Menahem Halberstadt Illustrator & Author

**Menahem Halberstadt** began to draw when he was at school, scribbling in notebooks and creating funny creatures and characters. Later, he studied painting and drawing under the instruction of the famous Israeli artists Leonid Balaklav and Aram Gershuni. Following this, he studied animation at the Bezalel Academy and graphic design at Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem. He works as an illustrator with a number of publishing houses and lives in Israel with his wife and four children. His books for Green Bean Books include A Basket Full of Figs, The Donkey and the Garden and But Perhaps, Just Maybe. **Romy Ronen** was born and raised in NYC and graduated from the dual degree program at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she studied Film and Media and Jewish Literature, respectively. Ronen completed her Masters in Jewish Studies at Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2023 at the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies (IIJS). Ronen is a ‘36 Under 36’ Honoree, chosen by the Jewish Week/Times of Israel as one of the 2020 36 top Jewish innovators, activists and visionaries, and is grateful to have received numerous awards for her activities, published Op-Eds, and other written work. Bilingual in both Hebrew and English, Ronen is passionate about translating, and has experience in translating books, articles, essays, and creative writing from Hebrew to English.