Our Story
It started in a Tel Aviv coffee shop.
Half-Australian, half-Israeli, and a longtime nomad, Tamar Pross became obsessed with learning how to quickly, seamlessly, and enjoyably immerse herself into the local culture and lifestyle. After moving 18 times across four continents, Tamar returned to Tel Aviv and set out to rediscover this city she once called home. Along the way, Tamar met Efrat Chen, one of the most sought-after Hebrew teachers in Israel, and the two teamed up to create Citizen Café Tel Aviv, with the goal of providing the city’s growing community of internationals with an opportunity to become more successful, engaged, and connected to an otherwise unfamiliar culture in and around Tel Aviv.
For us, language is much more than a literal translation of it, it is a reflection of the culture, the essence, the energy, the way people look at the world. That’s why more than teaching the technical skills of the language like everyone, we are here to hack, adapt and present the Israeli genetic code to you through language, to enable you to take part in it. This is the key to feeling a real sense of belonging. Language that is a part of the authentic cultural context.
The Team
Tamar Pross
Founder & Head of Citizen Cafe
Tamar is an Israeli-Australian entrepreneur, certified enneagram coach, a documentary film producer, and avid soy hafuch drinker and can usually be found riding her bike along Rothschild Boulevard.
Efrat Chen
Co-Founder & Director of Hebrew
From teaching Hebrew as a foreign language at the Touro College in Israel, to becoming Citizen Café’s Director of Hebrew, Efrat never backs down from a challenge (even hiking Kilimanjaro!). While teaching Hebrew brings her joy, the “joy of cooking” does not.
Arik Praisman
CEO
Arik was born is Moscow, raised in Jerusalem, & wandered to the great city of Tel Aviv at the age of 26 & never left! Arik spent a year and a half traveling the world driven by his love for adventure and visiting exotic islands.
Ariel Petsonk
Customer Relations Manager
Ariel was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden and moved to Israel in 2011. He plays guitar, loves taking photos, and has a tendency to walk around barefoot.
Tal Gilboa
Office Manager
Tal is a proud vegan and loves her crazy 8 year old dog Oli. You can find her doing pilates and playing beach volleyball on the weekends! Her dream is to bump into Tarantino in the streets of TLV and pitch him the next movie idea of the century.
Tsafi Katz
Hebrew Teacher & Community Manager
Tsafi says she is best understood by three simple things: theatre, friends, and by being your best resource for happy hour recommendations! Tsafi’s real name is Tsafrir which is super hard to pronounce in English and in Hebrew.
Hadas Yaron
Hebrew Teacher & Community Manager
Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Hadas is a Hebrew teacher and actress. She loves painting, music, meditation, languages, Italian food or, as she said, “just put me on the beach with my cat and a bowl of spaghetti and I’m happy”
Mira Goren
Community Manager
Originally from Jerusalem, Mira admits Tel Aviv stole her heart. Other important facts: She loves movies, musicals, animals, and chocolate, and mostly, sleeping- Don’t talk to her before coffee! PS- She’s convinced that she’s a cast member of “Friends”…
Jessica Kitchens
Marketing & Creative Manager
Originally from Tennessee, Jessica traveled the world to study doula-ing, African dance, yoga therapy, whale photography, and Alaskan fishing. She is now an official proud Tel Avivian.
Sarah Markowitz
Enrollment Manager
Sarah is a professional actress originally from New York, now living in Tel Aviv for the past 4 years. She loves yoga, reading, cooking and of course, traveling the world, and in Israel.
Sunny Lior
Enrollment Manager
Sunny is a born & bred Tel Avivian who loves to laugh, is a fitness freak and her favorite place is the beach! At one point, Sunny spent 8 years living in Miami Beach!
Shalev Gelber
Enrollment Manager
Shalev is an Israeli actor, who loves life. Partying all night and surfing the waves of TLV with, Shalev’s motto is: be satisfied, happy, and hug the regrets of life. He sees himself retiring in Iceland, hunting his salmon for dinner, and chucking wood for the fireplace every afternoon.
