Faculty
With one foot firmly planted in the world of Torah and mitzvot and the other in the vibrant, multifaceted landscape of Jewish scholarship in Israel, each member of the Amudim faculty brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and perspective. Our teachers approach Torah from multiple angles, engaging the big questions on students’ minds, challenging them to think higher, and nurturing true intellectual independence.
Rooted in deep care for their talmidot and a belief that every student deserves to live a life of profundity, Amudim’s faculty build meaningful relationships both inside and outside the classroom, through conversation, mentorship, and shared Shabbatot, guiding each student to uncover her own voice and sense of purpose within Torah and Jewish life.
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Dr. Julie Goldstein
Rosh HaMidrasha, Director
Dr. Julie Goldstein’s teaching experience includes NYU, Ma’ayanot High School, JLIC at UCLA, and three decades of Jewish communal and adult education lectures. Dr. Goldstein received an MA in Jewish philosophy at YU and a joint PhD in medieval history and Judaic Studies at NYU. In 2013-14, she was a Golda Meir postdoctoral fellow at The Hebrew University and a research fellow at The Global Research Institute at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Goldstein has received a number of awards, including fellowships from Cardozo’s Center for Jewish Law and Civilization and The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. She lives in Beit Shemesh with her husband and five children.
Rabbi Uri Goldstein
Rav HaMidrasha, Gemara Ra’M
In addition to his role at Midreshet Amudim, Rav Uri Goldstein is the Director of the Overseas Program at Yeshivat Hakotel. He received Semicha from YU and before making Aliyah in 2016, was rabbi of a community in Fair Lawn NJ, while also teaching at Frisch and Ma’ayanot high schools in NJ. Along with Dr. Goldstein, Rav Uri founded the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at UCLA. The Goldsteins live with their children in Beit Shemesh.
Brie Reich
Dean of Students
Brie Reich grew up in Chicago and received her BA in Education from Stern College. Prior to making aliyah in 2004, she taught at the Arie Crown Hebrew Day School in Chicago. Since her aliyah, Brie has been deeply involved in hinuch both formal and informal. Her work includes teaching on Michlelet NCSY, kallah education, coordinating local youth programming and working as a Rakezet and teacher at Tiferet Midrasha. Brie is very excited to be joining the Amudim family.
Rabbanit Aviva Wapner
Mashgicha Ruchanit
Rabbanit Aviva Wapner is a Jerusalem-based educator. She teaches Talmud, Tanach, and Halacha at local seminaries. Aviva was admitted to the Israeli Bar Association as a lawyer in September 2024. She holds a B.A. in Tanach and a Law degree from Bar Ilan University. Aviva dedicated several years to learning at Beit Midrash Migdal Oz after making Aliyah from Toronto, Canada in 2016.
Rivka Gopin
Director of Operations and Programming
Rivka Gopin was born and raised in Israel and served for two years in national service. A longtime member of the midrasha world, both as a student and as staff, Rivka brings energy, warmth, and experience to her work at Amudim. She is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration.
Rabbanit Tzophia Stepansky
Tzophia Stepansky earned her B.A. in Psychology and Judaic Studies from Yeshiva University, where she also studied in the Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) for over three years. During her time in GPATS, she served as a community scholar in several synagogues and taught college-level courses at Yeshiva University. After making Aliyah with her husband, she joined Yeshivat Drisha, where she was involved in the Overseas Program and taught Bekiut Gemara. In the summer, Tzophia directs Drisha’s Torah sleepaway camp for middle school girls. She looks forward to teaching Gemara at Amudim while studying in Nishmat’s Beit Midrash to become a Yoetzet Halacha.
Gila Fine
Gila Fine is a lecturer in rabbinic literature at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. She also serves on the faculty of the Nachshon Project, the London School of Jewish Studies, as well as Amudim, and has taught thousands of students at communities and conferences across the Jewish world. Gila’s work has been featured in the BBC, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Report, Tradition Journal, Jewish News, and Jewish Chronicle. Haaretz has called her “a young woman on her way to becoming one of the more outstanding Jewish thinkers of the next generation.” Her book The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud, was published by Maggid in 2024.
