Anna Wolfe (she/her) is an incoming Hebrew College rabbinical student after spending the past two years at the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She grew up in Milwaukee, WI and attended undergrad at Columbia College Chicago, where she studied theater and gender studies. After undergrad, Anna worked as a theater artist, a teaching artist in Chicago Public Schools, and as Mishkan Chicago’s family programer and educator. In 2017, she wrote and performed her first solo play through the Greenhouse Theater’s Trellis Residency. Last year, she was Muhlenberg College’s rabbinic intern, and a Froman Fellow through the New Israel Fund. Anna was a participant of BCI in 2018 and a staff member in 2021. She is thrilled to be returning to the program that inspired her to become a Rabbi!

Rabbi Myra Meskin is the Associate Director of the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys at the AJU, where she’s honored to walk with those engaging in meaningful identity formation through the Ziering BCI Program, the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program, Marriage for Life and the AJU Community Mikveh. A graduate of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University, she holds a Masters in Experiential Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and studied in the Pardes Experiential Educators Program. She currently lives in Boston with her husband Rabbi Ben Gurin and their daughter Eleanor.

Adina Polen (Ensemble) is the Founder and Executive Director of Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute, an applied arts yeshiva based in Berkeley, CA. After earning her BA in Music from Barnard College, Adina studied design at the Bezalel Academy and Hadassah College, and Jewish texts at Midreshet Lindenbaum, at the Pardes Institute, and at the Yakar Center for Creativity and Tradition—all in Jerusalem.  Along with her work at Atiq, Adina has worked as a Maker Educator at the Brandeis Collegiate Institute, and at the Nesiya Institute. Adina has been steeped in the do-it-yourself ethos of the Havurah movement, Jewish Catalog style creativity, and the teachings of Hasidut from her earliest days. She believes that multi-sensory creative opportunities for meaning-making sustain us as individuals, and strengthen our communities. Also, she loves going hiking amongst the trees and playing crazy experimental concerts with her family and friends.

Aki came to Brandeis-Bardin 21 years ago to work at Camp Alonim and fell in love with the land, the people, and the educational philosophy of the place. She is excited to spend her fourth summer as a faculty member at BCI, singing, dancing, and learning with new friends and old. When she is not at BCI, she lives in Cambridge, MA where she enjoys bird-watching, nature-walking, and coffee-drinking. Ask her about the time she got lost on a mountain with a group of kids and two counselors from Israel.

Welcome to BCI! I’m so excited to welcome you into this beautiful community. As an alumna myself (2007 Aliyah), I know firsthand how impactful and meaningful this summer can be, especially when you allow yourself to experience this journey with an open heart! My journey started down the road, at Camp Alonim, where my love of Judaism and Jewish life developed, which kept me yearning for deeper and richer Jewish experiences. So, I’ve worked at camp, did BCI, lived in Israel, met my husband (the incomparable Jared Stein) at Santa Barbara Hillel, then got an MBA in Nonprofit Management and a Masters in Jewish Communal Studies from the AJU. Now, I work at de Toledo High School, a Jewish high school not too far from here, and I have my own event planning business helping people plan their simchas (joyous occasions)!

Now, we have 4 beautiful children who live and breathe Judaism through a unique Jewish lens: Jack (9.5), Jade (8), Jayla (5) and Jazz (21 months). I look forward to this summer together, living in community and finding new and unique ways to celebrate life!