Moises Levy
Marketing
Born and raised in Mexico City, Moises, aka Chili, acquired skills such as the most experienced taco chef in the world and has a P.H.D in Science of Tequila. He arrived in Tel-Aviv three years ago, loves sports, food, and is ready to conquer the world – so get ready.
Daniel Goldman
Educational Advisor
Born and raised in Baltimore, and currently living in Herzliya, Daniel loves singing, writing and hosting friends on his rooftop. He has also seen two octopuses on two different Israeli beaches which he is really excited about!
Ron Meuhas
SM Manager & Educational Advisor
Born in Israel, raised in Panama (a good cultural mix), Ron has a passion for social media. Recently graduated from IDC Herzliya and just moved to Tel Aviv, Ron keeps her search for good food and wine around the world – but still looking for a way to never gain weight without exercising!
Maya Zar
Educational Advisor
Maya is a proper New Yorker who made Aliyah and served in the army. Her friends call her “fun sized” because of her short height and huge amount of energy, and it makes total sense since she’s always looking for an adventure! She loves chilling with friends and music – and will never say no to a gin & tonic!
Kelly Eden
Social Media Manager
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California! Moved to Israel to join the army and graduated from IDC Herzliya. Kelly loves baking, watching the sunset, and eating any kind of cheesy pasta.
Fun fact: she hates bananas.
Shelly Naor
Educational Advisor
Born and raised in Tel Aviv, is a devoted psychology student in IDC by day, and an avid investor in the stock market by night. In between she loves to feed her passion for writing, by developing her own TV series.
Teachers
Noeat Kedem
Head of Education
Noeat is truly one-of-kind. (Even her Hebrew name is unique.) Trained in Israel’s renowned school of performing arts Bet Zvi, Noeet is a triple threat: professional actress, children’s voice coach and Hebrew teacher.
Nimrod Ronen
Education Manager
Nimrod, nicknamed ‘Nim’, is a trained theater actor. When he isn’t teaching Hebrew at Citizen Café, he works with the autistic and special needs community, merging his two greatest passions: education and drama-therapy.
Shay Jibri Ashkenazi
Education Manager
Shay is an actor, director and acting coach who graduated from the performing arts school Beit Zvi. He also has a degree in Education from Kibbutzim College. Shay is an entrepreneur who founded ActinGym, an acting and directing community startup.
Rachel Goldberg
R&D Manager
Rachel is a journalist and could explain anything you need to know about Israeli politics, but would rather trade recipes and share photos of her ginger cat.
Mickey Yonas
Hebrew Teacher
Mickey is an award-winning independent theater creator, museum guide, and Candy Crush champion. She’s also learning Russian and is always looking for someone to practice with.
Ateret Ben-Tzvi
Hebrew Teacher
Ateret’s passions include urban agriculture, meditation, mindfulness, & languages. As a hobby, she loves sewing clothes & accessories and chilling daily in one of Tel Aviv’s green spaces (her favorite is Gan Meir).
Shai Raskin
Hebrew Teacher
Shai is a real animal lover. She is a vegan, but you won’t hear any lecture about it because she believes in “live and let live.” In her spare time you can find her “charging herself” in the sun.
Amir Zloter
Hebrew Teacher
Amir is a playwright and a theater director. He has a deep fascination with languages and could go on and on about contemporary British playwrighting. He is also quite passionate about the law, but that’s only because he can’t stop binging “The Good Wife” on Netflix.
Tomer Ben Aharon
Hebrew Teacher
Tomer is a professional translator from English, French and Persian, and has translated over twenty books to Hebrew. He is a lifelong Tel-avivian, and is proud to be a former failed musician.
Lior Galron Schlesinger
Hebrew Teacher
Lior is an actress, dancer, and singer, specializing in musicals. Though born in Nazareth Illit, she’s since become a full-time Tel Avivian, living here with her family. Fun fact? She’s an excellent cook and a pro at finding the best sales!
