Past Cohorts — Orthodox Leadership Project

COHORT I

Bracha Rutner

Chana Shefa

Keshett Starr

Dr. Aimee Baron is the Founder and Director of “I Was Supposed to Have a Baby,” which is a social media platform that supports Jewish Families struggling to build a family. It provides a supportive space for families who are going through infertility, pregnancy loss, infant loss, surrogacy or adoption, in addition to connecting those families to resources in the Jewish Community. Dr. Baron was formerly the Director of Innovation and Growth at NechamaComfort, and has also worked as an Attending Pediatrician in the Newborn Nursery and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital before taking a leave of absence after her third miscarriage. Aimee lives in Riverdale, NY, with her husband and five children.
Lauren (Ahavya) Deutsch, Esq. is the Executive Director of the Worker Justice Center of New York, a non-profit legal services and advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling structural labor oppression. Lauren received her Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in 2001, and worked in migrant women’s health in San Diego, California, prior to law school. She graduated with her Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2008, and began her legal career in New York City as a Postgraduate Domestic Violence Fellow, before joining the Domestic Violence unit at The Legal Aid Society of Rochester in 2010, and becoming the Executive Director of the Healthy Baby Network, a reproductive justice non-profit, in 2014. Lauren’s research interests include bruising injuries in victims of color, effective care management for traumatized clients, and the impact of poverty on health equity. Lauren attended Midreshet Rachel V’Chavya Women’s Seminary, and lectures on Torah and Family law, as well as anything else she finds interesting at the moment. She lives in Rochester, New York, with her Husband and three children.
Leslie Ginsparg Klein is the Academic Dean of Women’s Institute of Torah Seminary/Maalot Baltimore, an Orthodox Jewish college for women. An accomplished scholar and author, Dr. Klein has lectured across the United States and internationally, and taught at Gratz College, Touro College and Hebrew Theological College. Dr. Klein received her Ph.D. in Education and Jewish Studies from New York University, where she researched the history of Orthodox girls’ education in America and the Bais Yaakov movement. She is an alumna of Michlalah, Stern College for Women and the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and a recipient of the New York Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” award (2009). Dr. Klein is on the editorial board of Lehrhaus and the founder and director of Girls’ Night On, a not-for-profit organization that promotes Jewish women in music and the arts. Dr. Klein lives in Baltimore with her husband and children.
Shoshana Polakoff serves as the Director of Facilities Management and Logistics for the Orthodox Union where she oversees the physical operations and internal policies and procedures. She uses her organizational skills and love of puzzles to create efficient procedures for the OU. Notably, Shoshana managed a 75,000 square foot renovation including an overhaul of physical security and its policies. Over the past fifteen years, Shoshana has held various positions at the OU, working her way up from an NCSY Summer Programs registrar to her current position. Shoshana holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women and a Masters in Public Administration and Non-Profit Management from New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Shoshana lives in Washington Heights with her husband and three children.
Bracha Rutner is Assistant Principal and the Director of Judaic Studies at Central/YUHSG. Bracha teaches Talmud and Halakha, including Women in Jewish Law. Bracha also serves as the Yoetzet Halakha at the Kemp Mill Synagogue in Silver Spring, MD. She previously served as the Yoetzet at the Riverdale Jewish Center and the Riverdale Minyan. She has given numerous lectures across North America on the interface of halacha and various women's issues. She is the longest serving congregational Yoetzet in the United States. Bracha is a graduate of Stern College for Women and completed her Yoetzet Halakha training in Nishmat in Jerusalem. She participated in the Bruria Scholars Program in Midreshet Lindenbaum, and completed the ATID Fellowship Program in Jerusalem and the Lookstein Continuing Education program. Bracha holds a masters degrees, in Talmud from the Hebrew University and in Education Administration from St. John’s University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Educational Administration at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. She lives with her husband and four children in West Hempstead, NY.
Chana Shefa's passion for life lies in Jewish community development, and youth leadership through Jewish education. Chana seeks out spaces to bring people together to bolster individual skills and to strengthen their communities. She has been a General Studies teacher in grades 3-5 at SAR Academy for the past 13 years, where she worked to inspire and educate the children in and out of her classroom. In addition, she was the 'Founding Mother' of the SAR Student Council, where representatives as young as 6 years old gathered with 14 year olds to facilitate meaningful discussions with the principal on various school issues.
In addition to working as a teacher, Chana served as the Executive Director at Sephardic Adventure Camp in Seattle, Washington for 6 years, an orthodox Sephardic overnight camp, which dedicates itself to continuing the life, passion, and knowledge of Sephardic culture to the next generation of Sephardic Jews in America. She currently serves as a volunteer for the Orthodox Leadership Project on the cohort design team, allowing for Jewish women to enrich their communities using their unique skills and passion.
Keshet Starr, Esq., is the Executive Director of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA), the only nonprofit organization addressing the agunah (Jewish divorce refusal) crisis on a case-by-case basis worldwide. At ORA, Keshet oversees advocacy and early intervention initiatives designed to assist individuals seeking a Jewish divorce, along with prevention initiatives to eliminate abuse from the Jewish divorce process. Keshet has written for outlets such as the Times of Israel, The Forward and Haaretz, and frequently presents on issues related to Jewish divorce, domestic abuse, and the intersection between civil and religious divorce processes. Keshet has also authored academic work focused on get refusal and domestic abuse, and is a Wexner Field Fellow. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Keshet lives in central New Jersey with her husband and three young children.

