List in formation

• Mrs. Rivka Alter Mt. Sinai Jewish Center, Manhattan, NY
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Rivka Alter

  Rivka Alter presently serves as a yoetzet halacha in Riverdale, New York and Teaneck, New Jersey. She is also a member of the Judaic studies faculty at Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls. Rivka is an experienced kallah teacher and serves as a mentor for Nishmat’s kallah teacher training program. She frequently teaches adults and teens locally, on Zoom, and for the OU Women’s Initiative. Rivka and her husband Daniel served as Rav and Rebbetzin in Denver, Colorado for fifteen years and currently reside in Bergenfield, New Jersey. 

• Mrs. Adina Blaustein Kemp Mill Synagogue, Silver Spring, MD
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Adina Blaustein

  Adina Blaustein lives in Beachwood, Ohio, and is the Content Production Manager at Aleph Beta. She also serves Green Road Synagogue as the Yoetzet Halacha. She is an experienced educator of both students and adults. She has served as Tanach department chair at the Fuchs Mizrachi School and as the Director of Student Life at Fuchs Mizrachi and Ida Crown Jewish Academy. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University, an M.A. in English Education from Brooklyn College, and was certified as a Yoetzet Halacha from Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center’s U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. In 2018, Adina won the Kohelet Prize for her innovative approach to Tanach education. Adina is currently writing a book about haftorot as part of the Sefaria Word-by-Word fellowship. 

• Mrs. Batyah Brander Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton, Passaic, NJ
  February 3, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Batyah Brander

  Batyah Brander, ne’ Lahasky, is a New York native, living in Los Angeles for over 30 years.   Batyah earned her bachelor’s degree from Cooper Union School of Engineering and her teaching certificate from Machon Gold Seminary.   Over the past 30 years, she has been involved in Jewish Education on the High School and adult level.  She currently teaches Nach and STEM at Machon Los Angeles and for the LINK Kollel, which her husband founded.  Mrs. Batyah Brander enjoys challenging herself and her students to delve deeply into the text and uncover the multilayered majesty that G-d has planted within His Torah. 
• Mrs. Reena Fohrman Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, NJ
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Reena Fohrman

  Reena Fohrman has taught Tanach for more than thirty years. She has inspired students at Bais Yaakov Baltimore, MMY Seminary in Jerusalem and, more recently, at Meira High School in Palo Alto, California. She’s also taught Tanach to women’s groups in Baltimore, New York and Israel, and at various holiday retreats in the tri-state area. Her love for Tanach was kindled at a young age by her father, who lovingly collected the original Gilyonot of Nechama Leibovitz, won the Chidon HaTanach Hatzeva’i, and would sing the whole of Shir HaShirim as he cleaned up after the Pesach Seder. Reena has kept the Chidon HaTanach tradition alive in her own family, learning with her children for untold hours on the couch as they prepared for participation in the National Chidon HaTanach. Reena holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts. and an M.A. in Education from John Carroll University. When she’s not in Israel, she lives in Woodmere, New York, with her husband and children. 

• Ms. Chani Gotlieb Young Israel of Queens Valley, Kew Garden Hills, NY
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Ms. Chani Gotlieb

  Ms. Chani Gotlieb is a dynamic educator, currently teaching in two prestigious girls’ high schools in New York. In addition, she lectures around the world to diverse audiences that span the gamut of Orthodox Jewry. Born and educated in Israel, Chani successfully integrates the best of Israel’s yeshiva education with her high-level academic training. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science earned in Israel, and a master’s degree in Judaic studies earned in the USA. In her lectures, Chani analyzes contemporary issues through the lens of diverse Jewish thinkers. Her insights, gained by a rigorous approach to text, appeal to both intellectuals and laymen alike. As a historian, Chani’s lectures are enhanced by the first-hand impressions she has formed of the many Jewish sites that she has visited worldwide. She has developed and implemented a unique curriculum for Jewish genealogy research which has exposed her to hundreds of personal narratives of multi-generational Jewish families. This work, together with her interviewing of Holocaust survivors for the Spielberg Shoah Foundation, provides Chani with a reservoir of memoirs to draw from, helping her to bring history to life for her audiences. 

  At the OU Women’s Initiative, Chani has served as a Counting Toward Sinai Scholar-in-Residence and presented a recording on tefillah as part of the Counting Toward Sinai Tefillah Series. 