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks is the Editor of Tradition, the journal of Orthodox Jewish thought published by the RCA, as well as founding director of ATID – The Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions in Jewish Education and its WebYeshiva.org program. Rabbi Saks is the Series Editor of The S.Y. Agnon Library at The Toby Press, and lectures regularly at the Agnon House in Jerusalem.
Dr. Tikva Blaukopf
Dr. Tikva Blaukopf Schein is a lecturer of English literature, culture, and language in the Lobel Core Curriculum at Shalem College. She earned her B.A. and Honorary M.A. from St. Anne’s College at the University of Oxford and her doctorate at Bar-Ilan University, where her research explored the concepts of threat, belonging, power, status, and institutional fragility in both classical and Jewish studies. She has taught English literature, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and classical civilizations at a number of academic and non-academic institutions.
Rabbi Yoni Rosensweig
Rabbi Yoni Rosensweig is Rabbi of the Netzach Menasheh community in Beit Shemesh and is a teacher of halacha, Gemara, and Jewish thought. He previously served as Rosh Kollel of the Mizrachi community in Melbourne, Australia. Rav Yoni is today's leading voice in the field of mental health and halacha. He is the author of several books, including Nafshi B’she’eilati, as well as the founder of Maaglei Nefesh, the Israel Institute for Mental Health and Halacha.
Kelila Slonim
Head of Experiential Education
Kelila Slonim is originally from Melbourne Australia, where she served as a community educator and received a degree in Psychology. Kelila made Aliyah in 2016 and lives in Jerusalem. A graduate of Matan's Eshkolot and Lapidot programs, as well as Mizrachi's Shalhevet program, she is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Jewish History. Since making aliyah, Kelila has taught in a number of Midrashot and learning programs in Israel and online. Alongside with her role at Amudim, Kelila teaches at Midreshet Amit and Jewessence and is an Educator at the National Library of Israel.
Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Woolf
Rabbi Prof. Jeffrey R. Woolf is an internationally known scholar, lecturer and public figure. He is an Associate Professor in the Talmud Department at Bar-Ilan University, specializing in the History of Halachah, Medieval and Renaissance Jewish History, the Philosophy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and the inter-action between Judaism, Islam and Christianity. He received his PhD in Medieval Jewish History at Harvard University and spent two years at Yale University, as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. Rabbi Woolf studied for nine and a half years under Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik זצ”ל, from whom he received Semichah in 1982.
Rabbi Dov Laimon
Rabbi Dov Laimon has worked as a sofer sta"m, and as a teacher of the art of writing and the discipline of Jewish mystical thought regarding the Hebrew letters for over 30 years. He is a lifetime student of the Hornesteiple Rebbe (Jerusalem). Rabbi Laimon lives in Jerusalem.
Rabbanit Neima Novetsky
Rabbanit Neima Novetsky, has been involved in Jewish education for close to 20 years. She has taught in a number of seminaries and educational institutes in both the U.S. and Jerusalem, and is the co-founder of alhatorah.org, a Tanach and Parshanut website which provides Tanach study resources for use in the home, classroom and synagogue. Neima holds a BA in Religion and a Certification in Language and Culture from Princeton University and an MA in Bible from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University.
R. Dr. Eliezer Shore
R. Dr. Eliezer Shore is a teacher of Jewish thought and spirituality who has studied with some of the great Chasidic masters of today. In addition to receiving rabbinic ordination from R. Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and maintaining deep commitment to Jewish life and practice, he has a university background in comparative religion, an M.A. in Jewish Education from YU and a Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy from Bar Ilan University. R. Shore teaches as the Rothberg International School at Hebrew University and Michlalah Jerusalem. He is widely published and also a dynamic storyteller, whose original tales and renderings have appeared in various anthologies and read over international radio. He lives in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Jerusalem with his wife and five children.
Rabbi Yoni Nouriel
Yoni Nouriel was born and raised in Boston, MA and went to Maimonides school. After graduating he made Aliya and studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He has a B.Ed and teaching license from Herzog College, and an M.Ed from the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at Hebrew University, where he wrote his thesis on Jewish Coeducation. He loves teaching anything Jewish, from Jewish Philosophy to Zionism, and believes that any student can find a home in the Jewish tradition. He lives with his wife Avigayil Unterberg in Jerusalem, where they are raising their Sabras, Elan and Shaked.
