NFTY Southern Area is governed by a board of teen leaders who are elected by their peers that serve a one-year term. Regional board members play a critical role in all aspects of running the region including event planning and marketing, and mentoring teen leaders from our local youth communities. The regional board is mentored by a Regional Advisor who oversees all programs and administration.

Meet our Regional Board

Annabelle Maltsbarger, President
Email Annabelle

Shalom NFTY-SAR!! My name is Annabelle Maltsbarger and I am beyond excited to serve as your 5780-5781 President. I live in Mooresville, North Carolina and I am a Senior at Lake Norman High School. I am a part of KTTY (GO KARL) and I served on their board for three years as PVP and President. Besides participating in KTTY, I have been a Songleader for three years and I was one of the Co-head Groupleaders this past year. When I’m not constantly at my Temple or doing stuff for NFTY, I can be found at theater, reading, playing guitar and piano, dancing, on the lake or at Disney (only the happiest place on earth). I also have four dogs and one cat and I love to take my dogs hiking. Feel free to call, text, email, FaceTime, DM, or Snapchat anytime. I can’t wait to fulfill my dream of being your President over the next year and lead all of your shining faces!!

Lily Shinn, Programming Vice President
Email Lily

Shalom! My name is Lily Shinn and I am so excited to serve as your 5780-5781 NFTY-SAR Programming Vice President! I am a senior at Providence High School in Charlotte, NC as well as a proud member of LIBERTY (yay Larry the llama). When I am not at a NFTY or LIBERTY event, you can always find me with my friends and/or family, playing guitar, with my fabulous dog (Dallas) and ferret (Timmy), or at the beach. This will be my second term serving as your regional PVP and I could not be more honored and proud to call SAR my region. NFTY-SAR is not only my second home, but it is my family - y’all rock! Feel free to call, text, email, FaceTime, DM, or Snapchat anytime. I can't wait for this amazing year with all my SARites. 🙂

Ben Ragals, Social Action Vice President
Email Ben

Shalom NFTY-SAR, my name is Ben Ragals, and I’m so excited to be your 5780-5781 Social Action Vice President! I am from TEFTY and a senior at The Weber School in Atlanta, Georgia. I have served on TEFTY’s leadership council, as well as NFTY’s Inclusion Task Force and have been a Camp Jenny counselor for a few years. I was also a participant at URJ Kutz Camp in 2019. When I’m not at a NFTY or TEFTY event, you can find me working on some electronics project, playing video games or guitar, hanging out with friends, or ranting about computers, comic books, and other nerd stuff. If you have any questions or just want to talk, feel free to message me over text, email, Instagram, etc. I can’t wait to experience another amazing year with you, NFTY-SAR!

Noah DeYoung, Religious & Cultural Vice President
Email Noah

Hey NFTY-SAR! My name is Noah DeYoung, and I’m so excited to serve as your 5780-5781 Religious and Cultural Vice President. I’m from Greenville, South Carolina, and am a part of Temple of Israel, where I served three years on GREFTY (GREFTY Great!) board as both RCVP and President. I’m currently a senior at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, where I study piano. Outside of kallot, you can find me riding my bike, practicing piano, or just hanging out with my friends and family. If you have any questions, ideas, or just want to talk, feel free text, call, or email me. I’m so excited to have an awesome year with you, NFTY-SAR!!

Lily Ragals, Membership Vice President
Email Lily

Shalom NFTY SAR!! My name is Lily Ragals and I cannot wait to serve as your Membership Vice President for the 2020-2021 year. I am from Dunwoody, GA and attend Dunwoody High School as a junior this year, while also being active in my TYG, TEFTY (go turtles! :)) When I’m not at a NFTY-related event, you can find me hanging out around Temple Emanu-El, watching Gilmore Girls, or singing Waitress songs to my dog Bosco (he loves it). I can’t wait to see new and old SARites as we engage in some awesome mixers and 678 events this upcoming year and create new bonds within our community. Feel free to reach out with any questions if you just want to chat- I’m just a call, text or email away. I love you NFTY SAR and I cannot wait for an amazing year!! :))

