Elaine Bachrach, a native of Oakland, joined the Bet Sefer faculty last year
after 25 years in Jewish education in the East Bay, most recently as Director
of Bay Area Midrasha in Oakland and Contra Costa Midrasha. She has also taught
religious school at Temple Sinai, Congregation Bnai Shalom, and Berkeley
Midrasha, done Family Education at Temple Bnai Tikvah, and was Chairperson of
the MID Lecture Series (now the East Bay Jewish Forum) for 9 years. A graduate
of UC Berkeley with an MA in French, Elaine previously taught French,
Spanish, and English as a Second Language to students of all ages.
She is married to Oakland attorney William Bachrach and has three grown
children.
Jessica Dell’Era (Mirah) has been a member of Temple Beth Abraham for five
years, and is excited to join the Bet Sefer staff! She grew up in Fairfax,
at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County. After a brief stint in San
Francisco, she relocated to the East Bay for graduate school and has stayed
ever since. She received her B.A. from Pomona College and M.A. in Education
from UC Berkeley (go Bears!) in 2008. In her "day job," she works in a public
school in Concord, where she has taught English immersion and Spanish bilingual
4th and 3rd grades.