Rabbi Ofek Meir, headmaster and managing director of the Leo Baeck Education Center, has held numerous other positions with the Center. He also served as the director of the Israeli rabbinical program at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, from which he was ordained and earned a master’s degree in Jewish education. He also holds a musician’s degree in classical guitar from the Royal College of Music in London.
Tu BiShvat (Jewish Arbor Day) is the time of year when Israeli schoolchildren plant trees. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that a teacher instituted the tree-planting custom.