Our Staff
Amanda Herring is an experience curator and Jewish educator. She is currently the Hillel Director at Virginia Tech, as a 2011 Hokie and former Hillel President and staff member, this role feels full circle.
In between school and her return, she worked at BirthrightNEXT in New York, and as Regional Director at the Israel on Campus Coalition. In 2018 Amanda received her Master’s in Experiential Education and Jewish Cultural Arts at GW, and completed the JOFEE Fellowship in Jewish, Outdoor, Food, Farming and Environmental Education with Hazon placed at OneTable in Washington, D.C.. It was there that she combined her passions for Shabbat and sustainable food which together can nourish and heal communities and ecosystems.
For 3 years, she served as the Director of Jewish Life & Learning at the Edlavitch DC JCC. Amanda enjoys collecting eggs from. Their chickens with her 3 kids and 2 dogs and eating amazing food with her Husband, Greg, who is a whole animal butcher and chef.
Her top strengths are Communication, Activator, Individualization, Futuristic, and Woo
Rabbi Beryl Trauth- Jerman
Assistant Director
beryl@hillelvt.org
Beryl Trauth-Jurman is a Jewish educator and engagement professional. A long time Virginia resident, Beryl is a proud alum of George Mason University Hillel. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Conflict Resolution Studies.
During undergrad and graduate school Beryl worked as a synagogue and Jewish summer camp professional. He spent ten years working for URJ Camp Harlam, north of Philadelphia, and three years as the Assistant Education Director and Youth Advisor at a Northern Virginia synagogue. He has also worked as a religious school teacher and consultant for several Northern Virginia congregations.
Beryl spent two years working for the Washington D.C. local government after graduate school, before deciding to return to the Jewish professional world. In 2019 he started rabbinical school at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and he received his ordination (Hasmichah) in May of 2024.
When he’s not talking about Jewish stuff, Beryl loves cooking, and building and painting tabletop wargaming miniatures. Beryl and his wife, Mary Grace, enjoy many TV shows (especially Doctor Who), going rock climbing, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.
His top strengths from StrengthsQuest are Communication, Learner, Harmony, Intellection, and Input
Sasha Stadnik
IACT & Operations Manager
sasha@hillelvt.org
MacKenzie York
Ezra Springboard Fellow
mackenzie@hillelvt.org
Sasha graduated from the University of Florida in December 2022 with a BA in Economics and a minor in Secondary Education and Teaching. After graduation, she moved to Israel in January 2023 to participate in a Masa teaching program. While there, she taught English in a middle school in Holon, a city outside of Tel Aviv. In the 7 months she was there, Sasha deepened her relationship to Israel and embraced her passion for education.
Sasha has worked for Hillel at Virginia Tech since August 2023. Since then, she has continued to learn by participating in a variety of learning programs. In Fall 2023, Sasha completed the Conflicts of Interest certificate program by the iCenter. This allowed her to deepen her knowledge of Israel education. In March 2024, she traveled to Israel as part of Hillel International's Sipurim trip for Israel educators. This allowed her to experience Israel after October 7 before leading her first Birthright trip successfully in May 2024.
In her free time, Sasha enjoys reading books about Israeli society and Judaism, and has started Ulpan (Hebrew classes)!
Her top strengths from StrengthsQuest are activator, futuristic, individualization, input, and strategic.
MacKenzie grew up in North Carolina and spent several years in Jacksonville, Florida during High School and College. He graduated from the University of North Florida (UNF) with a BA in History and a minor in Jewish Studies in 2023. While in school, MacKenzie was incredibly active in his university’s Jewish Student Union and Chabad House, and played a significant role in the creation of UNF’s own Hillel shortly after graduating. Both during and after college MacKenzie worked as a religious school teacher at the Jacksonville Jewish Center, which inspired him to pursue a career in Jewish Education.
When not spreading Jewish Joy, MacKenzie enjoys painting, gardening, meditation, being outdoors, and playing music (he plays the banjo and bass guitar)! He also has a cat named Pepper who he loves very much.
His top strengths from StrengthsQuest are context, belief, includer, positivity, and connectedness.
Jules Narinski
Jewish Agency Israel Fellow
Lisa Noss
Campus Marketing and Development Manager
Originally from Ukraine, Jules made aliyah in 1997. For the last 6 years she has been living in Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel before moving to Virginia. She studied mechanical engineering at Afeka College of Engineering. During the 4 years of college, she volunteered at "Aharay". Jules was also the vice president of the student union at her campus. Before coming to VT she was working as a mechanical planner, planning and designing elevators.
In her free time Jules loves to sketch and paint, go on fun hikes, finding new fun places and spending time at home with her cat Stacy.
Her top strengths from StrengthsQuest are Woo, Belief, Positivity, Input and Arranger.
Based in New Jersey, Lisa supports Hillel at Virginia Tech, Hillel of Buffalo, and UMass Hillel in their fundraising, donor engagement, and communications efforts. She works closely with each campus team to share the impact of Hillel’s work and help ensure the long-term sustainability of Jewish life on campus. Before joining Hillel, Lisa held marketing roles at several national Jewish nonprofit organizations and founded a chronic pain recovery coaching practice inspired by her own personal journey. When she’s not at work, Lisa enjoys biking, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Her top strengths from StrengthsQuest are developer, empathy, harmony, consistency, and positivity.
Greg Herring
Hillel Chef
greg@hillelvt.org
Greg Herring studied Culinary Arts and Patisserie at the Jerusalem Culinary Institute in Israel, the world’s only kosher mehadrin culinary school (now defunct). He was the opening Head Chef at the Malcolm Rosenberg Hillel Center before going on to broaden his culinary horizons in NYC, where he worked in a broad diversity of cultural cuisines in varying degrees of fine dining. He then was the first full apprentice at Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, a whole-animal retail butcher shop. He continued in whole animal butchery for 8 years before returning to Blacksburg with his wife Amanda (Executive Director). Together, they have three kids Abraham, Simkha, and Yokhanan and two dogs, Mensch and Peninah and 10 chickens. Greg enjoys the opportunity to translate and trace culture through cuisine, and introduce people to new flavors and cooking techniques.
His top strengths are strategic, command, self-assurance, relator, and ideation
Rabbi Bruce D. Aft, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Adat Reyim in Springfield, Virginia serves as Hillel at Virginia Tech’s Rabbinical Advisor.
Rabbi Aft is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia and received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity in June of 2006. He has been the Rabbi at Congregation Adat Reyim since 1991.
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