Faculty and Staff

Faculty and Staff

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Director of Lifelong Learning
Rabbi Nicki Greninger was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Human Development and Teaching. She was ordained as a Rabbi in 2008 from the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), where she also earned a Masters of Arts in Religious Education.  Rabbi Greninger is especially passionate about liturgy, prayer, and ritual, and her article “Believing, Behaving, Belonging: Tefillah Education in the 21st Century” in the Journal of Jewish Education is used in Jewish education classes throughout the country. Rabbi Greninger was a 2012 recipient of the prestigious Pomegranate Prize by the Covenant Foundation and she was a Wexner Field Fellow from 2019-2022. Rabbi Greninger serves as the Northern California coordinator of the Women’s Rabbinic Network (WRN), the Co-Chair of the Ethics Task Force for the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), and she is a co-founder of #onwardHebrew. She also teaches occasional courses at HUC-JIR as an adjunct faculty member. Rabbi Greninger is married to Dr. Daniel Greninger, and they have three children.

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Assistant Director of Education and Youth Programs & Avodah T.A. Coordinator
Daniella wears many hats at Temple Isaiah. You may see her in the halls during JQuest, training the Avodah TA’s or teaching 8th grade at Noar Night. Daniella graduated from Clark University with a degree in Economics and Business Management. After spending some time traveling and teaching English classes in China, Daniella worked as a business consultant with a specialty in organizational efficiency. Daniella has been an active volunteer in her local community, has held board positions at East Bay public and private schools, and serves on the board of Jewish LearningWorks. A native of Moraga, Daniella currently resides in Berkeley with her family. In her free time, Daniella can likely be found painting, cake decorating, or scrapbooking.

JQuest Faculty

Minis (Ages 2 & 3)

Siena Naaman Cohen
Siena Naaman Cohen is a native Israeli, born and raised in Tel Aviv. She graduated from Derby University in Israel, in the College of Management, and she has a masters degree in Human Resources.  Siena lives with her husband, 4 kids, and many pets (cats, reptiles, and fish) in Lamorinda.  She is a member of Temple Isaiah and has been a volunteer teacher of Hebrew through Movement for the last few years. Siena is excited to be part of the JQuest Minis team at JQuest, as she loves teaching at Temple Isaiah!

Juniors (Age 4)

Az Hussain
Hello, my name is Az. I have worked for over 16 years in the Early Childhood Education field. I began working with young children at the age of 18 at the Diablo Valley College Children’s Center. I gained hands-on experience working with young children from preschool age all the way to infants, while taking early childhood education courses. I specialized in Anti-Bias curriculum while working with mentors trained in child directed learning of Reggio Emilia Approach. I chose to work in the Early Childhood Education field because it is the foundation for children’s educational future. I feel if the experience is positive and children with families enjoy their learning experiences early in life they will want to continue to learn through their lifetime. I would like to bring this same joy into the classrooms at JQuest by asking open-ended questions and exploring the interests of the children through a Jewish lens. I am excited to join the JQuest Community. My future goal is to be a positive role model to the youth in the community as they find their own identity and pathway.


Dana Magen
This is Dana Magen’s second year teaching at JQuest. She was born and raised in Israel and lived her last decade in a place somewhere between Haifa and Tel Aviv, called Zichron Ya’akov. After serving three years in the IDF as a combat commander, she moved to a kibbutz down south called Ketura and worked with people with special needs. She is currently in her junior year at UC Berkeley majoring in Philosophy with the aim to continue to law school straight after. She is super excited for the upcoming year with JQuest Juniors!