COHORT II

Tal Attia

Stephanie Erez

Rachel Cyrulnik

Dena Block

Chumi Friedman

Miriam Gedwiser

Shoshana Batya Greenwald

Rachel Kravetz

Zoë Lang

Rachel Mohl
Abrahams

Dr. Esther Rollhaus

Elise Saks

Orit Barnea Seif

Abbey Soclof

Dr. Aimee Baron

Lauren (Ahavya) Deutsch

Leslie Ginsparg Klein

Shoshana Polakoff

Dr. Gillian Steinberg

Tal Attia is from Elizabeth, NJ. She spent a year at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim (MMY) and then went on to study at Stern College for Women, where she received her BA in Psychology. Straight out of college, Tal pursued her MA in Nonprofit Management & Leadership at Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School. She has since worked for Ayeka Center for Soulful Education as a Development Associate, and MMY as an Activities Coordinator/ Guidance Counselor (Rakezet). She has also served as Program Coordinator for multiple programs, including Counterpoint Israel and the Run4Afikim for Israeli youth at risk, the Bar Ilan Summer Research Program, and Yeshiva University’s Midrashia, which partners with Machon Puah to provide kallah teacher courses for rebbetzins-in-training. Tal is the proud mother of Abie and Zoey, is an avid reader, enjoys nature hikes, and plans to pursue a further degree in Psychology/Family Counseling in the long run.
Dena Block serves as Yoetzet Halacha for Congregation Agudath Sholom-Minnie Manger Marcia Lieberman Mikvah in Stamford, CT, and mentors newly certified Yoatzot Halacha through Nishmat's Miriam Glaubach Center. Dena is also the Director of Admissions at Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for girls and teaches Gemara and Halakha there. She first studied at the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women in Migdal Oz in Israel before graduating cum laude from Barnard College. She holds an M.A. in Medieval Jewish History from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, an M.A. in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation from the Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) at Yeshiva University and Yoetzet Halakha Certification from Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center’s U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. She lives with her husband and 4 children in Stamford, CT.
Rachel Cyrulnik serves as principal at RAISE Nonprofit Advisors, where she helps nonprofits achieve measurable and strategic growth. With more than fifteen years of experience in nonprofit management, Rachel leads a team of experts in helping organizations increase revenue, strengthen governance, plan strategically and communicate powerfully. Before she began her consulting career, Rachel spent a decade as a development officer at Yeshiva University and UJA-Federation of New York. She established the funding model at the YU School Partnership and ran three community campaigns for UJA-Federation of New York, where she raised and stewarded millions of dollars in grants and private support from national foundations and individual donors.
Rachel is an expert in philanthropic trends, a frequent contributor in thought leadership, and a sought-after presenter in the nonprofit community. She serves on the advisory board of Nonprofit Pro. Rachel graduated from Yeshiva University summa cum laude with a BA in Journalism and earned her MPA, with honors, from New York University, where she studied Nonprofit Management. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and five children.
Stephanie Erez is the Coordinator of Jbaby Detroit for Jfamily at the JCC where she organizes prenatal courses for first-time expectant parents. Stephanie hires the top experts in their field to deliver the most informative classes on newborn care, labor and delivery, infant CPR and baby feeding. Stephanie also coordinates post-baby programs like the Jbaby New Moms postpartum support group for moms, parenting education workshops and young Jewish family programming. Most recently, Stephanie has taken on overseeing new dad-focused programs like the Daddy Boot Camp workshop for prenatal dads and the monthly Sunday morningDaddy & Me: Bagels and Boot Camp for fathers and little ones. Stephanie is a native Detroiter and she received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her Master's in Jewish Civilization from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Before beginning her career with Jfamily, Stephanie worked remotely as a freelance writer and editor for six years and "mommed" full time. Before that, she held a position in the Israel and Overseas Department at the Jewish Federation.
Chumi Friedman is the director of HUG, the pregnancy and infant loss program at ATIME, an organization which supports couples experiencing infertility. She is also a certified doula with a focus on comfort and bereavement. She facilitates support groups and doula trainings.
Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at the Ramaz Upper School and is a faculty member at Drisha. She has a B.A. in the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from N.Y.U. School of Law. Miriam studied at Midreshet Lindenbaum and in the Drisha Scholar’s circle. She previously practiced commercial litigation at a large law firm and clerked for the Hon. Debra Freeman, U.S.M.J., in Manhattan. Miriam serves as a guest lecturer at synagogues and programs around the Northeast. Miriam's written work on topics of Jewish and Torah interest has appeared in outlets including the Forward, Project 929, and the Lehrhaus, where she is a Consulting Editor. Miriam lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with her family.
