Inspirational Speaker
Rabbi Moshe Benovitz
Rabbi Moshe Benovitz is the Managing Director of International NCSY, the longtime Director of the NCSY Summer Kollel, and a Rebbe in Reishit Yerushalayim.
He is a popular lecturer and teacher who has influenced and connected with thousands of students over his 30 + years in formal and informal education. Through his classes and programs, he creates everlasting bonds between students and Jewish tradition. His focus in on the relevance and practical application of Torah values.
He lives with his wife and family in Ramat bet Shemesh.
Inspirational Speaker
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter is University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought at Yeshiva University. Rabbi Schacter was the first Rabbi of the Young Israel of Sharon, MA, from 1977-1981, creating a new, vibrant and committed community there. From 1981-2000, he served as the Rabbi of The Jewish Center in New York City, moving the congregation from 180 to over 600 members over the course of his tenure. From 2000-2005 Rabbi Schacter served as Dean of the Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Institute in Brookline, MA and as Rabbi of the Maimonides Minyan there. He joined the Yeshiva University faculty in the Fall of 2005. Dr. Schacter is co-author of many award winning books and holds many prominent Jewish communal positions. We look forward to hearing him over the course of Pesach.
Inspirational Speaker
Rav Aharon Pessin
Rav Aharon Pessin is a well-known Talmid Chacham (Torah scholar) and a dynamic and inspiring speaker who travels the world speaking on many topics in Jewish Law and Jewish Thought. Rav Pessin is a prolific author, with 28 published seforim thus far on Halacha & Aggadda. All of his seforim have received enthusiastic support from Gedolei Yisroel. He also has a worldwide following through a free website http://torah24-7.com with thousands of shiurim, in Hebrew & English, sharing wonderful insights into the depths of the Torah and ideas that can be applied in one’s daily lives. Rav Pessin was a close student of Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l and Rav Ephraim Greenblatt zt”l and he learns weekly with Rav Asher Weiss Shlit”a. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife and three children.
Inspirational Speaker
Rabbi Shalom Rosner
Rabbi Rosner is a very sought-after magid shiur who has thousandsn of students throughout the world. Until his Aliyah in August 2008, Rav Rosner was a popular Maggid Shiur at Yeshiva University's Stone Beis Medrash Program and the Rabbi of Congregation Bais Ephraim Yitzchok – the "Island Shul" – for six years.
Rabbi Rosner was the visionary of the Nofei Hashemesh community in Beit Shemesh where he is currently the Rabbi. During the summers, he is Camp Rabbi and Educational Director at Camp Kaylie.
Rav Rosner's popular Daf Yomi, Parshat HaShavua, Nach and Sefer Hamitzvot shiurim are broadcast online and followed by thousands of global talmidim at www.OU.org.
Renowned for his ability to clarify the most complex sugyot, and beloved as a warm and caring Rebbe, Rabbi Rosner taught for 9 years on the staff of Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim and he has been a Rebbe in Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh for the last 6 years. Rabbi Rosner is married to Dr. Tamar Rosner, a pediatrician, and they have 7 children.
Inspirational Speaker
Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi
An attorney by training and a Rabbinical Court advocate, Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi has not actually engaged directly in those fields for many years. Her two loves – learning and teaching Torah – she now merges together with her admiration for the Jewish woman, and gives Torah classes for women. It all began fourteen years ago in her Yerushalayim home; within only a year, word of her unique classes reached far and wide, and her little living room with the first ten students were exchanged for large auditoriums across the country and world, women’s seminaries, stadiums (as well as the Neve Tirtza Women’s Prison, academic seminars, high schools, addiction centers, and more), and thousands of loyal students.
All attempts to pigeonhole her audience has failed: from high school girls to senior citizens, single and married women, religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi, Rebbetzin Yemima Mizrahi’s words resonate with everyone.
Rabbanit Yemima was voted one of the most influential women in Israel and she's one of the most in-demand speakers today, attracting hundreds of women to her Shiurim, where she presents very deep messages with a sense of humor.
Rabbanit Yemima is married to the Kabbalist, Rabbi Chaim Mizrachi. They live in Yerushalayim with their family.
Authors & Speakers
Rabbi Yakov and Lori Palatnik
Rabbi Yakov and Lori Palatnik are authors and much sought-after international speakers, having been featured throughout North, Central and South America, Europe, CIS and Israel. Rabbi Palatnik regularly teaches at Aish HaTorah, Jerusalem. Lori is the Founding Director of Momentum, one of the most dynamic and impactful movements in the Jewish world today, engaging and inspiring tens of thousands of Jewish mothers and their families worldwide.
Inspirational Speaker and professional basketball player
Tamir Goodman
Dubbed “The Jewish Jordan” by Sports Illustrated in 1999, Tamir Goodman is a former professional basketball player and current successful entrepreneur, coach, educator and motivational speaker.
Tamir was ranked the 25th best high school player in the country. He gained national attention after averaging over 35 points per game his junior year, all while remaining faithful to his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. Tamir was named MVP of the prestigious “Capital Classic All-Star Game,” an award won by Shaquille O’Neal, Lebron James and other stars.
Tamir then made history as the first Jewish basketball player to play D-I college and professional basketball without playing on the Jewish Sabbath. Despite receiving a full scholarship to number-one ranked University of Maryland, Tamir chose to play for D-I Towson University, as their schedule better accommodated his religious observance.
The first freshman to start at Towson in over a decade, Tamir was presented the Coach’s Award for his performance on the court and in the classroom.
In 2002, Tamir fulfilled his dream of moving to Israel when he was signed by top Israeli and European League basketball team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Former NBA Coach, David Blatt, was the team’s coach at the time. In 2004, Tamir took a break from playing basketball to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) where he was awarded “Most Outstanding Soldier.”
After a seven year long basketball playing career for some of the best Israeli teams including Maccabi Haifa and Givat Shmuel, Tamir retired from professional basketball in 2009 after suffering career ending injuries.
Tamir currently runs a world class summer overnight basketball camp in Jerusalem for players from around the world; leading sports based programming for trips, schools and organizations; in demand Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah clinics featuring special chesed opportunities; and much more.
Tamir has coached over 5,000 kids and has run basketball camps and programs across the U.S. with Israeli NBA player, Omri Casspi. Tamir is also the founder of Zone190, a training device being used in the NBA, and of Sport Strings Tzitzit. He is the published author of the “The Jewish Jordan’s Triple Threat,” an international motivational speaker, and a sports and business consultant. Tamir holds a B.A. in communications and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and five kids.