Madrikhot and Bogrot

Dr. Julie Goldstein

Rosh HaMidrasha, Director

Dr. Julie Goldstein’s teaching experience includes NYU, Ma’ayanot High School, JLIC at UCLA, and two 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.

jgoldstein@amudimisrael.org

Rabbanit Shira Zimmerman

Gemara Ra’M

Rabbanit Shira Zimmerman teaches halakha at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and serves as Rosh Beit Midrash at Midreshet Emunah V’Omanut. She is a graduate of the Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute for Halakhic Leadership at Midreshet Lindenbaum and the Matan Institute for Advanced Talmudic Learning. Rabbanit Shira also holds a BA in Talmud and Tanakh from Bar Ilan. She has spent many years giving shiurim in Gemara, Halakha, and Tanakh to seminary students and to her community in Gush Etzion. 

Rabbi Uri Goldstein

Dean

In addition to his role at Amudim, Rav Uri Goldstein is the Director of the Overseas Program at Yeshivat Hakotel. He received Semikha 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.

admin@amudimisrael.org

Brie Reich

Director of Student Life

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.

Nediva Buechler

Menahelet, Administrative Coordinator

Nediva Buechler studied in the Matan Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute and the Lapidot Mizrachi Program. She made aliyah following her year in Israel and performed her National Service in Shaarei Tsedek Hospital. Nediva has a background in graphic design, is working on completing her Ministry of Tourism’s Tour Guide certification, and is a graduate of the Mizrachi Shalhevet Leadership Program. She has experience in both formal and informal education, and she currently lives with her husband and son in the Shaalvim Kiryat Hinuch.

nbuechler@amudimisrael.org

R. Chaim Metzger

Night Seder

Rabbi Chaim Metzger studied for two years at Yeshivat Har Etzion, completed a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics at YU, an M.A in Mathematics from the Katz Graduate School, and an M.A. in Bible from YU. Aftrer receiving rabbinic ordination from YU, Rabbi Metzger returned to Yeshivat Har Etzion and studied in the Kollel Gavohah for three years. Rabbi Metzger has long sought to bring serious academic rigor to his Torah learning, incorporating his knowledge of Mathematics in teaching at Mesivta Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, and utilizing his knowledge of Machine Learning to create a predictive neural network for Taamei Hamikra (the cantillation notes of the Torah reading). While in Yeshivat Har Etzion, Rabbi Metzger was involved with the American program, teaching and mentoring gap year students.

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 Halakhah, 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 semikhah in 1982.

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.”

Rabbanit Leora Balinsky-Glauber

Mashgihah Ruhanit, Gemara Ra’M

Originally from Evanston, IL, Rabbanit Leora made Aliyah after graduating from Barnard College, where she studied philosophy and religion. Leora is an alumna of Migdal Oz, the Drisha Summer Kollel, and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership’s Summer Beit Midrash. Since making Aliyah three years ago, she has been learning in the advanced shiur at Yeshivat Drisha. She is pursuing an MSW from Tel Aviv University, and is a certified Kallah Teacher from the Eden Center. Leora has diverse experience teaching in post high-school and adult educational settings and is excited to share her passion for Torah with the students of Amudim. She lives with her husband Sam in Nahlaot.

Rabbi Matthew Nitzanim

In addition to Amudim, Rav Matthew Nitzanim teaches Torah at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and at Pardes, and works as lead editor for the Office of the President at Ohr Torah Stone. He studied for Smikha from the Chief Rabbinate at Yeshivat Machanayim, and holds a BA in Philosophy from Princeton University and an MA in Bioethics from Bar-Ilan University.

Rabbi Dr. Aharon Wexler

Rav Aharon Wexler is beloved by our students for his passion for Israel and the Jewish people and for his exciting, thought-provoking shiurim. He made aliyah from New York after high school and studied in Yeshivat HaKotel. After Yeshiva and his service in the IDF, Rav Aharon earned a BA in Archeology from Bar-Ilan University and then returned to Yeshivat HaKotel for Rabbinic Ordination. Rav Aharon went on to receive an MA in Jewish History, and a Doctorate in Jewish Philosophy. He is also a licensed tour guide and a popular columnist for The Jerusalem Post. Rav Aharon makes his home in Efrat with his family.

