As BaMidbar prepares for an intensive three weeks of staff training, we are excited to introduce our field team, who serve as mentors and guides for students in our program. Through applying therapeutic concepts, teaching technical and fundamental skills, integrating Jewish values and traditions, and connecting personally with students, field staff are the foundation of our student support system.
2018 staff photo
Meet Our Team
Rachel Bond, Lead Guide
Rachel is an experiential and therapeutic educator who has taught in a diverse range of educational settings, from wilderness therapy to English second language programs. She has conducted research on teacher emotional awareness through Goddard College and has presented at the Association of Experiential Education Northeastern conference. She has been trained through a variety of therapeutic/mediation programs including programs that utilize nonviolent communication, restorative justice practices and crisis intervention. She is an avid backpacker who has trekked in a handful of different countries and is very excited to be joining the BaMidbar staff this season!
Moss Herberholz, Lead Guide
Moss fell in love with the wilderness while participating in a 6-week educational backpacking program in California where he studied natural philosophy and nature psychology while being immersed in three diverse wilderness ecosystems. He has a BA in psychology and a BA in theater arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has spent five summers working with campers with special needs at Ramah in the Rockies, including two as the Director of Inclusion. Additionally, he has worked as a Jewish nature educator for Teva, a program of Hazon. Moss will be attending the Jewish Communal Leadership Program in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor beginning Fall 2020. In his free time, Moss loves to dance, read, sing niggunim, identify fungus, and spin fire.
Stephanie Salem, Assistant
Guide
After graduating college, Stephanie taught English for a few years but the call of the wild was just too strong. She traded the classroom for the Camino de Santiago in Spain where she spent a month living the simple, long-distance hiker life. She fell in love with the fresh air, the tall trees and her trusty green backpack. She’s been chasing the outdoor lifestyle ever since. She was excited to learn about earth-based Judaism while working as a Wilderness Leader at Camp Tawonga and as a sustainability/experiential educator at de Toledo High School in Los Angeles. Now, she’s excited to deep dive into the therapeutic properties of outdoor experiences. In her free time, she loves spending long days in the mountains hiking, in the kitchen baking, in the park slacklining or on a hammock napping.”
Lee Doron, Assistant Guide
Lee was born in Israel, but grew up in Portland, Oregon where he developed a passion for the outdoors. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education from Southern Oregon University and found interest in white-water rafting, rock climbing, and rugby. Lee decided to refocus his profession towards mental health and worked with at-risk youth and families in treatment centers, schools, and the community – all while getting his master’s degree in human services. After graduating, Lee spent a year backpacking through South America: volunteering on permaculture farms and exploring many extensive outdoor adventures. Lee fell in love with being completely immersed in nature and found peace of his own. Upon returning to the US, he decided that it was time to combine his skills and interests in mental health, physical education, and the outdoors through wilderness therapy. Lee is incredibly excited to be an integral part of helping BaMidbar students heal, learn, and grow.
Mike Tintner, Assistant Guide
Mike has a passion for the outdoors, desire to protect the wilderness, and love for education. He grew up in South Florida where he would hike, swim, kayak and scuba dive for fun. He attended Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He studied in university programs for environmental management and film. After going to Israel he learned about Judaism at a yeshiva where he connected to his Jewish roots. Mike’s interests include experiential education, video production, photography, sustainable agriculture, healthy living, and extreme heights. He has been involved in Jewish and environmental education including working as a Teva educator at Isabella Freedman, farm educator and survival specialist at Eden Village Camp, media intern at Livnot U’lehibanot and adventure educator at Pearlstone. Recently he finished directing a documentary film about environmental issues.
Marisa Abrahams, Field Coordinator
Marisa has worked as an outdoor educator and Wilderness EMT for the past ten years. She received her bachelor’s degree in outdoor education from the University of New Hampshire and is currently getting her master’s degree from Prescott College, focusing on Jewish adventure education. Marisa has a passion for the outdoors and loves all opportunities to teach self-sufficiency in the wilderness.
Katryna Mattern, Field Coordinator
Katryna recently moved to Colorado from Michigan to be with the mountains and expand her passion for the outdoors. Having received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and women, gender, and sexuality studies from Grand Valley State University, she is now a master’s student working toward clinical mental health licensure through Southern New Hampshire University. Katryna’s favorite ways to spend her free time are getting outdoors, going to concerts, practicing yoga, and continually exploring the state she now calls home.
BaMidbar Program Offerings:
