Meet Ilana Bauman Waxman! Ilana is a passionate Jewish educator and community builder. She currently serves as the Manhiga Kehilatit: Director of Community Engagement at Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland, CA, where she and her husband Noam are on Shlichut. In this role, Ilana supports the Rabbi in supporting the community, through teaching Torah, creating programming, and offering pastoral care.

Ilana holds a MSW from Yeshiva University Wurzweiler School of Social Work, a Teaching Certificate from David Yellin College of Education in Jerusalem, and a B.S. in Biology and in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, where she served as Hillel President. She has also studied in numerous Beit Midrash programs in America and Israel, including MMY, GPATS, Pardes, and Matan. Ilana has helped foster Jewish community in her hometown of Silver Spring, MD, in New York City, in Jerusalem, and even in Madagascar, where she lived for two months during college. She has worked as a therapist, taught in both American Jewish day schools and Israeli public schools, and staffed and directed numerous trips to Israel for teens and young adults through Birthright, NCSY, and OU-JLIC.

She has participated in many fellowships and training opportunities, including the current cohort of the Micah Philanthropies Community Scholars Fellowship, the Mizrachi Shalhevet Shlichut Training Program, The United Synagogue’s Rabbinic Internship Program, the Prizmah Rising Orthodox Female Educational Leaders Fellowship, OU Women’s Initiative’s Art of Speaking Fellowship, the Mechon Hadar Jewish Wisdom Fellowship, and The Mayberg Foundation and Azrieli Graduate School On the Move Fellowship. She was also honored with the Community Service Award at The Jewish Center Synagogue in New York City.

Ilana brings joy, authenticity, and intentionality into all that she does. She makes it her mission to be welcoming, inclusive, and encouraging, and believes strongly that we are all teachers and we are all students – there is something to learn from everyone. Her goal is for people to feel not only that they have a place in Jewish community and Torah study, but also that they are valuable contributors to the pursuit and development of both. Ilana feels blessed to serve in her current position, where she gets to do just that, and she is grateful to the Orthodox Leadership Project for their encouragement and support.

Tamar Ben Tzvi is a social media strategist, storyteller, and the founder of Tales Of, where she helps individuals and organizations communicate clearly, boldly, and honestly. She focuses on messaging that cuts through fluff and gets to the point, especially when the truth feels uncomfortable or easier to avoid.

Raised in New Jersey across multiple cities and schools, Tamar developed an early ability to adapt, read people well, and communicate in complex environments. Her experiences shaped a leadership style rooted in clarity, resilience, and the belief that avoiding hard conversations does not create healthy outcomes.

Much of Tamar’s work centers on fertility, intimacy, and building strong marriages. She is completing her training as a Kallah Teacher through The Eden Center, driven by a commitment to help women and couples enter marriage with honesty, education, and emotional strength. Through both her teaching and her platform, she advocates for healthier communication and deeper connection within relationships.

Tamar is also the creator of @talesoftamar, an Instagram platform with over 15,000 followers built on openness, honesty, and hope. Across all her work, she is passionate about helping people say what they actually mean and lead with courage rather than comfort.

Aura is the Senior Staff Attorney at Shalom Task Force, where she provides free legal services, Her work focuses on supporting survivors of domestic violence, particularly within the Jewish community in family law. Prior to joining Shalom Task Force, Aura worked in private practice at a matrimonial law firm with a large clientele in the Jewish community. She began her legal career at the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, where she handled child abuse and neglect cases. Aura is also trained in divorce mediation.

Aura graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 2006, where she received the Brooklyn Law School Gold Public Service Award and served as a Brooklyn Law School Public Interest Fellow. She is admitted to practice law in both New York and New Jersey and is a graduate of Barnard College, where she earned a degree in Environmental Science.

Elianna Feit is Founder and Principal of ELiVATED Designs, a full-service design studio producing high-performance residential, educational, and community environments. Her work reflects strategic clarity, architectural rigor, and a deep respect for lived experiences. Alongside her practice, she serves as Adjunct Professor at Berkeley College’s Professional School, teaching interior design and space planning while mentoring emerging designers. A Pratt Institute Architecture graduate, Elianna brings a systems-based approach that merges disciplined planning with refined interiors. Under her leadership, the firm specializes in multifamily and single-family residences, amenity spaces, education facilities, and Jewish institutions, navigating complex programs with precision and purpose. Raised in the Midwest and professionally shaped on the East Coast, her leadership emphasizes resilience, accountability, and thoughtful collaboration. Her professional path aligns with a strong commitment to Jewish life, supporting both her practice and family within the Teaneck community.

Elianna leads with a perspective bridging tradition and modernity, believing design succeeds when it supports how people live, learn, gather, and grow. She focuses on intentional growth, meaningful partnerships, and guiding teams and clients with long-term vision and restraint. Her studio culture prioritizes mentorship, interdisciplinary coordination, clear communication, and design solutions that balance performance, beauty, durability, sustainability, and measurable long-term value for clients.

Rivka Herzfeld grew up in a home filled with a commitment and love for Torah observance; mitzvot have always been a central part of her life. She has always felt embraced by the members of her shul and enjoyed the comfortable feeling that it is truly her second home.

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Rivka earned an M.A. in Tanach from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Judaic Studies. She enjoys teaching Tanach to all ages and backgrounds. She is also a respected disability awareness educator. Rivka is personable, easygoing, has a terrific sense of humor, and loves sharing puns. She is passionate about politics, human rights, the arts and “liberty and justice for all”, and is determined to make her voice count.

Ayelet Hoffmann Libson is a scholar of Talmud and Jewish law. She is an Associate Professor of Talmud at Bar Ilan University. Previously she served as an Associate Professor of Law at Reichman University and was the Gruss Visiting Professor of Talmudic Jurisprudence at Harvard Law School and at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She specializes in rabbinic law, the relationship between law and religion, and the history of Jewish law.