Rabbi Yonatan Rosensweig

Rav Yoni Rosensweig is a community rabbi of the Netzah Menashe community in Beit Shemesh, and the author of several books. He also teaches halakha, gemara and mahshava at Midreshet Lindenbaum. Between the years 2006-2009 he served as Rosh Kollel of the Mizrachi community in Melbourne, Australia. Upon his return, he headed Yeshivat Hamivtar for three years, and then became Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Shevut Yisrael in Efrat, a post which he held until 2016. Rav Yoni has Semikha from Rav Nachum Eliezer Rabinovitch and from the chief rabbinate, a Bachelors of education, and a Bachelors in philosophy and history.

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 Nechama Goldman Barash

Rabbanit Nechama made aliyah from Philadelphia over 20 years ago after graduating from Stern College. She studied for three years in Matan’s Advanced Talmud Institute and finished a master’s degree in Talmud at Bar-Ilan University. She is a graduate of Nishmat’s Yoetzet Halacha program and Matan’s new Hilchata program, which is an advanced program in the area of Jewish law. In addition to her classes on Jewish sexual ethics and social justice at Amudim, she teaches contemporary halakha and Talmud at Matan and Pardes, as well as Talmud and women and halakha at MTVA. Rabbanit Nechama lives in Gush Etzion with her husband and four daughters.

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.

Naomi Schrager

Naomi Schrager is the Director of Education at Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy at The Lookstein Center at Bar-Ilan University. After studying in Azrieli Graduate school and learning in the Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies, Naomi was involved in the American Day school scene, serving in various roles until she made aliyah in 2015. Since that time, Naomi has taught in several gap year midrashot. She lives in Efrat with her husband and 4 children. 

Pesha Fischer

Pesha Fischer has been teaching halakha and Tanakh to students of all ages for the last 20 years. Having studied at Midreshet Lindenbaum and Matan, and received an MA in education from YU, she has been teaching students in gap year programs in Israel for over a decade and is currently a senior administrator and teacher at Midreshet Amit. She also gives bridal classes in both Israel and the US, and created and runs a very popular after-school science program in Modiin, where she lives with her husband, Rabbi Elli Fischer, and their four children.

Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Shore

R. Dr. Eliezer Shore is a teacher of Jewish thought and spirituality who has studied with some of the great Hasidic 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 Ari Winter

Rabbi Ari Winter has been involved in Jewish education for the past 45 years. For much of that time his involvement focused on women’s hinuch. He is proud of 3 trailblazing girls learning programs he founded. Camp NCSY East for Girls was the first summer learning program for high school girls. After making Aliyah, Rabbi Winter founded Michlelet NCSY a flagship of NCSY’s summer programs. He subsequently founded Michlelet Esther, a unique Seminary. In addition he has worked with Olami, a university outreach program, running their women’s learning programs in Jerusalem. Rabbi Winter lives in Bet Zayit, a small Moshav outside Jerusalem with his wife Debby and their dog Becks.

Rabbi Dr. David Harbater

Rabbi Dr. David Harbater teaches Bible and Jewish thought at MTVA and at the Women’s Beit Midrash of Efrat. He previously served as a lecturer in Jewish education at Herzog College, a curriculum writer for the Florence Melton School, and a teacher of Bible, Jewish thought, and Talmud in a variety of frameworks. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion, YU, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, and earned his PhD in education from the University of Haifa. He recently published In the Beginnings: Discovering the Two Worldviews Hidden within Genesis 1-11.

Dr. Rachel Pear

Dr. Rachel Pear, the co-founder of Shir Hadash, received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University in pre-historic archeology, an MA in the same subject from Hebrew University and her doctorate in the interdisciplinary department of Bar Ilan University, where she studied Science and Religion generally, and specifically how Orthodox Judaism relates to evolution. Her subsequent post-doctoral research at the University of Haifa has expanded this exploration to include studying how other religious groups in Israel – Christian and Muslim – relate to evolution. She has taught throughout the country, including for religious teachers of High School Biology classes, about this subject.

Matthew Lipman

Matthew Lipman has been working in Israel education for over 15 years. He has taught Judaic Studies at Jewish Day Schools in North America, has written high-tech educational materials for U.S. public schools and the IDF, and directed the multimedia development of an online Jewish day school. In addition to his teaching work at several gap year programs in Israel, including Amudim, he has trained Day School leaders to create meaningful Israel education programs. 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 in Modi’in.

