Shoresh, Allie has worn many hats: she has managed the organization’s day-to-day operations, the Shoresh Shuk, marketing and communications, and loves to join our educational programs as both a facilitator and participant.She holds an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before Shoresh, Allie coordinated a national resettlement program for Government Assisted Refugees at the YMCA of Greater Toronto and worked with women artisans in remote regions of India through the Aga Khan Foundation. In her spare time, Allie is into crafting, hiking, canoeing, gardening, and spending time with her energetic toddler.

Ayal Lesh, Director of Operations and Development
ayal@shoresh.ca

Ayal brings over 25 years of experience in developing award-winning environmental education, grant-giving and stakeholder engagement programs, communications campaigns, and fundraising strategies. He has degrees in Geography and Environmental Science, and has served on the boards of the Conservation Council of Ontario, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, and Faith and the Common Good. More recently, Ayal earned certificates in his side passions of Artisan Bread Baking and Artist Blacksmithing. Ayal believes that direct and active experience interacting with nature cultivates a strong environmental and stewardship ethic.

Tamar Goldberg, Education and Site Manager
tamar@shoresh.ca

Tamar is a teacher, learner and doer in the world of Jewish outdoor education, specializing in trees. Her work in trees in Toronto’s public and private sector and her years of experience leading canoe trips for Camp Ramah in Canada led her to the
inevitable conclusion that the best place to be is outside. Tamar has studied in many institutions of Jewish learning, including TanenbaumCHAT, Associated Hebrew Schools, Pardes, Urban Adamah, and Wilderness Torah. Tamar is a coordinator at heart, always looking for efficiencies in service of creating and facilitating Jewish community gatherings focused on ritual, song, and nature connection.

Shalva Sutton, Child and Family Program Coordinator

shalva@shoresh.ca

Shalva is a lifelong nature and animal enthusiast. In 2010, at Shoresh’s Kavanah Garden, she fell in love with gardening and never quite made it out from between the vegetable plants. Shalva has a B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the University of Guelph, and has worked in wildlife rehabilitation since 2020 at the Toronto Wildlife Centre. Prior to this, Shalva worked with children in an experiential educational setting as Rosh Teva Staff at Camp Stone, Farm Staff at Camp Green Acres, and as a Wildlife Club External Affairs executive. She believes that sharing knowledge and cultivating empathy through captivating public education can influence a broader change in society. Shalva is excited to be involved in creating opportunities for people to connect with their love of and fascination with nature and Judaism in a hands-on way.

Iris Benedikt, Program Associate
iris @shoresh.ca
Iris is an artist educator who uses imagination to artfully uncover mysteries of the land alongside youth. She studied Studio Arts and Geography, has a Bachelor of Education and is a certified teacher. Iris prioritizes youth empowerment and critical thinking in her facilitation practice, and has worked as an outdoor educator, a social justice Jewish educator and a visual arts instructor. She’s been involved with Shoresh since its inception and was the first to have a Shoresh b’nei mitzvah! Iris’s Jewish identity is intimately rooted in working towards a world with less hierarchy and more solidarity. When Iris is not at Shoresh, she is doing art and exploring nature.

Paul Kitz, Outdoor Educator – Yesod Mentor
paul@shoresh.ca
Paul is drawn to big questions: Where does Truth lie? How can I grow more intimate with life? How can we, collectively, live in a way that honours the dignity of life in ourselves and others? What does healing look like? These questions have taken Paul into politics, the wilderness, and on a spiritual journey that has included being ba’al teshuvah, leaving Judaism, and connecting with teachers from various traditions before reconnecting with Judaism through family, lineage and ancestry. Paul finds joy, connection and purpose spending time with young people. He is a Child and Youth Care Practitioner that has worked with individuals and groups from family homes to summer camps, ballet schools to hospices. He is blessed to work in a mentorship role with people of all ages in the context of nature, and is excited to support B’nei Mitzvahs living into their own big questions at such a potent time in their lives.