Shoshana Batya Greenwald is a speaker, writer, educator and design historian passionate about making positive change in the Jewish community. She has collaborated with several organizations on issues surrounding antisemitism advocacy and racism within the Jewish community including Repair the World, USC Hillel, Hasbarah Fellowships and OKClarity. She was previously Director of Collections at Amud Aish Memorial Museum where she oversaw the Holocaust museum’s archival, artifact and photography collection. She worked on both on-site and traveling exhibitions and developed and taught workshops to middle, high school and college age students . She has worked at and with several museums and institutions on exhibitions and collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York State Supreme Court and Brooklyn Public Library and and holds an MA in design history and material culture from Bard Graduate Center.
Rachel Kravetz, MS, OTR/L, lives in Fair Lawn, NJ with her husband and 2 children. Rachel is an active member of the Darchei Noam community, serves on the general board, and is the events coordinator of the Yoetzet Halacha Program in Fair Lawn. Rachel works as an occupational therapist at CTC Academy, a non-profit school that services children with multiple disabilities.
Zoë Lang is the Director of Ma'ayan, a learning organization in Boston dedicated to creating rich, dynamic encounters with Jewish text. She is also on the faculty of Maimonides School, where she teaches Jewish History and Israel Education. Previously, Zoë was on the leadership team of the Cambridge-Somerville Open Beit Midrash, where she helped to organize three International Women's Talmud Day events. Zoë has spoken at synagogues around the Boston area and teaches a weekly parshah shiur.
Rachel Mohl Abrahams is the Senior Advisor for Education Grants and Programs at The Mayberg foundation. For 21 years, she was the Senior Program Officer at The AVI CHAI Foundation, where she developed and managed an array of Jewish day school related projects. Her portfolio included managing the Foundation’s blended/personalized learning agenda in North America. A graduate of Stern College for Women, Rachel holds a J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law and an M.A. in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School.
Dr. Esther Rollhaus is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at Montefiore Medical Center and will be graduating in June 2020 with plans to open a private practice for children, adolescents, and adults. She has particular interests in pregnancy and post-partum mental health, bonding and attachment, and family psychotherapy. A graduate of Stern College for Women, Esther received her medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine with distinction in medical education. She completed general adult psychiatry residency at Montefiore Medical Center with awards in family therapy and medical education. She is passionate about reducing the stigma of psychiatry and encouraging safe and open dialogue about mental health.
Elise Saks currently works as an Administrative Director at the Katherine Thomas School, a special needs school serving Pre-K through 12th grade, in Rockville, MD. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland. Elise has always been interested and involved in serving the Jewish community. She has served as the Banquet Director, Youth Chair, Trustee and Secretary of the Board at her synagogue, Young Israel Shomrai Emunah, in Silver Spring. Elise and her husband Ken were honored at the synagogue's 2019 Annual Banquet and received the Youth Leadership Award. She most recently has ventured out of her comfort zone and joined the Chevra Kadisha. Elise and Ken live in Silver Spring with their two daughters, Talia (11) and Mira (8).
Orit Barnea Seif has been working in the Jewish community for nearly twenty years. Following her graduation from Columbia University, Orit, along with her husband, Yehuda, started the OU's Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program at the University of Pennsylvania, where she taught and ran innovative programs for University students for four years. Following her work at Penn, Orit practiced law at a tax litigation firm representing Fortune 500 companies. Orit's true passion for working in the Jewish community beckoned, and in 2012, Orit joined a Philadelphia-based Foundation where she started and managed a project geared at enhancing the Jewish Day Schools in the Philadelphia region. Orit made Aliyah to Efrat, Gush Etzion with her husband and five sons. She is currently the Director of Kedma, a non-profit that enables gap year students to give back within Israeli society through weekly volunteering activities.
Abbey Soclof is the Senior Executive Director of Advancement Operations (it's a mouthful!) at Yeshiva University's Institutional Advancement (aka fundraising) department, where she leads the operations team and plays a strategic leadership role across the department. Before coming to YU, Abbey was the Executive Director for six years at a synagogue, and help a variety of roles in the Jewish community prior to that. Abbey has a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a Masters of Public Administration from Baruch College.
Abbey currently lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side with her husband Adam and two toddlers, Sova and Rocky, where she serves on the Board of Congregation Ramath Orah, is a founding member of a Cookbook Book Club, and enjoys hosting meals, reading, and sports in her non-existent free time.
Dr. Gillian Steinberg is an English teacher at SAR High School where she also co-directs faculty Professional Development. She is the author of two books and numerous articles about literature and pedagogy, runs a small business as a writing coach, and serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale.