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 Fine

Rabbi David Fine is the Founder and Dean of the Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development located in Modiin. Prior to founding Barkai, Rabbi Fine was the Director of Rabbinic Outreach at the Eretz Hemdah institute for Advanced Judaic Studies in Jerusalem and the Coordinator of Jewish Identify at the Modiin Community Center. Rabbi Fine made Aliyah in 2008 from Overland Park, Kansas, where he served as Rabbi of Congregation BIAV. Prior to moving to Kansas Rabbi Fine served as the Rabbi of Lake Park Synagogue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He holds rabbinic ordination from the Joseph and Gwendolyn Straus Rabbincal Seminary (Yeshivat HaMivtar) in Efrat as well as a BA and MA in Judaic Studies . He also is a licensed Poland tour guide. He is married to Dr. Julie (Nee Goldstein) Fine, a child psychologist) and is the proud father of Etan, Chanan , Amiel and Zachy and the grandfather of Naveh Shalom.

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."

Rabbi Josh Yuter

Rabbi Josh Yuter received ordination from YU and holds MA degrees in Talmud and Social Sciences, and a BA in Computer Science. He is a former spiritual leader of The Stanton St. Shul on the Lower East Side of New York, an award-winning blogger, and repeatedly recognized for his influence on social media.

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. ROriginally 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.

Orna Alexander

As part of Amudim’s goal to foster healthy mind, body and spirit, Orna Alexander, skilled and certified Krav Maga instructor and fitness motivator, brings her friendly, energetic, encouraging, and goal-oriented style of training into Amudim's weekly Hilutz Atzamot sessions. Specializing in empowering women and girls, Orna is 100% dedicated to the next generation of female leadership in the Jewish community. Orna pushes our students to work to their potential without going past their maximum limits of exertion and helps them to strive high in every aspect of their Amudim experience.

Rivi Frankel

Rosh Tiuyulim

Rivi Frankel is a sought after licensed tour guide in Israel. She has a bachelor's in management from Touro and a masters in the philosophy of Jewish education and Tanakh from the Hebrew University. Rivi is a graduate of the Matan Bellows Eshkolot fellowship where she also worked as the administrative director and was the founding director of their Professional Development track. Rivi is a popular Tanakh lecturer, has run educational programing around the world and currently lives in Jerusalem.

Rivka Gopin

Campus Life Coordinator

Born and raised in Israel, Rivka currently lives and studies biotech in Jerusalem. When she is not doing homework or out looking for an adventure, she enjoys playing basketball, traveling, sharing a good laugh with friends, and can never turn down the opportunity to open a book. Having spent time in a midrasha environment, once as a student and once as a madrikha, she is very excited to join Amudim as Campus Life Coordinator.

Michal Shechter

“I am from East Brunswick, NJ and just graduated from Nursing School at the University of Pennsylvania. I am so excited to be spending my first year of Aliyah as a madricha at Amudim which I attended as a student during my gap year. At Amudim, I fell in love with Talmud Torah and I am so excited to back in the amazing and exuberant Beit Midrash. I look forward to being your madricha and cannot wait for the amazing year we are going to share together!”

Mimi Miller

“I am from Sydney, Australia and this year I will be studying at Hebrew University’s Mechina Program. I have always had a passion for learning Torah, which was enhanced by studying at Midreshet Harova. I really enjoy hanging out with friends, am a total animal lover, and am always eager to try new things. I am so excited to be a madricha this year!”

Naomi Fink

“Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, I spent a year learning at Migdal Oz and just finished my BA and MA degrees at Penn. Some of my favorite things include my family and friends, learning Torah, hiking, helping others, playing with puppies, and drinking coffee. I’m so excited to be returning to Israel as a bogeret at Amudim and look forward to all of the incredible experiences we’ll have together!”

Nava Berenholtz

“Originally from Cleveland, Ohio and after spending an amazing year in Israel and completing my bachelors at Binghamton University, I am so excited to be returning home to Israel. I love learning new things, taking adventures, and being wacky with friends. I am so excited to be continuing my learning as a bogeret at Amudim and hope to make long lasting connections with everyone!”