Kadimah (Pre-K & 1st Grade)

Lucy DiBianca
Lucy DiBianca has been a member of the Temple Isaiah Community since the early 1970’s. She has been active in Temple Isaiah in many capacities: from being on the Education Committee, to having her own B’nai Mitzvah in 1991, to serving as an Angel Network Coordinator. In addition, Lucy has been a member of a Mussar group ever since Rabbi Shanks began Mussar studies at the Temple. For the past year, Lucy has also been a Boot Camp Tutor for B’nai Mitzvah students. Having been a public-school teacher for over 50 years, Lucy has a passion for teaching! She is a lifelong learner herself, having attended a plethora of classes at our Temple. She looks forward to working with Kindergarten through First Graders and nurturing their love of learning and Judaism. In her free time, you can find Lucy leading hikes with the Women of Isaiah Hiking Group and spending time with her family, including her children and grandchildren


Miriam Nadler
Miriam Nadler is a Sophomore at UC Berkeley. She grew up in the Atlanta area attending Jewish day schools and Camp Ramah. She worked as a Hebrew school TA at Congregation Or Hadash in Atlanta and as a Hebrew and Bar/bat Mitzvah tutor. She is very passionate about nature and the environment. She loves being part of the Jewish world and is very excited to join this community!


Sarah Hershon
Sarah grew up at Temple Isaiah and is excited to return for her 9th year teaching JQuest. She graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in Women’s and Gender and African American Studies. During the week, Sarah works in commercial real estate. In her free time, she loves to knit, crochet, read, and make things with her hands.

Tzofim (2nd Grade)

Joy Plummer
Joy received her BA in philosophy in 2002 from California State University, Fresno, and proceeded to work in philanthropy for the Jewish world, first at the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund and then at Jewish Family & Children’s Services of the East Bay. She and her husband Eric live in Livermore with their three children and are active at Congregation Beth Emek, where Joy taught 2nd grade in their religious school for 5 years. Prior to joining Temple Isaiah’s engagement team (in 2023), she worked in the food world for more than ten years while raising her family. In her spare time, Joy is probably cooking global Jewish cuisine, baking bread, or cuddling with her

Omanut (3rd & 4th Grade)

Heather Howe
Heather grew up in New York and lived in several different states around the country before putting down roots in the beautiful East Bay. She graduated from Ithaca College with a B.A. in Sociology with concentrations in Clinical and Gender Studies, and she earned her Masters Degree in Educational Psychology with a focus on Early Childhood and Gifted Education from the University of Colorado at Denver. Education has always been the focus of Heather’s career path, as she began teaching in Early Childhood Education as a lead teacher, and then moved into Higher Ed Administration before taking time off to become a mom. As a lifelong artist, Heather is excited to combine her deep love of art with her passion and commitment to Judaism as the Omanut teacher. Heather has three awesome kids: Gavin, Chloe and Bryn.

Bonim (3rd & 4th Grade)

Adeelee Fox
Adeelee is a native Californian and first generation American, born to Israeli parents. Adeelee has a passion for music, languages, writing and dance. She has worked in religious schools for over 18 years and has been a classroom teacher for 13. About to begin her second year at JQuest, Adeelee is enthusiastic about the Bonim Curriculum and loves the Temple Isaiah community! She can often be found spending time with her family which includes her husband, three sons and their dog.

Teva (3rd & 4th Grade)

Jojo Peterson
Jojo is another JQuest teacher who also grew up attending Temple Isaiah. She graduated from Cal State Fresno with a degree in Animal Science which explains her love of animals. Jojo lives in Briones with her son, Adam, and her husband, Phil, along with their many dogs, horses, chickens, lizard, and tortoise.  Jojo has taught at Gan Ilan, helped at Noar Night, served as staff for several 10th grade DC trips, and has been a Rosh (Unit Head) at Camp Kefli for years. She’s thrilled to be teaching Teva again this year.

Y’tzira - Storytelling (5th & 6th Grade)

Maimone Attia
Maimone Attia is lead teacher of the Y’tzira program. He has been teaching the Y’tzira class for many years. Maimone is a storyteller and children’s entertainer. He creates interactive mystery experiences for children of all ages. He also works as a freelance videographer and writer on short narrative films and documentaries. He holds a B.A. in Film.

Etgar - Games and Puzzles (5th & 6th Grade)

Maddie Langbein
Maddie grew up at Temple Isaiah and has recently returned after graduating from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies. In addition to teaching JQuest’s Etgar class, Maddie is a member of Camp Kefli and URJ Camp Newman’s summer leadership teams as a Rosh Eidah (Unit Head). Prior to teaching JQuest for the first time this year (Yay!), Maddie taught 3rd grade at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans, LA and PreK-1st grade at Temple Sinai in New Orleans, LA. She is super excited to be teaching Etgar and is looking forward to games, galore, and so much more!