Hoffmann Libson received a B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Talmud from New York University. She has been awarded several prestigious grants and awards, including the 2023 Fattal Prize for excellence in legal research. Her first book is entitled Law and Self-Knowledge in the Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and she is currently completing her second book, On the Threshold, a collection of essays on the central themes of each tractate of the Babylonian Talmud.

Hoffmann Libson is also a graduate of the Matan Advanced Talmud Institute and the halakhah programs at Beit Morashah and Migdal Oz. She is a member of the Beit Hillel rabbinic organization and has been involved in writing several of its responsa. She has taught extensively at Matan, Lindenbaum, and Drisha, and lectures widely throughout Israel and internationally.

Elissa Kaplan is a senior business leader and community advocate with more than 20 years of experience in project management and enterprise planning. She currently serves as Senior Director of Enterprise Planning at Catchmaster, a manufacturing company dedicated to protecting environments and improving lives by helping prevent the spread of disease through innovative pest management solutions.

Elissa’s career spans land development, municipal water treatment equipment, retail, and consumer packaged goods, including leadership roles at Toys “R” Us and The Vitamin Shoppe. She began her career as a Project Manager and has steadily advanced into senior leadership through her strategic vision and operational expertise. In addition, she has served as a Professor of Continuing Education in Project Management at CUNY, where she shares practical, real-world insights with emerging professionals.

Deeply committed to community service, Elissa served for eight years on the Board of Trustees of her children’s school, including three years as Board President. She also chaired the Queen’s Tea fundraising event for eight years and is a recipient of the Young Leadership Award from Chabad of Passaic County.

Elissa and her husband are baalei teshuva and were featured guests on the Orthodox Union’s Saturday to Shabbos podcast, where they shared their personal journey and commitment to Jewish life and growth.

Candace Plotsker-Herman is a writer, publicist, and fundraiser who is deeply engaged in Jewish learning and institutional development. Although she received a Modern Orthodox day school education, she embraced serious textual learning later in life. She has studied in varied institutions, most notably Drisha, Lamdeinu, and Nishmat. In recent years, she expanded her learning through online platforms, including Daf Yomi with Talking Talmud and Hadran. She is currently studying Rav Steinsaltz’s Hebrew commentary on Pirkei Avot with Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and participating in a weekly virtual chavruta that emerged from Nishmat’s 2020 COVID summer program. She is a proud member of the Five Towns Orthodox feminist group, which not only holds Simchat Torah and Megillah readings but also hosts a robust yearly calendar of engaging events.

Professionally, Candace helps clients advance missions that align with her values. Clients have included day schools ranging from pluralistic to Haredi, as well as local, national, and international organizations. Collaborating closely with institutional leaders, she has helped shape programming and secure grants to foster Jewish identity, support campus mental health, and address food insecurity. She also works as a writing coach and facilitates book groups. She plans to pursue a writing project based on the Four Sons section of the Haggadah, highlighting the social, communal, and pedagogical lessons it offers. She lives with her husband in Woodmere, New York, and - at times – in Sunny Isles, Florida, and seeks to combine the best of both worlds in terms of sunshine, spiritual growth, and Jewish communal engagement.

Mrs. Chaya Tabor is the General Studies Principal at South Bend Hebrew Day School and brings over 25 years of experience in Jewish education to her work. She holds a master’s degree in Special Education from New York University and a master’s degree in Supervision and Administration from Loyola University Chicago, where she is currently completing her doctorate in Educational Leadership.

As a school leader, Mrs. Tabor is deeply committed to ensuring that all Jewish children receive an excellent, rigorous, and supportive general studies education. Her leadership centers on building strong instructional cultures, supporting and mentoring educators, and creating systems that allow both students and teachers to thrive. She is especially passionate about equity, effective pedagogy, and the intersection of faith-based education and best practices in general education.

Mrs. Tabor is an active member of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association (INPEA), where she represents Agudah and advocates on behalf of Jewish day schools across Indiana. She is also a member of LINKed, the General Studies Principals network of COJDS, where she serves as a Pedagogy Specialist, collaborating with colleagues to strengthen teaching and learning across Jewish day schools.

As a member of the 5th Orthodox Leadership Cohort, Mrs. Tabor looks forward to learning alongside and contributing to a network of thoughtful, reflective leaders committed to strengthening Orthodox institutions through collaboration, innovation, and shared leadership.

Dr. Dahlia Topolosky is a psychologist, rebbetzin, singer, and mother of 4. She studied Torah at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and summers at Nishmat, Matan, and Drisha. She earned her undergraduate degree from Barnard in Psychology and English and her Psy.D. from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology.

Dahlia and Rabbi Uri, helped rebuild Congregation Beth Israel in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where Dahlia also provided trauma-focused psychological care in the storm’s aftermath. Now based in Maryland, they have grown and lead Kehilat Pardes, a shul known for warmth, openness, and spiritual depth. As rebbetzin, Dahlia has played a central role in Women’s Rosh Chodesh programming, Women’s Kabbalat Shabbats, teaching bat mitzvah girls, hosting Shabbat meals, training mikvah attendants, and music-filled spiritual experiences with her voice, guitar, and dumbek, including Women’s Open Mic events and leading kumzitzes. She has also produced a children’s album, Kol Nearim, and has led musical workshops/kumzitzes for Jewish organizations, shuls, and schools around the country.

Dahlia is in a group private practice and runs a telehealth practice specializing in grief, trauma, anxiety, life transitions, and reproductive mental health. She has led support groups for Jewish college students and groups for women experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss.