OUR TEAM

Interwoven/שָׁזוּר was founded by passionate Israeli educators who are either of American descent or are former Shlichim. We are deeply connected to and inspired by world Jewry, and heavily invested in the future of the collective Jewish people.

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Lior Shabo

Lior (a.k.a Shabo) is an entrepreneur, business development consultant, and sixth-generation Jerusalemite. He is the founder of Coming Soon, a crowdsourcing platform that fosters small business creation in cities across Israel. He also established the Jerusalem Parliament, a network of emerging, Jerusalem-based leaders from the worlds of business, public policy, grassroots activism, journalism, and politics. He served on the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Innovation Delivery Team, consulting on business development to the Jerusalem municipality and initiating public-private partnerships around small business creation. He is a frequent speaker on Jerusalem’s ongoing civic renaissance, and hosts VIP visitors on insider tours of his hometown.

shabo@shazur.org

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Moshe Samuels

Moshe is a "Professional Jew" with nearly 25 years of experience in the field of Israel - Diasporah relations. He served as the Jewish Agency's community emissary to Birmingham, AL, as an Israel fellow at the University of Western Ontario, and in various leadership roles at Camp Ramah in Canada and Camp Ramah in the Rockies. He was the Educational Director of NOAM, the Masorti (Conservative) youth movement in Israel, and the Director of Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, BINA's service-learning Masa program. More recently, Moshe served as the Director of Israel Engagement at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in NYC and as the Program Director of the Sonabend Center for Israel at JCC Manhattan. Moshe’s acclaimed TV miniseries 'The New Jew' aired on the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. More recently he created a documentary movie titled 'The New Jew - Days of War' that explores the impact of October 7 on American Jewry.

moshe@shazur.org

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Deborah Fishman

Deborah is a network-weaver building local and international community through her passions for Judaism, culture, and human empathy. She founded FED, a community that fosters dialogue and connection through food, art, creativity, and Jewish values and experiences. Deborah also serves as North American Director of Hakhel: The Jewish Intentional Communities Incubator. Previously she worked as Director of Communications for The AVI CHAI Foundation; Network Animator for PresenTense and Editor & Publisher of PresenTense Magazine; and National Program Director for the American Zionist Movement. Deborah was accepted to the ROI Community in 2009 and served as grassroots ROI Igniter for NYC. She holds an M.A. in Jewish Professional Studies from Spertus Institute; has been a member of the 248 Network of JAFI; a URJ JewV’Nation Fellow; an iFellow with the iCenter, and named one of the Jewish Week’s “36 under 36.”

pa2@shazur.org

Sylvie Lybrach

A graduate of Emory University, she was actively involved in leadership roles in Jewish organizations on campus. As a Nachshon Project Fellow, she deepened her commitment to building Jewish community and leadership. During her time in Atlanta, she taught Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Jewish Kids Groups of Atlanta. Sylvie has spent many summers working at Camp Ramah in Canada as a madricha (counselor), educator, and art specialist. Most recently, she served as the Teen Engagement Associate at Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto and for the Eastern Canadian Region of United Synagogue Youth (USY), where she planned and facilitated social, educational, religious, and leadership programs and Shabbatonim for middle and high school students across Eastern Canada, while also providing training to synagogue youth directors and teen leaders across North America.

shazur@shazur.org

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Jodi Sandler

Jodi Sandler, owner of Sandler Business Services, has been a key support resource for small businesses and non-profit organizations since 1997. By managing the finances and operations, she enables business owners and leaders to focus their time and energy on developing and expanding their business. Her services include accounting / full-charge bookkeeping, QuickBooks setup and training as well as payroll and employee benefits administration. As a seasoned financial consultant, she interfaces with accountants, bankers, lawyers, insurance companies, non-profit Boards and government agencies. Jodi Sandler serves as Finance Director for several non-profit organizations. Sandler Business Services is a certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise in the City of New York and New York State.

accounting@shazur.org

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Liora Horowitz

Liora grew up in South Africa and made Aliyah to Israel at 18, driven by a deep connection to her Jewish identity and a desire to build a meaningful life in Israel. Together with her husband, she served as an emissary in Cape Town, leading educational programs and community initiatives that strengthened Jewish identity and fostered connection, shaping her commitment to community and collaboration. That same belief carried through into her work in the high-tech sector, where she applied a focus on connection and collaboration to leading projects and high-performing teams in dynamic environments. She has managed cross-functional initiatives in growth, training, and process improvement. Liora holds a B.Sc. in Nutritional Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is motivated by a belief in the power of leadership, creativity, and connection to drive meaningful impact.

pm@shazur.org

Chair: Rabbi Amitai Freiman

Rabbi Amitai Fraiman has spent his career at the center of Israel–Diaspora relations and contemporary Jewish life. He is the founder of שָׁזוּר/Interwoven, a platform dedicated to bringing Israeli and American Jewish narratives into deeper conversation, and he currently serves as the Founding Director of the Z3 Project at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. In this role, he leads a major civic and cultural initiative that engages communities across North America and Israel in rethinking Peoplehood, partnership, and the Jewish future. Amitai’s work spans thought leadership, community engagement, and leadership development, and his writing has appeared in eJewish Philanthropy, The Jerusalem Post, and other outlets. He holds a dual MPA-MA from New York University and received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He lives in Palo Alto with his family.