Daphna Ansel-Nizan made aliyah from Toronto after studying for a year in Midreshet Lindenbaum. Following her national service, she completed her B.A. from Bar Ilan University in Tanach, Talmud, and Jewish Art, as well as her teaching certification. She has worked for the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education and taught in MMY, TVA, and the Hartman high school for girls, as well as for many summers in Camp Moshava. She is a graduate of the Advanced Gemara Program in Migdal Oz, and is currently studying there in a new Halacha program while pursuing a master’s degree at Bar Ilan.
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.
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.
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.
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.
