RSVP for Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner - Dec 16: A Jew Responds to Tragedy
At Shaarei Shomayim Saturday Night - December 16th at 7:30 pm
I Don’t Understand! A Jew Responds to Tragedy
At Shaarei Shomayim Saturday Night - December 16th at 7:30 pm
Rabbi Yehuda Mann grew up in Ra’anana, Israel. He was a counselor in Bnei Akiva, and he volunteered at the Loewenstein Hospital where he taught and set up chavrutot (study sessions) for rehabilitating patients. After high school he learned at the Chevron Yeshiva in Jerusalem, under the guidance of some of the greatest Torah scholars of our time. His Rabbis encouraged him to take the demanding exams of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. After successfully passing twelve tests, he received the highest level of ordination given in Israel – to be a “Rav Ha’Ir” (City Rabbi).
Rabbi Mann then entered the Dayyanut (rabbinical judge) program at The Harry Fischel institute for Rabbis and Rabbinical Judges. He completed the seven-year curriculum and passed the tests of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. For the past few years, Rabbi Mann has been interning in Gittin at the Jerusalem Beth Din, and in monetary law at the distinguished Beth Din of Rabbi Asher Weiss.
Before coming to Toronto, Rabbi Mann served as Rabbi at the Achdut Yisrael synagogue in Jerusalem and taught in several yeshivot. He loves teaching, and held seven weekly classes the week in his community and beyond, including one on Israel Radio.
Rabbi Mann is married to Shulamit, who works as a banker and financial advisor. They have three adorable children: Moshe, Dvora and Michal. As of Summer 2023, Rabbi Mann has become the Rosh Beit Midrash of Beit Midrash Zichron Dov.
Rabbi Aviad Pituchey Chotam is a seasoned Limudei Kodesh educator and experienced Shaliach, currently serving also as Dean of BMZD and returning for his second Shlichut in Toronto. With a strong foundation in Jewish education, Rabbi Pituchey Chotam has held key roles at various institutions including the educational department of Ohr Torah Stone, the Straus-Amiel | Beren Amiel Institute where he trained future Shlichim, and Hebraica Hertzl-Bialik School in Caracas, Venezuela. His expertise in Tanach curriculum development, coupled with a passion for fostering Jewish identity, has been instrumental in his work at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Gesher Educational Center. As a dedicated educator and innovator, Rabbi Pituchey Chotam has successfully integrated technology and new media into Jewish studies and Ivrit program, and built a strong partnerships with Herzog and Shaanan Colleges to enhance the Young Shlichim program.
Hillel was part of the Beit Midrash, an Avreich and Rabbinic Assistant at Congregation Bnai Torah, 5771-5773. He is also a former Rebbi & Shaliach at BAS of Toronto. Hillel has a B.A in Tanakah and Psychology from the Bar-Ilan university, and an M.A in Clinical and Educational child psychology from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. These days Hillel is in a advanced training program for Clinical psychologists through IDC (Riechman university) in which he is the Psychologist in a Yeshiva for Charidy high-schoolers coming from difficult backgrounds. Hillel’s field of expertise is learning and teaching Tanakah which he does online and in his city of Pardes-Hana, Israel. Hillel is married to Michal and father to Yehonatan (13), Aviad (10) , Talia (7) and Ori (4)
I also learned in Raanana in my Hesder Yeshiva and was a Chapin in Tzanchanim in my army service. If it matters I did NBA stuff too
Rabbi Steven Gotlib is an avreich at Beit Midrash Zichron Dov and Assistant Rabbi at the Village Shul. He previously served as Beit Midrash Coordinator at Congregation Shearith Israel: The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York City, and has held Rabbinic Internships at Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob of Albany and the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. His writing has appeared in Jewish Action Magazine, the Lehrhaus, Tradition Journal Online, 18Forty, and Toronto Torah.
Rabbi Gotlib received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, a certificate in Mental Health Counseling from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology in partnership with RIETS, a certificate in Spiritual Entrepreneurship from the Glean Network in partnership with Columbia Business School, and a BA in Communications, Jewish Studies, and Philosophy from Rutgers University.
Idan Rakovsky was born in Israel and grew up in Montreal. As a son of a chazan, Idan has experienced first-hand a variety of synagogues and Jewish communities across North America. He has been active in many youth movements, and has worked with children and teens.