Ido Peled
Hebrew Teacher
In addition to teaching Hebrew, Ido teaches literature and translates poetry and prose from German to Hebrew. Ido is an avid fan of soap operas and video games, and likes to spend his weekends making home made ice creams and hosting home made karaoke parties.
Saar Sharifi
Hebrew Teacher
Saar is a professional actor, singer and songwriter. When he isn’t teaching at Citizen Café, he’s an acting mentor and theatre director. Saar’s Moto: I’m an artist at living, my work of art is my life.
Eli Romanovsky
Hebrew Teacher
Eli was born in Jerusalem, but is now a proud Tel Avivian. He’s a geek for Tel Avivian history and an incredible linguist. He is fluent in 4 languages and is working on his fifth: Arabic!
Yaaley Weiss
Hebrew Teacher
Yaaley has lived in all three of Israel’s biggest cities: Grew up in Haifa, studied in Jerusalem, and now lives in Tel Aviv! She’s an actress who loves traveling around the world- snowboarding being one of her biggest passions!
Yam Weinberg
Hebrew Teacher
Yam has been a Tel Avivian her whole life (minus a two year adventure in Paris). She’s an artist, philosopher, loves growing everything from plants to sourdough bread, and appreciates how Tel Aviv gives the feeling of its past, present and future all at the same time.
Danielle Barkay
Hebrew Teacher
As well as being a Hebrew teacher in CitizenCafe, Danielle is an actress and translator. She travels a lot for work but always comes back to her favorite city in the world- Tel Aviv.
Noa Wagner
Hebrew Teacher
Besides her love for teaching Hebrew, Noa is a director, producer, movement instructor, and published writer! Though a proud Tel Avivian, she also lived 3 years in London doing her master’s and working in the theatre industry.
Yossi Medved
Hebrew Teacher
An emerging film writer and director, yossi is always up for an adventure. Whether trekking the hidden trails of israel, sipping espresso in a new cafe or looking for Israel’s best butter croissant, he is exploring and learning new things.
Eran Lachman
Hebrew Teacher
Eran is an actor, writer, and director. He created his own network series on weddings, has a special knack for dancing, is the star of almost every party, and enjoys singing his heart out when driving.
Yoav Dagan
Hebrew Teacher
Yoav is an Israeli actor and theatre director, and you might not believe it (even he can’t), but Yoav was 8 years in the IDF. He also loves wine, yoga ,Tel aviv, and he’s addicted to the beach.
Neomi Cohen
Hebrew Teacher
Neomi was born in a small kibbutz in the desert, but now is a Tel Avivian and loving it! She’s an actress and has two addictions- films and dogs. Movie nights on the coach with her dog the best thing ever.
Yael sadan
Hebrew Teacher
Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Yael is an actress and soon-to-be graphic designer. Besides drawing, doing Pilates, drinking wine, and making beetroot gnocchi, Yael is addicted to dog videos-a huge Great Dane is her dream
Maya Kerman
Hebrew Teacher
Maya is a singer and actress having trained in both Israel and London. She now lives in a very green, quiet part of Tel Aviv- the perfect balance to the city. She also has a not-so-secret obsession with Corgi dogs.
Emily Heiman
Hebrew Teacher
Emily is a Tel Avivian theatre, musical, literature and cinema nerd. Her favorite thing to do when abroad is to go to the movies alone. Her hobbies include Italian cooking, buying wine, and raising the world’s greatest cat “Patchouli”.
Naama Shahar
Hebrew Teacher
Born and raised in Jerusalem, Naama now spends most of her time in south Tel Aviv on her bike or working on her theatre degree. She owns two cats named Bella and Tutti (swears she’s not a crazy cat lady) and is trying to become vegan- please keep the chocolate away!
Rozi
Happiness Manager
Originally from Bethlehem, Rozi moved to Tel Aviv when she turned one. Though typically sleeping, she’s also an expert at being Tel Avivian with daily walks on Rothschild and a bouncy greeting for familiar faces.
