Ms. Tzophia Stepansky is the director of Drisha’s summer middle school program. Tzophia studied in Yeshiva University where she completed a B.A. in psychology and Judaic Studies. She then continued her learning there in the advanced Gemara and Halacha program (GPATS) for three years. Over the course of her time in GPATS, she served as a community scholar in multiple shuls. Tzophia has been involved in the Drisha community in various capacities,including teaching in the high school summer program. She recently made aliyah with her husband from the tri-state area and joined the learning in the Drisha Beit Medrash in Kfar Etzion.
Dr. R. Jon Kelsen is the Chief Education Officer at Drisha, having formerly served as Dean at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He received ordination from Rabbis Daniel Landes and Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg and holds a PhD in Education and Jewish Studies from New York University, which he pursued as a Wexner Graduate Fellow.
Click here to access podcasts recorded by Jon Kelsen.
Mr. Michael Bernstein is Drisha’s lead Administrator. Michael’s studies prior to earning his MSW at Wurzweiler School of Social Work focused on peshat-based Biblical interpretation & translation as well as Biblical intertextuality.
In addition to contributing editorial work to publications by scholars including Dr. Malka Simkovich, Dr. James A. Redfield, & Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, Michael has published his own scholarship in the area of Karaite law codes, including a digital critical edition of the late-1400s Adderet Eliyahu produced for the Karaite Press / Karaite Jews of America online learning center. Michael lives in Riverdale, Bronx with his wife Dr. Jade Gormady and their two children.
Rabbanit Sara Tillinger Wolkenfeld is the Chief Learning Officer at Sefaria, an online database and interface for Jewish texts. She is passionate about expanding Jewish textual knowledge for all. Sara is also a fellow at the David Hartman Center at the Hartman Institute of North America. Her previous experience includes serving as Director of Education at the Center for Jewish Life – Hillel at Princeton University as part of the OU’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus. She studied Talmud and Jewish Law at various institutions of Jewish learning in Israel and America including Midreshet Lindenbaum, Drisha, Nishmat, and Beit Morasha and speaks on various Jewish topics at synagogues, schools, and university communities. Sara and her family live in the Lakeview neighborhood in Chicago.
Click here to access podcasts recorded by Sara Wolkenfeld.
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.
Join core Drisha faculty for weekly investigations in Parashat haShavua. Faculty will lead sessions on a rotating basis, each bringing their insights and methodologies of learning to the conversation.
Esther Fisher has taught in Drisha’s collegiate programs and teaches Talmud and Jewish studies at Midreshet Ein Hanatziv in Israel and is a facilitator and co-founder of ‘Nigun Nashim’ – Women’s Beit Midrash of the Elga Stulman Woman’s Institute for Jewish Studies of Hamidrasha in Oranim (an Educational Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Israel). She has an MA in Talmud from Hebrew University and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Gender Department of Bar Ilan University. Her academic interests include rabbinic literature, midrash and halakha, and their relation to gender and feminist theory and thought.
Click here to access podcasts recorded by Esther Fisher.
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.
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.