Sof Kreidstein, Lead Outdoor Educator

sof@shoresh.ca

Curiosity guides Sof’s world, dedicated to nurturing interconnection grounded in community, environmentalism, play, and intersectional Jewish belonging. Their work has budded and bloomed across many fields, as a facilitator/educator and artist/creator. Sof’s path is centred around youth care and creative learning. Their Shoresh journey began in participating in Zmanim in 2023/24, and they’re so excited to be working with an organization that aligns deeply with their earth-centric values. They’re proud to be the Program Director of Machane Lev, an LGBTQ+ Jewish youth overnight summer camp and year-round organization. Sof’s Jewish work has also involved working with Makom Afterschool and facilitating creative Jewish community engaged projects including ruach רוח at the Pier 21 Museum in Halifax Nocturne Festival and Soul Candle making workshop at the Museum of Jewish Montreal. Their bachelors in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts from NSCAD University informs their ever evolving art practice and emphasis on creative experimentation in their work as an educator. Sof is a busy buzzing bee! Outside of work, you can find Sof singing nigunim and wordy-tunes, crafting and tinkering away, and gazing lovingly at cool rocks, sticks, mushrooms, and plants.

Andrea Schaffer, Toddler Program Coordinator

andrea@shoresh.ca

Andrea is an experienced formal (day school teacher) and informal educator who now spends her time raising three young children.. Passionate about early childhood education and outdoor education, Andrea has taught at the Toronto Heschel School, worked as a PJ Library Connector and has volunteered with Shoresh. In 2003, she participated in a Jewish Day School fellowship at Brandeis University and later completed a Masters of Teaching. Andrea is so excited about Shoresh’s new toddler program, Nitzanim, and cannot wait to spend Tuesday mornings exploring nature with the little people in our community. Her favourite vegetable is red pepper.

Isaiah Zabitsky, Assistant Outdoor Educator

Isaiah is a person who is fascinated with the world around him. He is a cyclist, sustainable gardening enthusiast, passionate about making cities a better place to live and is fascinated by moving people including public transportation (especially trains). He is currently a student at York University working on his Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Cities, Regions, Planning. Isaiah is a believer in designing spaces for children who see the world differently and more creatively. If you see him walking around our beautiful city, say hello!

Shana Rosenberg, Assistant Outdoor Educator
Shana is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying math and linguistics. She enjoys working with children: she has worked at the Jack and Pat Kay Centre Camp, and as an Art Instructor, at KlezKanada and Darchei Noam Congregation. Don’t ask her to sing, but she knows some dance moves, and gymnastics tricks. (She has been doing professional gymnastics for twelve years!) Shana speaks three languages fluently, she loves linguistics and even works at a linguistics lab at UofT. In her spare time, she enjoys studying foreign languages, traveling and taking long walks in Toronto’s fabulous parks.

Josh Kleinberg, Program Associate
josh@shoresh.ca
Josh began volunteering for Shoresh in May 2018 at the Kavanah Garden. He enjoys carpentry and has built numerous projects including cutting boards, trays, desks and shelving units. Josh built Shoresh’s solar beeswax melter for Bela Farm, among other things. In 2021, Josh completed a beekeeping course through the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association. He was a recipient of a volunteer recognition award for his contributions to Shoresh. Josh is passionate about his work at Shoresh as he enjoys learning about nature in a hands-on way. Outside of Shoresh, you can find Josh riding his bike or enjoying a slice of pizza.

Risa Alyson Cooper, Founder of Shoresh
Risa is an outdoor educator, environmentalist, and urban homesteader. For 13 years, she served as the Founding Executive Director of Shoresh, grateful for the endless opportunities Shoresh offers to explore Jewish traditions in the fields and forests of southern Ontario. After proudly celebrating Shoresh’s B’nei Mitzvah, Risa retired from the organization in 2021. Her favourite vegetable is the beet.

Sabrina Malach, Co-Founder
sabrina@shoresh.ca
Sabrina began working with Shoresh in 2011 after spending six years working and volunteering in the Jewish Food Movement in New York and Israel. She participated in the Adamah in 2005, studied at the Eco-Activist Beit Midrash in Jerusalem in 2006, and worked with Hazon from 2006-2007. Upon returning to Toronto, Sabrina got an MES from York University with a focus on pollinator protection in urban centres. In 2010, Sabrina was awarded the Canadian Pollinator Advocacy Award from the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. Sabrina is a mom and Shoresh’s resident beekeeper.