The Founders

Julius is a retired International businessman with a background in real-estate. He moved to live permanently in Malta in 2003. He is a Malta Vice-president of the Commonwealth Jewish Council.

Reuben represents the Jewish Community of Malta and has been the Acting Rabbi for the community for some time.  You will find him faithfully providing spiritual guidance at the synagogue as well as directing all other activities of Jewish life in Malta. 

Sarah holds a Ph.D. of Arts (History of Religions) of the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Her thesis focuses on the religious conversions of the Jews in Hospitaller Malta from a comparative perspective. Her research interests include the history of the Jews in Malta, history of minorities, integration processes and issues of building identities. She is currently coordinator and historical consultant in the media and communication sector. Sarah is co-founder and executive secretary of the Tayar Foundation for Jewish Heritage in Malta and has a broad experience of the voluntary sector in Malta and abroad.

Dennis is a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Ancient Judaism at the University of Malta. He teaches biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Judaism in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, with a focus on both texts and archaeology. He is the assistant director of the Huqoq Excavation Project and the Einot Amitai Archaeological Project. Dennis is also a network partner in the Leverhulme International Network Project for the Study of Dispersed Qumran Caves Artefacts and Archival Sources, and co-founder and project manager of the Tayar Foundation for Jewish Heritage in Malta. Currently, he is completing a comprehensive, multi-volume monograph on the archaeology of Qumran in which he analyses in detail all aspects of the site, including its chronology, architecture, and material assemblages (i.e., pottery, glass and chalkstone vessels, metal artefacts, small finds, coins, animal bones), the surrounding caves and adjacent cemeteries, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls as archaeological artefacts.

Damon’s interest in the Jewish Heritage of Malta stems from his work in tourism.  Since 2010, Damon and his company, Exclusively Malta, has had the pleasure of hosting cultural enthusiast with little awareness of what the Maltese Islands have to offer.  Over time he helped to establish a Jewish historical travel product in consultation with the Maltese Jewish community and scholars including Dr. Azzopardi-Ljubibratic. He takes great pride in having revived efforts to restore the Kalkara “Slave” Cemetery.