COHORT III

Rebeccah Appelbaum

Lori Ben-Ezra

Rabbanit Ellyse Borghi

Adira Lautman Botwinick

Henny Ephron

Olivia Friedman

Nomi Kaltmann

Meirav Kravetz

Evonne Marzouk

Aviva Oppenheim

Bracha Poliakoff

Rebeccah Appelbaum grew up in Rochester, New York in a close-knit Jewish Community. After attending college at New York University she remained in New York City and joined the Teaching Fellows Cohort of 2003. She currently teaches U.S. History in a public middle school in the Bronx. Rebeccah’s passion is youth involvement in the Jewish Community. From an early age, she and her peers were expected to be involved in their community (all hands on deck in small communities). Rebeccah is looking to find ways to recreate that empowerment and urgency in the larger community that she is now a part of. Rebeccah has always spent her time off from work or school in leadership roles in the Jewish Community. In high school she was on the board of her local NCSY chapter. In college she was involved in shabbos and holiday programming. After getting married, Rebeccah helped run The Greenpoint Shul in Brooklyn with her husband, Rabbi Maurice Appelbaum where she worked to create an environment of involvement and empowerment for people of all walks of life. Four kids and 2 pets later, Rebeccah and her family moved to Teaneck, NJ where she is an executive member of her shul board thus continuing her involvement in the Jewish community in her off time.
Lori Ben-Ezra is a licensed psychologist in Hollywood, Florida. Her professional focus is on facilitating improved academic performance and social functioning for students through the administration of psychological tests. Dr. Ben-Ezra also works with individuals to improve their relationships and live more joyfully. She has held numerous volunteer positions in Broward County Jewish organizations. She is passionate about supporting programs that facilitate Jewish continuity. Currently, Dr. Ben-Ezra serves as the Campaign Chair of the Broward County Jewish Federation. Dr. Ben-Ezra lives in Hollywood with her husband, Marc. They are proud to have raised three adult children who continue their value of community service.
Rabbanit Ellyse Borghi was the first woman in Australia to receive smicha (Orthodox rabbinic ordination) from Yeshivat Har’El in Jerusalem in 2019. She spends her days as a children’s lawyer for Legal Aid and her nights learning and teaching Torah. Ellyse is a member of the Unchain My Heart Australia agunot advocacy organisation and worked with the Melbourne Beth Din to review their Gett procedures. She is currently drafting an updated halachic prenuptial agreement for use in Australia. Ellyse is trained by Yad L'Isha to appear as a lawyer in Batei Din and is currently completing training with the Eden Centre as a Kallah teacher. Rabbanit Ellyse is passionate about enabling wide access to the beauty of Jewish tradition and encouraging people to bring their full selves into Jewish life. She lives in Melbourne Australia with her husband Adam and their two daughters.
Rachel is an expert in philanthropic trends, a frequent contributor in thought leadership, and a sought-after presenter in the nonprofit community. She serves on the advisory board of Nonprofit Pro. Rachel graduated from Yeshiva University summa cum laude with a BA in Journalism and earned her MPA, with honors, from New York University, where she studied Nonprofit Management. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and five children.
Adira Lautman Botwinick has been an active leader in each community she has lived in. She brings her passion for mental health to Jewish children, especially young Jewish women, in much of her work. Her core mission is to allow children to develop confident, healthy relationships with themselves, with G-d, and one day with their spouse. After graduating with her masters in social work, Adira worked at Yachad NY, JBFCS Break Free Clinic, and Camp Stone. At the latter, she has served as the Director of the Yachad Vocational Program. Since moving to Kemp Mill in 2018 she has organized programs with Yoetzet Bracha Rutner, the Yoetzet Halacha of Kemp Mill Synagogue. She currently works as a guidance counselor at Berman Hebrew Academy. Together with her husband Simeon and their three children, Adin, Hadar and Raanan, she enjoys hiking, cooking and reading in addition to finding ways to add sparkle to whichever community they are a part of.