For his military service, Idan served as a commander in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Intelligence Unit 8200, for four years.
Idan is a graduate of Yeshivat Giva’t Shmuel and Yeshivat Ma’ale Gilboa. He strongly believes that Torah study must derive from an honest position, in which inherent human morality meets Darchah Shel Torah (“the path of Torah”) and creates a meaningful discourse in the process. Idan learns and teaches Talmud in the style of Revadim, which was developed by his Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi David Bigman. In this approach, talmudic academic research – such as philological methods – are woven into traditional study.
Idan often defines himself as a student of Rav Shagar zt”l. A significant part of Idan’s Torah study, including Jewish philosophy and Tanach, can be thought of as an effort to meditate between the Jewish halachic world and the postmodern world in which we live, by the light of Rav Shagar’s wisdom.
Idan and his wife Prielle live in Kibbutz Massuot Yitzhak, located in southern Israel. They are looking forward to joining Congregation Shaarei Tefillah, where Idan will serve as Rabbinic Assistant.
Rabbi Torczyner has been our Rosh Beit Midrash since our founding in August 2009. Rabbi Torczyner received his B.A. (Comp Sci) from Yeshiva University in 1993, and studied toward a Masters (Comp Sci) at New York University while learning for the rabbinate in Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
After his ordination in 1997, Rabbi Torczyner served as Rabbi of Young Israel of Pawtucket, Rhode Island for four years, and then Congregation Sons of Israel, Allentown, Pennsylvania for eight years. While in Allentown, Rabbi Torczyner spent three years mentoring new pulpit rabbis for Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future. Rabbi Torczyner has served two terms on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America, and he has headed and served on various committees of the RCA.
Rabbi Torczyner enjoys blending different areas of knowledge with Torah, and utilizing diverse methods to develop curricula in Jewish history, Tanach and Jewish law. Rabbi Torczyner was honoured with the Ontario Medical Association‘s Community Service Award in 2019, for his accredited Medical Ethics classes. In 2016, Rabbi Torczyner received the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Fire Safety Award for programming geared toward raising fire safety awareness in the Jewish community. More than 2500 of Rabbi Torczyner’s shiurim and articles published in Toronto are featured on www.yutorah.org, and Rabbi Torczyner is a regular contributor to the Center for the Jewish Future’s “To Go” holiday publications.
Beginning in 1995, Rabbi Torczyner pioneered a website, WebShas, offering a topic-driven index to the Talmud, and another website, HaMakor, offering bibliographies on a range of Torah topics. Rabbi Torczyner also maintains a popular blog, The Rebbetzin’s Husband, and lives in Thornhill with his wife, Caren, and their four children.
Rabbi Jared Anstandig is from West Bloomfield, Michigan. He studied in Yeshivat Torat Shraga in Jerusalem for a year and a half, followed by Yeshiva College where he studied Psychology and Jewish Studies. Rabbi Anstandig completed rabbinical school at Yeshiva University and while also studying in YU’s Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel. He earned a Master’s Degree in Tanach from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies (where he met his wife!).
During his rabbinical training, Rabbi Anstandig held numerous rabbinic internships, such as at Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City, Kesher Israel in Washington, DC, and Shaare Tefillah in Teaneck, NJ. He also served as an officer in the US Army Chaplain Corps. Following rabbinical school, Rabbi Anstandig lived in Teaneck, NJ and taught Tanach and Gemara at Ramaz High School.
For the last three years, Rabbi Anstandig and his family have lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Rabbi Anstandig served as the rabbi of the Orthodox community for the University of Michigan Hillel. He also served the local Orthodox population of adults as the rabbi of the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan.
Sarit, Rabbi Anstandig’s wife, is a Jewish educator who is excited to continue teaching at Bnei Akiva Schools. She taught Jewish studies for several years at The Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey, and for the past year has taught Talmud for the Girls Beit Midrash Program at Farber Hebrew Day School in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan. Sarit is also looking forward to participating in Toronto’s Yoetzet Halacha initiative upon her completion of the program this fall.
Rabbi Anstandig, Sarit, and their two children Batya (age 2) and Aryeh (5 months) are looking forward to joining the Shaarei Shomayim community!
