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.
Elisheva Malkiel
Director of Student Life
Born in England and raised in Jerusalem, Elisheva holds a BA in Social Work from the Hebrew University and a master’s degree in Muslim-Jewish Relations from Cambridge University. She has extensive experience in women’s education, including leading the Maayan program at Nishmat. Passionate about the intersection of emotional well-being and spiritual growth, Elisheva loves accompanying young women on their journeys of learning, self-discovery, and personal growth. She lives in Tekoa with her husband and six children.
Rivka Gopin
Director of Operations and Programming
Rivka Gopin was born and raised in Israel and completed two years of national service. With years of experience in the midrasha world, both as a student and as a staff member, she brings energy, warmth, and a deep understanding of the seminary experience to her work at Amudim. She holds a degree in Business Administration and is currently pursuing an MA in Judaic Studies.
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.
Chana Lanter
Em Bayit
Chana Lanter was born and raised in Los Angeles and holds a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies from Stanford University. While at Stanford, she worked as a residential tutor for the freshman humanities program, where she developed a love for creating social experiences centered around meaningful learning and engagement with texts. After graduation, she spent time learning Gemara in NY before moving to Israel with her husband, Natan. Chana brings a thoughtful approach to learning, a passion for building community, and a commitment to creating meaningful connections both in and out of the classroom.
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.
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.
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
Rav Yoni Nouriel was born and raised in Boston, MA, and made aliyah after graduating high school. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and holds a B.Ed. and teaching license from Herzog College, as well as an M.Ed. from the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he wrote his thesis on Jewish coeducation. Rav Yoni teaches halachah at Midreshet Amudim and loves teaching across the breadth of Jewish thought, from Jewish philosophy to Zionism. He believes deeply that every student can find a meaningful home within the Jewish tradition. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Avigayil Unterberg, where they are raising their sabras, Elan and Shaked.
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.
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.
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.
Anina Jasper Brody
Madricha
Emuna Lapping
Madricha