Alex is a native of Brussels but has been living in London for the last 25 years. She is a member of Finchley Progressive Synagogue in London and has two adult children.

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Liv is a 19 years old violinist from Sweden. She moved to Stockholm five years ago from a small town in North Sweden to study classical violin. In Stockholm she got involved in the Jewish community and she is now on the board for Progressive Judaism in Stockholm.  

Anton is one of the founding members of the first Reform synagogue in Finland, Or Hatzafon. They are a small but growing community, so he's keen on learning as much as he can to support their group. His current favourite study topic is the Hebrew language.

Chayim is a member of the Wimbledon Synagogue in South London and has recently joined the group of Bnei Mitzvah tutors of the congregation.  He is thrilled and excited to be working together with Bnei Mitzvah students and their families. He is eager to learn from other Jewish educators and he looks forward to sharing his wealth of knowledge as a clinical geneticist working with families of children with special needs.  

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 Isaac is from Colchester in England. He is a business manager supporting adults back into work through tailored 1:1 and group support. With his passion for the Hebrew language and Jewish studies he very much looks forward to bringing these skills to Bnei Mitzvah classes and assisting the next generation.

He attends Shul in London with his wife and 2 daughters and in his spare time is very interested in the science of making coffee, jazz, photography, traveling, and birding. 

Klara is 19 years old and is currently studying a rabbinical seminary in Germany. She comes from the Czech Republic and her Jewish background was formed by a small Jewish congregation in Liberec, as well as by events like Jewish summer camp Szarvas. She tries to seek wisdom and inspiration in Judaism. One thought has stuck with her for quite a while - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who once said “Life is only a narrow bridge and the most important thing is to not to be afraid.”

Paco Bataller worked for over twenty five years at the European Commission. Following his retirement, he worked for several years as a consultant for the World Bank. He is married and has two children, who live in Seattle and London. Except for occasional trips to these two cities, he shares his time between Soneja (Spain) and Columbus, OH.

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Rachel is an American currently living in Rome with her Italian husband and two young daughters. They currently attend Yeshiva and are active members of Bet Hillel, a reform synagogue. Rachel has had nearly two decades of experience tutoring in various subjects, and was at one point an active Torah reader, Hebrew high school teacher and leader in USY. 

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Robert Cooper works as  a Sunday school teacher in Mönchengladbach and is an active member and gabbai in his community Gescher LaMassoret in Cologne, Germany. Although he is a Sunday school teacher, he has not taught bnei mitzvah yet but owing to a change in rabbis, he has been asked to help out. He is grateful and excited to have found this course.

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Paola is a 27 year old teacher from Italy, currently living in Brussels. She has a BA in Philosophy and a MA in Jewish Studies. She works as a religous teacher in a Jewish high school and as a Talmud Torah teacher in a reform synagogue. She is currently doing a BA in primary education.

Zuzana comes from the Czech Republic. She moved to Prague seven years ago from a small town in the north-west of the country. She has been an English teacher since she finished her university studies. Currently she is teaching at a private university. After moving to Prague she became involved with the progressive community Ec Chajim, where she found the wonderful opportunity and support to explore her roots,  heritage and deepen her Jewish knowledge.

Susannah is a Londoner who has also lived in Israel and Scotland. She has a degree in Jewish history, a diploma in Jewish educational leadership and 27 years' experience in formal and informal education.  She is currently Head Teacher at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London and has a parallel career as a Registered Nutritional Therapist, running wellbeing breaks in the Scottish Highlands and cookery classes for children.  She is looking forward to learning with and from others on the course, and developing new resources for her B'nei Mitzvah students.

Anneke belongs to the International Jewish Community in Brussels. She has lived in Switzerland, Israel and the United States and finally found a home in Antwerp, Belgium.  She is passionate about teaching, and a bit obsessed with cantillation at the moment. She is studying with the European Academy of Jewish Liturgy  (UK) and hopes to one day master all of the cantillation systems. She is looking forward to making connections with B'nai Mitzvah teachers from all over Europe and can't wait to find new teaching gems and resources to improve her own teaching skills. She says "Let's move B'nai Mitzvah Teaching into the 21st century!"