Mon. – Thurs. : 09.00 AM – 3.00 PM

Current Faculty

Our Faculty

Dean Rachel Friedman

Lamdeinu was founded by Dean Rachel Friedman, for many years the Associate Dean and Chair of Tanakh at Drisha Institute in New York City.  Ms.  Friedman is a noted  author and lecturer in Bible, liturgy and parshanut.  She has served as a scholar-in-residence at synagogues, schools and other venues throughout North America and beyond.  She has an MA in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University and a JD from Columbia University School of Law. Contact Dean Friedman at DeanLamdeinu1@gmail.com

Foundress
Rabbi Hayyim Angel

Rabbi Hayyim Angel is the National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (jewishideas.org). He also teaches advanced Bible courses at Yeshiva University, and lectures widely. He has published over 100 scholarly articles, primarily in Bible, and is author or editor of thirteen books. He has a B.A. in Jewish Studies from Yeshiva College, an M.A. in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and an M.S. in Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education.He received his rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He previously served for seventeen years as Rabbi at Congregation Shearith Israel in New York. He lives in Teaneck with his wife and three children.

Rabbi
Rabbi Gedalyah Berger

Rabbi Gedalyah Berger serves as a Ra”M in the Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Studies at Yeshiva University, and as a maggid shi’ur at the Yo’etzet Halakhah program of Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center. He recently joined the Orthodox Union as Adult Education Coordinator in the Dept. of Synagogue Services.  Rabbi Berger graduated from Yeshiva College in 1994 with a B.A. in physics, studied for three years at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel under the tutelage of HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, received his semikhah from RIETS in 1998, and was a fellow of RIETS’s Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon.

Rabbi
Rabbi Yitzchak Twerksy
Rabbi
Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

Rav Yitzchak Etshalom was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He
attended Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavne, Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological
Seminary and Yeshivat Har Etzion before receiving Semicha from the Chief
Rabbi of Yerushalayim, Rabbi Itzhak Kolitz. Rav Etshalom has been a
dynamic and exciting educator in the Los Angeles community since his
return in 1985. His ability to reach out to today's youth and share with them
his passion for Jewish learning and Jewish life has enriched many young
lives. He launched the Beit Midrash program at YULA Girls High School as
well as opening the Beit Midrash at Shalhevet, where he currently serves as
Rosh Beit Midrash. Rav Etshalom directs the Tanach Masters Program at
YULA Boys’ High School as well as being as a sought-after Scholar in
Residence throughout the country and in Israel. He lectures annually at the
prestigious “Yemei Iyyun” Tanakh Seminar at Herzog College. In addition,
he teaches Daf Yomi and a popular Navi series at the Young Israel of
Century City and his podcasts on Daf Yomi (www.dafyomiyicc.org) have
attracted an international following, as have his Tanakh podcasts, many of
which are available at www.yutorah.org and at www.ou.org, as well as on
Spotify, iTunes and other popular podcast platforms. His critically
acclaimed series “Between the Lines of the Bible” is a methodological guide
to the study of Tanakh. He authored a weekly lecture for Yeshivat Har
Etzion's Virtual Beit Midrash on the books of Amos and Hoshea and his book
on Amos will be published in the fall of 2023 as part of the Koren Maggid
Studies in Tanakh. Rabbi Etshalom lives in Los Angeles with his wife
Stefanie, also a dynamic educator; their children live in Alon Shevut,
Yerushalayim and Washington Heights.

Rabbi
Rabbi Daniel Fridman
Rabbi Daniel Fridman is continuing his post-
rabbinic studies at Yeshiva University as a RIETS

kollel fellow. He is the Morah D’Atra at the Jewish Center of Teaneck and a Rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County. Rabbi Fridman is a graduate of Columbia College and Yeshivat Har Etzion and received his smikha from RIETS.

Rabbi
Ms. Channa Lockshin Bob

Channa Lockshin Bob has an MA in Religion from Columbia University and a Certificate in Talmud and Halacha from Drisha's Scholars Circle. Channa teaches Gemara at Midreshet Amudim and also works in the Judaica Collection of the National Library of Israel. A Toronto  native, she now lives in Modiin with her husband and three children.

Educator
Ms. Sarah Gordon

Sarah Gordon is the Senior Director of Israel Education – AMER for Unpacked for Educators, a division of OpenDor Media. Previously, Sarah served as the Director of Israel Guidance and Experiential Education at Ma’ayanot High School, where she taught Talmud, chaired a course on Contemporary Israel, and brought her vision and creativity to a wide range of school programs. Sarah holds dual masters degrees in Jewish Education and Modern Jewish History from Yeshiva University, where she spent two years studying in the GPATS program, and where she is currently pursuing her Ed.D as a Wexner Fellow. Sarah lives in Teaneck, NJ, with her husband, Nafi Schwarzenberger, and their two children.

Educator