Sydney Abeshaus, Communications Vice President 
Email Sydney

Hey NFTY-SAR! My name is Sydney Abeshaus and I am SO pumped to serve as your Communications Vice President for the 2020-2021 year! I am a senior from Charlotte, NC and a proud member of LIBERTY (aka the best TYG), where I most recently served on LIBERTY board as President. Most of my time is spent at NFTY or LIBERTY events, and over the summer you can find me in the Georgia mountains at URJ Camp Coleman (but most recently in NY at the URJ Kutz Camp). Aside from practically living at Temple, you can probably find me binging Grey’s Anatomy, petting my dog, eating mac n cheese, or filling in coloring books. I’m so excited to get to know each and every one of you this year, and please know that my door is always open (figurative and literal - come visit!), and you can always always reach out with questions, comments, concerns, stories, life advice, rants, funny tiktoks, anything!! I can’t wait to spend this fantastic year with y’all!

Meet our Regional Staff

Rabbi Andrew H. Terkel

NFTY South Area Manager

254-410-6703

Rabbi Andrew Terkel was born and raised in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and grew up active in his synagogue, NFTY-TOR, and URJ Greene Family Camp….

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Team Members

Rabbi Andrew H. Terkel

NFTY South Area Manager

254-410-6703

Rabbi Andrew Terkel was born and raised in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and grew up active in his synagogue, NFTY-TOR, and URJ Greene Family Camp. His experiences with Jewish youth organizations inspired a lifelong love of Jewish communal work, songleading, and all things camp and NFTY related. Rabbi Terkel attended the University of Kansas for his undergraduate degrees in Political Science and International Studies, then worked as a traveling Jewish educator at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, MS before beginning his rabbinic studies at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and Los Angeles. After being ordained in 2014 Andrew served as the first assistant rabbi at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) synagogue in Charleston, SC, it’s first assistant rabbi since its founding in 1749. There he focused on youth engagement, education, and NFTY, serving as NFTY-SAR’s Rabbinic Liason and on faculty at URJ Camp Coleman. In 2016 Rabbi Terkel moved to Dallas to serve as the Director of Year Round Programs at URJ Greene Family Camp, planning and running immersive Jewish experiences for all ages of youth, families, and adults, and enhancing the Jewish educational aspects of summer camp and year round events. In June 2020 NFTY reorganized and Rabbi Terkel became NFTY’s South Area Manager overseeing NFTY-TOR, NFTY-SO, NFTY-SAR, and NFTY-SAR from his home base in Dallas, Texas.

Rabbi Terkel is married to Hannah Rubin-Schlansky, a Jewish educator at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. They met during their HUC-JIR Year in Israel studies and now have two children, Avi and Micah, and a goldendoodle, Mollie.

Jessie Schwartzman

Atlanta Teen Engagement Coordinator

212-452-6515

Jessie Schwartzman is an engagement professional excited to take on a brand-new combined position with JumpSpark and the URJ. She is a recent graduate of Florida State University’s school of…

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Team Members

Jessie Schwartzman

Atlanta Teen Engagement Coordinator

212-452-6515

Jessie Schwartzman is an engagement professional excited to take on a brand-new combined position with JumpSpark and the URJ. She is a recent graduate of Florida State University’s school of communications and is excited to dive into the thriving Atlanta Jewish Community. Jessie worked at FSU Hillel as an Engagement Associate for the last 2 years and has spent 3 summers working at URJ Camp Coleman. 

From camp to different youth organizations, Jessie’s true passion lies in learning the fascinating stories of today’s Jewish teens, and she’s very excited about the opportunity to be a part of the change that is youth engagement. In her Engagement Coordinator role, Jessie will be meeting with community members to learn new ways to engage Jewish teens. She is also launching a new URJ teen fellowship program funded by a Spark Grant that allows teens to learn important peer to peer engagement skills.