Henny Ephron is an ultrasound technologist specialist who has worked at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas for the past 14 years. Henny is passionate about the importance of chinuch/Jewish education and teaching. Henny and her husband proudly served as faculty of TORCH, a local outreach organization that prompted their move to Texas. Henny also served as Co-President of Yeshiva Torah Emet's PTO, where she initiated and implemented many new programs and served on the Board and Welcome Committee of her local synagogue, where she organized many events and Scholar in Residence speaking engagements. Henny was also an active member of the community’s Chevra Kadisha. Henny lives with her husband and four energetic children in Houston, Texas. She thoroughly enjoys gardening and entertaining.
Olivia Friedman is a creative thinker with a penchant for literary analysis, pop culture and Tanakh. She currently teaches Tanakh, Jewish Law and Oral Thought and serves as an Instructional Technology Coordinator at Ida Crown Jewish Academy. Previously, she taught at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD, where she developed the curriculum for a course comparing Western and Jewish thought on evaded issues and ethical dilemmas. Olivia earned her M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, MSEd with a concentration in Gifted Education from Northwestern University, and B.A. in English Literature from YU’s Stern College for Women. She served as Rosh Chinuch at Moshava Ba’ir Chicago during its inaugural summer in 2021. She has also completed the Matan Bellows Eshkolot Professional Development Fellowship, serves as a No Shame on U Teen Mentor, and facilitates the Erika’s Lighthouse Mental Health Awareness club at Ida Crown. Olivia has presented and spoken at numerous venues, including NewCAJE, Legacy Heritage Instructional Leadership Institute, Prizmah, NILI, Torah Educators Network YHShare Conference, Young Israel of Skokie, Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, the University of Maryland JLIC and Kemp Mill Synagogue. Her articles have been published in The Lehrhaus, Tablet Magazine, The Forward, The Times of Israel, Jewish Action and Hypable.
Nomi Kaltmann is from Melbourne, Australia. After earning her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Politics and Jewish Civilizations from Monash University. She earned her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Politics and Jewish Civilizations from Monash University. Previously Nomi has worked for the Shadow Attorney General of Australia and as an advisor to the former Minister for Small Business in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Nomi also coordinated and accompanied a Parliamentary delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Specializing in charities and not-for-profit law, Nomi has worked for the Australian Charities Commission. In 2020 Nomi was selected for a fellowship at Hillel International's Centre for Rabbinic Innovation and in 2021 Nomi became Tablet Magazine's Australian correspondent . Nomi is one of the founding members of the Women’s Orthodox Tefillah Group in Victoria. She is also the founder and inaugural president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance in Australia.
