Co-Founder and Executive Director of Liumi West Retreat. As a teacher, writer, and facilitator of Jewish educational seminars and curriculum, Shayndel Plotkin is passionate about working with women, children, and families to help them grow and develop – spiritually and personally. Her background in the Jewish community, Jewish education, and Israel advocacy began in the South Florida community more than twenty years ago as a writer for the Jewish press, and then as the Israel Experience Director for the Commission for Jewish Education. She has recently been certified as a female farmer in the state of Florida. Shayndel is a writer of novels, children's stories, a professional memoirist, and writer for several international magazines. She holds a Master of Arts in Jewish Education from the Pardes Institute and Hebrew College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communications from Florida State University. Shayndel is a graduate of Midreshet Rachel Seminary in Jerusalem, where she studied Jewish texts and philosophy for three years. Shayndel is married to Rabbi Baruch Plotkin and together they have seven children.