Rabbi Shlomo Brody
Dean
Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody is the executive director of Ematai and the Jewish Law Live columnist for the Jerusalem Post. He previously served as the founding director of the Tikvah Overseas Student Institute and co-dean of Tikvah Online Academy, a senior instructor at Yeshivat Hakotel, and as a junior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Rabbi Brody’s career has focused on making Jewish texts accessible to broader audiences while applying them to contemporary social and ethical dilemmas. His writings have been cited in Israeli Supreme Court decisions and have appeared in Mosaic, First Things, Tradition, The Federalist, Tablet, Tzohar, The Forward, Hakirah, Jewish Review of Books, and other popular publications. His first book, A Guide to the Complex: Contemporary Halakhic Debates (Maggid), received a National Jewish Book Award. His next book, Judaism Confronts War: Jewish Military Ethics for the 21st Century, is scheduled to be published in both Hebrew and English in early 2024. A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, he received rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, an MA in Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University, and his PhD from Bar Ilan University Law School, where he continues to serve as a post-doctoral fellow. Rabbi Brody has been an invited scholar-in-residence at over 40 distinguished congregations and campuses in the United States, Canada, England, and Israel.
Avital Gold
Student and Operations Coordinator
The Tikvah Fund
Avital Gold serves as the Student and Operations Coordinator of the program. Avital has her BA in philosophy and Jewish thought from Shalem College and is studying in Midreshet Lindenbaum. Previously she studied in Yeshivat Rosh Tzorim for women and in Midreshet Nishmat. Avital did her national service (sherut leumi) running informal Jewish educational programs at “Livnot U’Lehibanot” in Tzfat and working with the special needs students of Shalva. She was a member of Jewish Agency delegations to run Zionist seminars in Australia and South Africa and continues her work in informal Jewish education by leading Birthright and Keshet groups in Israel.
Ryan Anderson
Instructor
The Heritage Foundation
Ryan T. Anderson is the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, where he researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as well as the moral dimensions of economic thought, health care, and education. Anderson is also the editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, N.J. He is the co-author with Princeton’s Robert P. George and Sherif Girgis of the acclaimed book, What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense (Encounter Books, December 2012). Anderson’s previous positions include assistant editor of First Things, journalism fellow of the Phillips Foundation, and executive director of the Witherspoon Institute. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He holds a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. His dissertation is titled “Neither Liberal nor Libertarian: A Natural Law Approach to Social Justice and Economic Rights.”
Netta Barak-Corren
Instructor
Dr. Netta Barak-Corren is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received her first dual-major degree in Law and Cognitive Science from the Hebrew University as the Valedictorian of her class and her Doctorate in Law from Harvard University. Netta’s research centers around empirical and behavioral analysis of public and constitutional law. She is particularly interested in questions relating to law and religion, equality, and conflicts of norms, both at the individual and societal levels. Prior to academia, Netta clerked for the Chief Justice of Israeli Supreme Court, Hon. Dorit Beinish.
Caroline Glick
Instructor
Jerusalem Post
Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing and chief columnist for the Jerusalem Post, and a senior columnist at Breitbart. She is also a senior columnist for Maariv. She is the author of The Israeli Solution: A One State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, (Crown 2014) and of Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad (Gefen 2008). The Israeli Solution was endorsed by leading US policymakers including Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Ted Cruz and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Shackled Warrior was endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former CIA director James Woolsey.
Ambassador Dore Gold
Instructor
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Dore Gold is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He is a former Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations (1997-1999) and served as Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2015-2016). Ambassador Gold is the author of several books, including Tower of Babble, Hatred’s Kingdom, The Fight for Jerusalem, and The Rise of Nuclear Iran.
Dr. Sharon Goldman
Instructor
Dr. Sharon Goldman is a Vice President at Bar-Ilan University. Prior to making aliyah in the summer of 2018, she worked for AIPAC for 12 years and was an assistant professor of political science. She has written and published on the topics of Zionism, intersectionality and activism in Commentary, the Forward, and the Times of Israel.
Micah Goodman
Instructor
Shalom Hartman Institute and Mabua
Daniel Gordis
Instructor
Shalem College
Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President and Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College. The author of twelve books, Gordis is a regular columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Gordis’s history of Israel, Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn, received the 2016 National Jewish Book Award as “Book of the Year.” Ambassador Dennis Ross, reflecting on the book, wrote, “When I am asked ‘Is there one book to read about Israel?’ I now have an answer.” Gordis’s most recent book, We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel, was published in 2019. Dr. Gordis and his wife live in Jerusalem.