Born and raised in Toronto, Ezer Diena attended Ner Israel Yeshiva for high school. During this time, he volunteered at Clanton Park Synagogue, where he edited the Synagogue Bulletin and coordinated youth programming. He then spent two years learning at Yeshivas Toras Moshe in Jerusalem, where he developed a close relationship with Rabbi Michel Zalman Shurkin, a premier student of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik.
After Israel, Ezer returned to Toronto, enrolling in York University’s Concurrent Education program, where he studied simultaneously towards an Honours B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. As part of this program, Ezer also taught Mathematics and Science at Earl Haig Secondary School and Sir John A. MacDonald Collegiate Institute. While at York, Ezer continued his formal Torah study, learning part-time at Kollel Zichron Meir for two years, and at Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim in Queens, New York.
In the final year of his program, Ezer also served as a Talmud teacher, and a Judaics, Mathematics, and Science supply teacher at Yeshivat Or Chaim. He also delivered a weekly parshah shiur at the Or Chaim Minyan.
While taking a first year Calculus course, Ezer met Chaya Benmergui, and they married in 2016. Chaya, a Thornhill native, works as an ABA therapist.
In addition to enjoying teaching Math and Chemistry, Ezer loves to learn (and teach) Talmud and Halachah, as well as text-based Tanach study, with a focus on recent commentaries. As well as formal teaching, Ezer is always up for a schmooze on any Torah-related topics and looks forward to making many new friends at the BAYT, where he will serve as Rabbinic Assistant.
Shira was born and raised in Israel. After high school, she studied Torah at Sha’alvim for Women for a year and a half and spent a summer learning in Drisha in New York City.
Shira received a degree in Informal Education from the Kiryat Ono Academic College in Jerusalem. She is a certified life coach with a specialty in working with children and adolescents.
Shira has many hobbies, which include crafting, creative writing, and jewelry making. Shira is looking forward to getting to know the Toronto community and learning with them, and in particular learning with local university students in the Ted and George Manson University Student Program.
Rabbi Chaim Metzger grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he was actively involved in his shul’s Youth Minyan and served as a group leader. After graduating from Torah Academy of Bergen County, Rabbi Metzger studied for two years in Yeshivat Har Etzion. Afterwards he enrolled in Yeshiva University, completing a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics, an M.A in Mathematics from the Katz Graduate School, and an M.A. in Bible from Bernard Revel Graduate School. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Upon completion of his studies at YU, Rabbi Metzger returned to Yeshivat Har Etzion and studied in the Kollel Gavoah for three years.
Rabbi Metzger has long sought to bring serious academic rigor to his Torah learning, incorporating his knowledge of Mathematics in teaching at Mesivta Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, and utilizing his knowledge of Machine Learning to create a predictive neural network for Taamei Hamikra (the cantillation notes of the Torah reading).
While in Yeshivat Har Etzion, Rabbi Chaim was involved with the American program, teaching and mentoring Gap Year students.
Rabbi Metzger is married to Shira Metzger, who works as a teacher and informal educator. They have a daughter named Talya, who is one year old. The Metzgers look forward to becoming part of the BAYT community, where Rabbi Metzger will serve as Rabbinic Assistant.
Netanel Klein is originally from Elizabeth, New Jersey. An ardent Zionist, he made Aliyah with his family at age three, settling in Ramat Gan. Netanel grew up in a Bnei Akiva environment and proudly participated in his local Bnei Akiva snif as a madrich and guide to younger chanichim. His involvement with Bnei Akiva didn’t stop there; Netanel worked as a madrich at Moshava Ennismore for several summers.
Netanel joined the Hesder program at Yeshivat HaKotel, where he learned for a year and a half before serving an extended period of two years of combat service in the IDF. As a commander, he trained a platoon of new recruits in the Givati infantry division. Upon finishing his army service, Netanel spent another year and a half as an avreich at Yeshivat HaKotel, concentrating his learning on contemporary halachic topics.
Netanel’s bond with Bnei Akiva led him to meet his wife, Eliana Blanshay, at Moshava Ennismore. Eliana graduated from Stern College and will begin her masters in speech-language pathology at McMaster University.