Hagigah - Arts & Crafts (5th & 6th Grade)

Dovrat Forte
Dovrat was born and raised in Israel, where she earned her B.Ed., teaching credential, and M.A. in Education, majoring in learning disabilities and ADHD. She also earned her credential in assessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities and ADHD and worked as a diagnostician while continuing her career in teaching. Teaching has always been one of her big passions. Dovrat moved to the US in 2017 with her husband, and since then has worked as a Hebrew and Judaic Studies teacher in LA and at CCJDS until 2 years ago. Dovrat has a 5-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. She is very happy to be part of the JQuest team.

7th Grade

Stephen Steinberg
Steve loves teaching 7th grade so much that he has been doing it for years. He grew up at Temple Isaiah and was actively involved in the religious school, working as a TA for a few years. Steve attended college at Princeton University, where he earned a degree in religious studies and served as the song leader and then sh’liach tzibur for the Reform community at the Center for Jewish Life. In 2001, he returned home to attend law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco, and began teaching at Temple Isaiah that same year. During the week, Steve works as an attorney at BZBM specializing in intellectual property cases (e.g. patent and trademark infringement). Steve staffs the LA Trip every year, and describes it as “maximum fun, minimum sleep.”


Danielle Hershon
Danielle grew up in the Bay Area, going to Temple Isaiah as a child, and teaching at JQuest and Gan Ilan over the years. She can’t wait to come back this year to teach 7th grade! Danielle graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Social Welfare and has been working in Product Management within the Health Tech sector for the last seven years, building products that increase access to quality healthcare across the US including the national COVID vaccine finder (vaccines.gov). In her spare time, she loves to practice yoga, travel, go hiking (especially around redwood trees) with her dog, Charlie, and spend time with friends and family. 

Director of Student Support

Bridget Wellerstein
Bridget is the Director of Student Support for Temple Isaiah. She has many years of experience in Early Intervention, Inclusion, and Special Education and has provided continuing education for teachers and parent education for both Alameda and Contra Costa counties. She holds a B.S. in Speech, Language Pathology and Audiology, and a M.S. in Education. Bridget believes in creating accessible and inclusive environments for all children and families. She works to build relationships that support and encourage diverse, equitable, and inclusive settings and communities of learning and belonging. When not working Bridget finds balance and joy in nature. She and her husband spend time sailing the bay. They have two wonderful, adult children who are both Gan Ilan and JQuest alums.

Special Needs Aide

Justin Griggs
Justin Griggs is very excited and happy to be part of the Temple Isaiah community!  When not at Temple Isaiah, he is a teacher at an amazing school for children with special needs called Wellspring, and he works part-time at Whole Foods Market in Lafayette.  In his free time, Justin sings and plays guitar in a rock ‘n’ roll band called The Cushion Theory with his brother.

Hebrew Specialists

Yardena Small
Yardena Small is a native Israeli, born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. She currently lives with her husband in Walnut Creek and has a grown son.  She graduated from Seminar Hakibutzim in Israel (a College of Education) and from Gratz College in Philadelphia, PA ( an institute of Jewish learning). Yardena taught 2nd grade at Temple Beth Ami in Philadelphia for two years and 3rd and 4th grade at Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek, CA for 26 years. In addition to her work at Isaiah, she is currently a substitute teacher at the Contra Costa Jewish Day School in Lafayette, CA. Yardena loves kids and is excited and happy to teach at Temple Isaiah!


Lilach Ben Gal
Lilach was born in Israel, served in the IDF, and worked in several kindergartens. She immigrated to California in 2016, and ever since she has lived in Pleasanton with her two kids, Shimi the dog, and Mitzi the cat. Lilach studied internal design in the Open University in Tel Aviv. Since moving to California, she worked as a teacher in the Palo Alto OFJCC and is now a teacher at Gan Ilan Preschool.  In her free time, Lilach spends time with her kids, hiking, doing arts and crafts, riding bikes, and exercising. Lilach also teaches Hebrew, and she is an active member of the Israeli communities in the south and east bay.