
The Covenant at Mt. Sinai as a Model for Conversion in Rabbinic Thought
Dan Margulies
Rabbi Dan Margulies teaches Tanakh, Talmud, and Halakha at the Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville MD and teaches Talmud in the Drisha summer kollel. He received his semikha from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and from his personal mentor Dayan Simcha Krauss ztz”l, and continued his studies in the kollel at YU-RIETS. Before pursuing his yeshiva studies, he earned a BA in Chemical Physics and Mathematics from Columbia University. He previously served as a congregational rabbi in the New York area and currently lives in Washington DC.

Investigating the Doctrine of Chosenness
Dr. Samuel Lebens
Rabbi Dr. Samuel Lebens is a philosopher at the university of Haifa and adjunct faculty at Drisha. His first book is about Bertrand Russell and the philosophy of language. His second book, The Principles of Judaism (forthcoming with Oxford University Press) is a contemporary exploration of the philosophical underpinnings of the Jewish faith. He is also co-founder of the Association for the Philosophy of Judaism (personal website: www.samlebens.com).
Click here to access podcasts recorded by Sam Lebens.

The Book of the Covenant: Laws of Exodus 21-23
Rabbi David Silber
David Silber is the founder and dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in New York and Israel. Rabbi Silber received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is a recipient of the Covenant Award, for excellence in innovative Jewish education, and is the author of A Passover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn (Jewish Publication Society 2011), For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther (Koren Publishers 2017), and Malkhut Adam: Iyunim Bsefer Shmuel (Maggid 2021). He is also a nationally acclaimed lecturer on the Bible. Rabbi Silber is married to Dr. Devora Steinmetz. They have eight children and live in New York City.
Click here to access other recorded classes by David Silber.

Mishnah in Depth: Avodah Zara

Rabbanit Leah Sarna
Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Associate Director of Education and Director of High School Programs at Drisha. She previously served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, a leading urban Orthodox congregation.
She was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2018, holds a BA from Yale University in Philosophy & Psychology, and also trained at the SKA Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz, Drisha and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership. Rabbanit Sarna’s published works have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus and MyJewishLearning.
She has lectured in Orthodox synagogues and Jewish communal settings around the world and loves spreading her warm, energetic love for Torah and Mitzvot with Jews in all stages of life.

And It Was On That Night:’ How the Gideon Story Revolutionizes Pesach
Tamar Weissman

Mishnah in Depth: Eduyot
Yitz Landes

What Makes Halakhic Loopholes Religious?
Elana Stein Hain
Elana Stein Hain is the Director of Leadership Education for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she serves as a lead faculty member and oversees the content of lay and professional leadership programs. She earned her doctorate in Religion from Columbia University and is a graduate of the Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies at Yeshiva University. Dr. Stein Hain served for eight years as a clergy member at Lincoln Square Synagogue and The Jewish Center, both in New York, as well as adjunct faculty at NYU.

Pre-Purim One-Shot: Why don’t we say Hallel on Purim?
Dr. Shana Strauch Schick
Shana Strauch Schick is a lecturer in at Bar Ilan University in Israel. She holds a PhD from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Her first book is Intention in Talmudic Jurisprudence: Between Thought and Deed (Brill, 2021).
Rabbi Joe Wolfson
Rabbi Joe Wolfson grew up in London and spent ten years studying, working, and loving life in Israel. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Bet Morasha, through which he received hissemikha from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He thought he was going into politics and did degrees at Cambridge, where he was president of the Jewish Society and UCL. He decided to go into Jewish education and has taught texts on four continents primarily as a faculty member of London School of Jewish Studies. Beyond music, good books, cycling and HBO, Rabbi Joe is passionate about the way in which texts link up to larger issues of Jewish identity. He has worked in areas as diverse as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, religious-secular relations in Israel, and European Jewish communities.
Rabbi Jon Kelsen
Click here to access podcasts recorded by Jon Kelsen.

Ethics of Our Fighters: The Development of Jewish Military Ethics
Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody

Mishnah in Depth: Shevuot
Shalhevet Schwartz
Shalhevet Schwartz is a student in the Kollel Iyun v’Halakha at Yeshivat Drisha in Kfar Etzion. Before arriving at Drisha, she served as a Research and Program Coordinator at Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she focused on supporting the work of the Kogod Research Center, the Institute’s think tank. Shalhevet received her BA from Yale University, where she graduated in 2021 with a degree in philosophy. She spent several summers working in experiential Jewish education at Camp Stone, most recently in the roles of Rosh Moshava (Head Counselor) and Rosh Beit Midrash, and in 2023 taught a weekly Talmud shiur at Columbia University Hillel. She currently teaches a biweekly in-depth Talmud shiur as part of Hadran’s “Beyond the Daf” project.