Leah Herzog
Leah Herzog, M.Ed. has over 30 years of experience teaching high school and adults in the United States, Canada and Israel. She graduated Phi Betta Kappa from Barnard College, holds teacher's certification from Michlalah, and earned an M.Ed. and ABD in Education Psychology from Loyola University of Chicago, as well as having done doctoral work in Educational Administration at the University of Cincinnati. For the past 13 years, Mrs. Herzog worked at Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School in Teaneck, NJ, where she taught Tanakh, Ivrit and was the co-Director of Israel Guidance. In addition to teaching at Amudim, Mrs. Herzog is also a lecturer at Matan.
Rabbi David Levin-Kruss
Rabbi David Levin-Kruss is a Jerusalem-based educator, life coach, and community organizer. Affectionately known as “DLK,” he sees himself as a bridge between Jewish wisdom and those who want to utilize this wisdom to live more meaningful lives. DLK has held educational and leadership positions at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Pardes, Melitz Centers for Jewish Zionist Education and at Stanmore Synagogue in north-west London.
Mrs. Naomi Schrager
Mrs. Naomi Schrager is a veteran Jewish educator and leader. A Stern College graduate, she studied in GPATS and completed coursework at Azrieli’s Graduate School of Jewish Education. Naomi currently serves as Director of Education for Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy at Bar-Ilan University. After a decade at Yavneh Academy of Dallas, Naomi fulfilled her dream of making Aliyah in 2015. She lives in Efrat with her husband and five children and teaches at Amudim and in several adult-learning programs.
Rabbi Ari Ze’ev Schwartz
Rabbi Ari Ze’ev Schwartz is the author of “The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook: Writings of a Jewish Mystic” (Gefen, 2018) and written several other books on the meaning of Shabbat, Prayer and the Parasha. Originally from Sydney, Australia, R. Schwartz studied at the University of New South Wales majoring in music and film before coming to Jerusalem, where he studied for eight years in several yeshivot in Jerusalem, receiving rabbinical ordination at the Shehebar Sephardic Center in Jerusalem under Rabbi Yaakov Peretz, and studying Talmud and Jewish Philosophy at Herzog Academic College. Rabbi Schwartz served as the head rabbi of Bnei Akiva’s Hachshara program for three and a half years. From 2017-2020 he cofounded and was the dean of the Society of Independent Spirituality, an English-speaking learning center in Jerusalem that combined Jewish spirituality and Zionism. Currently, Rabbi Schwartz teaches at several yeshivot and midrashot in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Dr. John Krug
Rabbi Dr. John Krug is a true Renaissance man, a longtime producer and director with over 250 theatrical credits, including decades with The Fantasticks on and off Broadway. A licensed clinical psychologist with semicha and advanced degrees in psychology and Jewish education, he wrote a pioneering thesis on the use of drama in informal Jewish education. Dr. Krug served for nearly thirty years as Dean of Student Life at the Frisch School, where he also led the drama program and inspired generations of students to blend creativity with character.
Efrat Shani
Efrat Shani received a B.FA in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy and a B.ED in Art Education from Talpiot College. Specializing in classical figurative art, sculpture and drawing, she teaches at Talpiot College and offers private art workshops for art students and aficionados at her Jerusalem studio, aptly named "Rinascimento."
Matthew Lipman
Matthew Lipman has been working in Israel education for over 15 years. In addition to his teaching work at several gap year programs in Israel he designs Israel and Judaic programming for summer camps. Matthew created and manages Masa's popular Israel news update group and features regularly as a panelist on the Masa Israel Conversation podcast. Matthew has a B.A. in Politics and History from the University of Liverpool and holds a master’s degree in Jewish Education from the Hebrew University. He lives with his family and Shih Tzu, Shaki in Modi’in.
Rabbi Yitz Rubinstein
Originally from South Africa, Rabbi Rubenstein made aliya in 2002 after a distinguished career in education and community leadership, including serving as Director of the South African Board of Jewish Education and Chief Chaplain of the Armed Forces. Since 2007, he has guided over a hundred educational journeys to Poland and across Europe, exploring the complexity of Jewish life past and present. A passionate and thought-provoking educator, he inspires deep personal reflection on faith, peoplehood, and moral responsibility. Rabbi Rubenstein lives in Neve Daniel with his wife Tova; they have six children and ten grandchildren.
TalShachar Fuchs
Madricha
Ayala Yarmish
Madricha