Meirav Kravetz is an educational consultant with a vast experience in coaching, facilitation, and teaching. She holds a Master Degree in Education from Nova Southeastern University and studied Judaic Studies in Nishmat Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women in Israel. Meirav is certified as a blended learning and student centered learning expert. Meirav mentors teachers in many schools in the US and the world, and facilitates interactive workshops and seminars both, in person and virtually. Meirav Kravetz strongly believes that the teacher's mission is to support the students as they develop critical thinking, and to encourage them to become independent learners who contribute to the Jewish community, to Israel, and to the world. Meirav Kravetz was born and raised in Israel and lives today in Hollywood, Florida. Meirav is fluent in Hebrew, English, and Spanish and speaks some French and Italian.
Evonne Marzouk is the author of the Jewish inspirational novel The Prophetess, published in 2019 by Bancroft Press. She has spoken virtually and in person to schools, synagogues and book clubs about the writing process and the book’s themes. The Prophetess is also the centerpiece of the new Grow Into Your Gifts Bat Mitzvah Present and Inspiration Package, meaningful gifts empowering today’s heroines to grow into their full potential. As the founder and director of Canfei Nesharim (now merged with GrowTorah), Evonne worked with rabbis, scientists, educators, and community leaders to create and distribute Torah teachings and programs on the environment, including a comprehensive set of core teachings on the environment, later gathered into a book, Uplifting People and Planet: Eighteen Essential Jewish Lessons on the Environment, published in 2013. Since 1999, Evonne has worked professionally for the Environmental Protection Agency, focusing both on communications and international policy. She lives in Maryland with her family.
Aviva Oppenheim is an engineer with almost 20 years of experience in design and construction of large infrastructure projects. Her love of science and her professional experience deeply connect with her Jewish communal efforts - each informs and enhances the other. Aviva recently played a major role in a beautification program at her synagogue, which included the replacement of the main sanctuary’s 40-year-old mechitzah. Recognizing the importance of designing a mechitzah that both incorporated halachic requirements and addressed the needs of many constituent groups, Aviva applied her project management and engineering expertise to the challenge and realized that other synagoigues could benefit by following a similar approach. Publishing an article in the OU’s Jewish Action about the importance of women’s voices in the creation of a mechitzah is only Aviva’s first step toward implementing her vision of improving mechitzah design in the larger Orthodox community. Aviva is a member of the first graduating class of HALB’s Stella K Abraham High School, studied at Michlalah Jerusalem, and has a mechanical engineering degree from The Cooper Union. She enjoys teaching Torah from the perspective of science and lives in Fair Lawn, NJ, with her husband and three children.
Bracha Poliakoff, LCSW-C is a licensed clinical social worker, speaker, and writer. She currently serves as the Founder and Director of Continuing Education at Bright Ideas Continuing Education, where she provides high quality continuing education programs for social workers in the United States and Canada. Bracha is also working on a book, together with Rabbi Anthony Manning, on the often misunderstood topic of tzniut. As a passionate member of the Orthodox community, Bracha often finds ways to give back and make a difference and has served on the board of Keneseth Beth Israel (Richmond, VA) as well as the Women’s Institute of Torah (Baltimore, MD). In addition, Bracha is very involved in directing and promoting the Connections Chaburah Project (originally formed as part of the Orthodox Union’s Women’s Initiative Grant) for Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion in Baltimore, MD. Bracha is passionate about personal and professional development and has participated in The Associated’s Young Leadership Council and the Orthodox Union’s Women’s Initiative Leadership Summit. Bracha lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband and three children.