Netanel and Eliana will be living in Hamilton, and Netanel looks forward to contributing to the Toronto and Hamilton communities and to lending his special warmth and energy to the Beit Midrash.
Rabbi Sammy Bergman grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey where he ran the local Teen minyan, and often led Friday night ongim. After finishing high school at Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy in Elizabeth, Rabbi Bergman studied in Yeshivat Sha’alvim for two years, where his love for Torah and Ruach (inspiration) continued to blossom. He then attended Yeshiva University, where he was a member of the Masmidim Honors Program, and he received a B.A. in Accounting from the Sy Syms School of Business. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological seminary, where he was a fellow of the Wexner Semichah Honors Program.
Always looking to utilize his talents to teach and inspire others, Rabbi Bergman has served as a Rabbinic Intern for the Riverdale Jewish Center, the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, and Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, NJ. Over the course of his internships, Rabbi Bergman cultivated his ability to connect with congregants of varying levels of Jewish education. After completing ordination, Rabbi Bergman taught at both Rambam Mesivta, and North Shore Hebrew Academy high school. As a rebbe, Rabbi Bergman was known not only for his engaging and inspiring shiurim but for his passion for developing warm relationships with his students.
Rabbi Bergman is married to Dr. Ahuva Bergman, who works as a pediatrician. They have a daughter named Miriam who is 4 years old and will be starting junior kindergarten at Netivot HaTorah Day School. The Bergmans will be living in the Bathurst-Lawrence area, and are excited to become members of the Shaarei Shomayim community, where Rabbi Bergman will serve as a Rabbinic Assistant.
Rabbi Dr. Moshe J. Yeres served as Principal for Jewish Studies at TanenbaumCHAT. He leads a popular Shabbat morning class at the Thornhill Community Shul Hashkamah Minyan, and teaches in various venues in the community. He has many years of leadership experience as an educator, administrator, and religious leader.
Rabbi Yeres is an enthusiastic teacher and an articulate speaker and presenter who combines professional executive skills with learning and scholarship. He works well with adults and youth to convey a strong sense of Jewish identity, Torah study and ahavat yisrael.
Rabbi Yeres received his Semichah, Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. from Yeshiva University.
Rabbi Alex Hecht grew up in Westchester County, New York. He received a B.A. in Judaic Studies and History from the University of Arizona, where he also coordinated the Orthodox Student Minyan and was an intern at Hillel. Upon graduation, Alex studied at Yeshiva Darchei Noam (Shapell’s) in Jerusalem. He then returned to the United States to serve as the Director of Student Engagement at Eastern Michigan University’s Hillel. While in Michigan, Alex developed a variety of social and educational opportunities for a diverse population of Jewish students.
Realizing his passion for learning and teaching Torah, Alex continued on to study in the Semichah program at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and at the Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration. Most recently, Alex has served as the Rabbinic intern at the Millinery Center Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan, teaching classes and learning one-on-one with congregants.
Alex is married to Judith, who works as a speech-language pathologist, and they have a daughter, Tehila. The Hechts are all very excited to be joining the Clanton Park community, where Alex will serve as the Rabbinic Assistant at the Clanton Park Synagogue.
Rabbi Elihu Abbe is from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York. After attending MTA, Yeshiva University High School for Boys, he spent three years studying in Israel at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, and received a Bachelors in Talmudic Literature. He received semichah (ordination) from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Social Work at Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
Rabbi Abbe served as Rabbinic Intern at the Young Israel of Monsey and Wesley Hills, and taught a gemara bekiut class at MTA. He also served as counselor of Camp Morasha Kollel, a summer learning program, for six summers. He recently commemorated his grandmother’s first yahrtzeit by celebrating a siyum haShas, marking his completion of the study of the Talmud.
Rabbi Abbe enjoys learning and teaching with a focus on practical halachah, and on developing a joyous personal relationship with G-d.
Rabbi Abbe is married to Eliana Lipsky from West Hempstead, New York. Eliana is a limudei kodesh (Judaic Studies) teacher, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Jewish Education from Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. They have a daugher, Rochel, and two sons, Yosef and Ephraim.
Rabbi Abbe will serve as Rabbinic Assistant at Congregation Shaarei Shomayim, and is reachable at eabbe@torontotorah.com
