Our Staff

Shmuli Falk

Founder & Director

Shmuli Falk grew up in Gateshead UK. Being the son of a prominent Rov, caring for others as well as taking a leadership role was what he saw at home. After marrying Chana, they assumed that in not too long, children would follow. Having mentored many children and teenagers struggling with family issues or personal challenges, as well as receiving his degree in Clinical counseling, Shmuli took on the role as Director of the Epic family mentoring program, guiding parents and hand holding mentors through the mentoring process. After nearly seven years of infertility, many dashed hopes and being on the rollercoaster that the journey of infertility is, Shmuli & Chana were finally blessed with a beautiful daughter. Through their own personal experience, they founded the organization that is Keren Ohr today. Shmuli’s biggest joy and passion in life is to make people feel understood, thought of and cared for, and this is everything that Keren Ohr stands for.

Chana Falk

Founder & Creative Director

Chana Falk grew up in Manchester, England. Growing up in a home filled with Chessed, she observed how her parents went through challenges using them as opportunities to help others. After marrying and moving to Israel in 2009 she studied cognitive behavioral and narrative therapy, fulfilling her dream of helping those going through emotional distress. She then joined the Epic Families organization, mentoring girls coming from challenging backgrounds. After seven long years of waiting, she was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Seeing and experiencing the emotional distress of those experiencing the highs and lows of infertility, Chana’s passion for helping others led her to open the organization Keren Ohr. They created a space for couples going through the challenges of infertility to find solace and healing. After experiencing secondary infertility and now B”H with a new baby boy on the team, Chana is working hard to let the message be heard “Infertility is not all about the end game, there is a couple on that journey who’s mental and emotional needs need to be taken care of along the way”.

Yoni Palmer

Co-founder

Yehonatan (Yoni) Palmer grew up in Golders Green, London, moving to Ramat Bet Shemesh (RBS), Israel in 1998. Today he lives with his wife Reena and daughter Aliza on a moshav just outside RBS. He grew up in a home steeped in communal involvement, with his father z”l serving as a gabbai and communal leader, while his mother z”l also played significant roles in women’s groups in the local kehila. Yoni works in hi-tech as a technical writer, but outside work time is also involved in communal activities, himself serving as a gabbai both on the moshav where he lives, and during the time he lived in RBS. He is also a volunteer firefighter and took part in the Jerusalem area fire in August 2021. Yoni and Reena waited 10 years before Aliza was born and they went through the infertility journey, including miscarriages and treatments. In 2019 in partnership with Chana and Shmuli Falk they founded Keren Ohr, an organization developed by people who had been there to help couples emotionally survive and thrive through the infertility journey.

Ariella Koppel

Administrator

Ariella Koppel is the secretary at Keren Ohr. She is married to Robert, and B”H a mother of seven children, and a grandma of three adorable grandchildren. She has a degree in special ed, and is currently studying towards getting certified as an advisor to parents with kids at risk. She very much enjoys working at Keren Ohr, giving her great satisfaction to be able to help couples who are going through challenging times, get some much needed time off for relaxation.