Dr. Avital Levi
Instructor
Tel Aviv University
Avital H. Levi received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Arizona. Her dissertation proposed an original theory of moral obligation in the sentimentalist tradition of David Hume. Her research centers on the intersection between ethics and epistemology, and she is currently writing a book on the role of loyalty in the ethical and political theory of the Hebrew Bible. Dr. Levi is a postdoctoral fellow at the Safra Center for Ethics at Tel Aviv University. She holds a BA in philosophy from Princeton University and an MA in philosophy from Ben Gurion University, and she studied Torah at Migdal Oz, Nishmat, and Herzog College. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband Eliyahu and their three children.
Aylana Meisel
Instructor
The Tikvah Fund
Aylana Meisel is the Deputy Director of Tikvah Israel and the head of its student educational division. She has worked for Tikvah in the United States and Israel for seven years, assisting in mission development, strategy, and implementation across the Fund’s educational activities. She has overseen the recruitment of thousands of talented students and young and senior professionals to Tikvah educational opportunities, and maintains relationships with alumni internationally.
Her professional experience includes work in journalism, policy analysis, legislation, and law. She obtained her J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. in Jewish Studies from the Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, City University of New York. Her work has been published in outlets including Mosaic, Commentary Magazine, The Jerusalem Post, and the Washington Free Beacon.
David Nekrutman
David Nekrutman, OTS Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation
With 19 years of experience in Jewish-Christian relations with a specific concentration in the Evangelical world, David Nekrutman currently serves as the Executive Director for the Ohr Torah Stone Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation. With Hebraic Bible study programs, providing food care packages to the financially challenged Christian Arabs living in Bethlehem and bringing Christian clergy and academics to Israel, Mr. Nekrutman is leading the first Orthodox Jewish institution to religiously dialogue and actively cooperate with Christians. His op-eds have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel and Chariama Magazine and he has appeared on GOD TV and CBN. With a BA in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Nekrutman received his MA in Biblical Literature in 2018 from Oral Roberts University. He is the first Orthodox Jewish person to graduate from a Spirit-filled theology program.
Yehoshua Pfeffer
Instructor
The Tikvah Fund
Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer is head of the Haredi Israel division at the Tikvah Fund, running a variety of programs and projects that cater to members of the Haredi and Religious-Zionist communities. Pfeffer was born and educated in London before continuing his Torah education in Israel. He served as a Dayan (Rabbinical Judge) on a Jerusalem monetary court, as chief rabbi and moderator of an international Jewish-law website, and as chief editor of the Ner LeElef Resources program. He has written numerous books and articles on different subjects of Jewish law and thought; lectures extensively for various forums in Israel and abroad; and has taught at several Yeshivot in Israel, currently at Hedvat HaTorah. He has also served as chief halachic assistant to the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and as a researcher for the Israel Law Ministry. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree (summa cum laude) in law from Hebrew University, and clerked at the Supreme Court of Israel, also teaching at Hebrew University and the Herzlia Interdisciplinary Center. He attended the Tikvah Summer Fellowship program in 2012
Dr. Daniel Polisar
Instructor
Daniel Polisar is the co-founder and executive vice president of Shalem College in Jerusalem, Israel’s first liberal arts college. He previously served as the president of the Shalem Center from 2002-2013 and also as its director of research, academic director, and editor-in-chief of its journal, Azure. From 2006 to 2009, he served as the founding chairman, within the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister, of the National Council for the Commemoration of the Legacy of Theodor Herzl. Dr. Polisar received his BA in politics from Princeton University and his PhD in government from Harvard University, where he was the recipient of Truman and Fulbright scholarships, as well as of a Mellon Fellowship. His research interests include Zionist history and thought, Israeli constitutional development, and the history and philosophy of higher education.
Simcha D. Rothman
Simcha D. Rothman is the founder and legal adviser of The Movement for Governability and Democracy (Meshilut), a leading voice in the fight against judicial activism and for the proper separation of powers in Israel.
He investigates the complex relations between appointed and elected officials and represents Meshilut in appeals filed before the Israeli Supreme Court and in various Knesset committees.
Rothman earned his L.L.M. in Public Law in the joint program between Northwestern University and Tel Aviv University. He earned his L.L.B. from Bar Ilan University, studied in Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, and served as a chaplain in the Combat Engineering Corps of the Israel Defense Forces.
David Stav
Instructor
Tzohar Rabbinical Organization
Rabbi David Stav is the co-founder and the chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, a rabbinical organization which aims to provide religious services to and create dialogue with the broader Israeli population. He also serves as the rabbi of the city of Shoham. Previously he served as the rabbi of the religious film school, Maale, and was one of the founding heads of Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva. He is the author of Bein Ha-Zemanim, a book about culture and recreation in Jewish thought and law. One of Israel’s most visible rabbinic figures, he regularly appears on Israeli television and radio, and lectures to a wide range of audiences.