   

• Mrs. Amy Horowitz Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn, NJ
  January 6, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Amy Horowitz

  Amy Horowitz studied English Literature at Stern College for Women and holds a Master’s Degree in Education from NYU. Although she began her career as a copyeditor, Amy quickly discovered her passion for teaching Tanach, which she has done at Katz Yeshiva High School of South Florida for the past 19 years, also serving as Director of Girls Judaic Studies and Chairperson of the Tanach Department. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Amy taught Sefer Yeshayahu to over 5,000 women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program in addition to Rosh Chodesh Lunch ‘N Learn. In addition to teaching high school students, Amy frequently teaches classes to the adult community in Boca Raton, FL, where she lives with her three children. 

• Mrs. Michal Horowitz Anshe Sfard Kehillat Torah, Milwaukee, WI (January 13,2024)
  Young Israel of Long Beach, BACH Jewish Center, Long Beach, NY (February 10, 2024) , Congregation Ahavas Achim B'nai Jacob and David, West Orange, NJ (February 24,2024) More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Michal Horowitz

  Michal Horowitz delivers weekly shiurim in her community of the Five Towns, NY, while her zoom shiurim reach audiences around the world. She has been a scholar in residence in schools and communities, nationally and internationally. In September 2023, Michal was a keynote speaker at Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’ Pre-Yamim Noraim Conference, for the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. At the OU Women’s Initiative, she inaugurated the Torat Imecha Parsha program presenting weekly shiurim on Sefer Bereishit. Michal taught Yehoshua, Tehillim 36-41, and Divrei Hayamim II to over 5,000 women across the globe as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi cycle I. She taught Tehillim 1-41, and Mishlei for cycle II.  Michal presented Rosh Chodesh, Selichot Night and Nach Yomi Siyum shiurim and taught in-depth courses at the ALIT Virtual Summer Learning Programs of 2020, ’21, ’22, and ’23.  Michal’s weekly OU Parsha shiur can be found on the AllParsha App. She has thousands of audio and video shiurim online.  Her writings have been published in YU’s Torah-To-Go, HaMizrachi, the OU’s Jewish Action magazine, and most recently in “Reclaiming Dignity: A Guide to Tzniut”.  Her story can be found on all major streaming platforms on the “Rolling With the Punches” Podcast, Episode 14, Sounds of Silence. Michal lives in Woodmere, NY with her husband and family. 

• Professor Smadar Rosensweig Beth Abraham, Bergenfield, NJ
  February 3, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Professor Smadar Rosensweig

  Smadar Rosensweig is a world- renowned Jewish Educator and Lecturer in Tanakh. She lectures extensively throughout the United States and internationally.  She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Bible and Judaic Studies, at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, and a lecturer in the Graduate Program for Advanced Torah Studies at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University. Professor Rosensweig received her B.A from Barnard College in History and her M.A. and M. Phil from Columbia University in Jewish History, where she studied under Professor Yosef  Hayim Yerushalmi and was a Presidential Fellow. Previously, she was a Professor of Judaic Studies at Lander College for Women, Touro College and a Senior Lecturer of Tanakh at the Allegra Franco Teachers College. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Professor Rosensweig taught Sefer Iyov and Sefer Shmuel Aleph to thousands of women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program. 

• Mrs. Jaclyn Sova Anshei Shalom, West Hempstead, NY
  February 3, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Jaclyn Sova

  After graduating from SKA High School for Girls, Michlalah, and Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, Jaclyn got her master’s in education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration and is in the process of finishing the doctoral program there. While in New York, Jaclyn taught at SKA. When her family moved to Baltimore, MD she started teaching at Bnos Yisroel and Beth Tfiloh’s high schools while also lecturing throughout the community. She launched a program for high school girls called BGCubed, giving Bais Yaakov girls the opportunity to have meaningful Jewish experiences outside of school where they can grow socially, emotionally, and religiously.   

• Mrs. Sara Malka Winter Ohr HaTorah, Dallas, TX
  January 19, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Sara Malka Winter

  Mrs. Sara Malka Winter holds a Master of Science degree in education and is a sought-after speaker in her community of Silver Spring, Maryland. As a teenager, Mrs. Winter founded Ashreinu, a Canadian kiruv organization dedicated to Jewish outreach to the Russian immigrant community, which has influenced hundreds of girls. Mrs. Winter lived in Israel for eight years with her family, where she taught and lectured across Jerusalem in seminaries, outreach centers and high schools. In 2008, Mrs. Winter moved to Maryland to help found the Greater Washington Community Kollel, together with her husband, Rabbi Menachem Winter. She continues to lecture throughout the Washington DC area as a Senior Lecturer for the Kollel on diverse topics including Tefillah, Chumash, Nach, Tehillim, Chagim, and Mitzvos. Mrs. Winter is also a beloved teacher at the Yeshiva of Greater Washington Girls Division. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Sara Malka taught Sefer Tehillim 53-62 and 120-134 to over 5,000 women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program.   

• Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft Kingsway Jewish Center, Brooklyn, NY (January 13, 2024)
  Congregation Shaare Tefillah, Teaneck, NJ (February 10, 2024) More about this speaker
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  Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft

  Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft is Associate Principal at Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls. She has been teaching Tanach for over two decades. Elana holds a master’s degree from Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration at Yeshiva University and received the 2005 Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. She delivers shiurim and lecture series and presents at Yemei Iyun throughout the Metro New York and New Jersey area. Elana enjoys learning with people of all ages and backgrounds.  At the OU Women’s Initiative, Elana has served as a Counting Toward Sinai Scholar-in-Residence and has presented shiurim as part of the Counting Toward Sinai Tefillah Series, the Rosh Chodesh Lunch ‘n Learn programs, and Torat Imecha Nach Yomi.  

• Professor Shoshana Schechter Shaare Torah, Pittsburgh, PA
  February 24, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Professor Shoshana Schechter

  Professor Shoshana Schechter is the Associate Dean of Torah Studies at Stern College for Women and the director of the Mechina program at the college. She is a graduate of Stern College for Women, with a B.S. in both Judaic Studies and English Literature and holds master’s degrees from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies and Columbia University School of Journalism. Shoshana is a frequent lecturer on topics in Tanach and has been involved in Jewish outreach programs on four continents. At the OU Women’s Initiative, she taught an in-depth course at the ALIT summer Virtual Beit Midrash program, has presented a shiur for Rosh Chodesh, served as a Counting Toward Sinai Scholar-in-Residence and taught Sefer Bereshit for Torat Imecha Parsha. Shoshana lives in New Hempstead, NY with her husband, Yitzchak, and five children. 

   

• Dr. Deena Rabinovich Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, NJ
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Dr. Deena Rabinovich

  Deena Rabinovich chairs the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies and the Legacy Heritage Jewish Educators Project at Stern College for Women. She directs the PEP Program at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. She received her bachelors from Stern College for Women, her Masters from New York University, and her doctorate from the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education. Prior to teaching at Stern College for Women, Deena taught at Central-Yeshiva University High School for Girls and at the North Shore Hebrew Academy.

• Mrs. Esther Tokayer Torat Emet, Columbus, OH
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Esther Tokayer

  Esther Tokayer is a passionate and creative educator who has impacted the lives of thousands of members of the Sephardic community in Brooklyn for over three decades. She is currently the founding Associate Principal of Barkai Yeshivah High School, which is set to open in September 2023.

  She served as Associate Principal of Magen David Yeshivah High School for the last 22 years. She began her career at MDYHS as a History and Tanakh teacher before being appointed Assistant Principal. Her educational philosophy encourages students to be creative and engage with the world, and to develop leadership and communication skills to benefit themselves, the community and the greater society.  

  She is the Rebbetzin of Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY and is married to Rabbi Etan Tokayer.  She is the proud mom of three children.

• Rebbetzin Tzipora Weinberg Ohr Torah, Edison, NJ
  February 3, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Rebbetzin Tzipora Weinberg

  Rebbetzin Tzipora Weinberg is an acclaimed lecturer, educator and consultant, serving museums and educational institutions in the US and abroad, with specialization in the fields of Tanakh and Holocaust Education. She has received numerous fellowships and awards for her historical work, including the Dr. Sophie Bookhalter Fellowship at the Center for Jewish History. She is currently a Fellow at the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Rebbetzin Weinberg is creator and host of Veiled Reference, a podcast that focuses on Jewish women’s histories. She is the founding Director of The WELL, a groundbreaking daytime women’s learning center in Brooklyn, and is Rebbetzin of Kahal Lev Avos in North Woodmere. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Rebbetzin Weinberg presented has given multiple shiurim including: Rosh Chodesh Lunch ‘n Learn shiur, Counting Toward Sinai Tefillah Series, Nach Shabbat Scholar-in-Residence Program, and Sefer Tehillim 42-89 for Torat Imecha Nach Yomi. 

• Mrs. Liat Mayerfeld Ahavas Yisrael, Edison, NJ
  January 13, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Liat Mayerfeld

  Liat Mayerfeld is an international speaker. She has been brought to speak in seminars in Spain, Poland, Israel, Denmark and Australia. Liat is the co-director of Kii, an outreach organization engaging unaffiliated young professionals in NYC. Born in New York and raised in Israel, Liat spent over 2 years working for Israeli military intelligence. She holds a teaching qualification & degrees in Jewish studies and Special Needs Education from Michlala College, Jerusalem. Liat has worked and taught for Aish in England and New York City. While teaching and educating, she is completing her MA in Jewish education. Liat has an open-door policy, and together with her husband and their 8 children they have welcomed thousands to their Shabbat, festival and random weekday dinners! 

• Mrs. Rachel Kosowsky Congregation Torah Ohr, Boca Raton, FL
  January 14, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Rachel Kosowsky

  Rachel Kosowsky is the high school principal at Farber Hebrew Day School– Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield, MI. In addition to her job as principal, she teaches limudei kodesh at Farber Hebrew Day School and delivers a weekly gemara shiur at the Young Israel of Southfield. Her previous experience includes serving as Tanach Department Chair, as well as twenty-six years of teaching Judaic Studies in Rockville and Baltimore, MD. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Barnard College, and an MA in Jewish Thought from Baltimore Hebrew University. She also studied at Drisha Institute in NY, Midreshet Lindenbaum, Nishmat and Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. She has served as a teacher mentor with the Jewish New Teacher Project and regularly lectures to adult audiences. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Rachel has presented shiurim for the Rosh Chodesh program, served as a Counting Toward Sinai scholar-in-residence, spoken about tefillah as part of the Counting Toward Sinai Tefillah series, and taught Tehillim for Torat Imecha Nach Yomi. She is married to Rabbi Ira S. Kosowsky, who is also a Jewish educator. They are the proud parents of four children. 

• Mrs. Rachel Besser Young Israel of Hillcrest, Fresh Meadows, NY
  January 28, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Rachel Besser

  Rachel Besser is the Nach Department Chair at the Frisch School in Paramus, NJ, where she also teaches Tanach and Jewish philosophy and is a member of the Israel Guidance Department. A graduate of Stern College for Women, Rachel received her master’s degree in English literature from Hunter College in New York City. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Rachel taught Sefer Yirmiyahu and Sefer Ezra to over 5,000 women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program.  She presented a Nach Yomi Siyum shiur, Rosh Chodesh shiur and served as a Counting Toward Sinai Scholar-in-Residence. Rachel lives in Clifton, NJ with her husband Donny and six children. 

• Mrs. Lynn Kraft Congregation Beth Sholom, Lawrence, NY
  January 27, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Lynn Kraft

  Mrs. Lynn Kraft serves as Tanach Department Chair, Israel Guidance Counselor, and Mechanechet at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Skokie, IL. She was formerly the director of NILI: Chicago Institute of Women’s Learning, which offers shiurim and programs for girls and women of all ages in the Chicago community. She is a kallah teacher as well, teaching one-on-one classes and relaying women’s anonymous and confidential questions to rabbis through NILI’s Taharat Hamishpacha Hotline. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Lynn taught Sefer Melachim I to over 5,000 women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi Program, presented Rosh Chodesh shiurim, served as a Counting Toward Sinai Scholar-in-Residence and presented a recording on tefillah as part of the Counting Toward Sinai Tefillah Series. Lynn previously taught at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School in NJ, Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim and Sha’alvim for Women in Yerushalayim, and Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls in NY. She earned her BA in Judaic studies and psychology from Stern College for Women and her MA in Bible from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. She lives in Lincolnwood, IL with her husband, Rabbi Aaron Kraft, and their five children, Adira, Tani, Eli, Avi, and Akiva.

• Mrs. Stacey Nechama Goldman Lower Merion Synagogue, Bala Cynwyd, PA
  January 27, 2024 More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Stacey Nechama Goldman

  Mrs. Stacey Nechama Goldman teaches Tanach at Kohelet Yeshiva High School in Philadelphia. She also teaches adult education classes throughout the greater Philadelphia area including Aish Chaim, Lower Merion Synagogue, and Hillel at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the U.S. Yoetzet Halacha Program of Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center and currently serves as Yoetzet Halacha for the Philadelphia community and for Young Israel/Aish in Las Vegas. At the OU Women’s Initiative, Stacey Nechama has presented shiurim as part of the Rosh Chodesh, Simchat Torah, Nach Shabbat, and Counting Toward Sinai programs. She taught Sefer Divrei HaYamim I to over 5,000 women worldwide as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi program. Stacey Nechama has published reflective essays and articles on chabad.org, audio classes on YUTorah.org. She also posts original Torah content on Instagram @staceyfruengoldman.