דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה

Mrs. Dina Schoonmaker holds a B.Ed in Tanach and English from Michlalah College, a master’s degree in Jewish history from Touro College. She has been a member of the Michlalah faculty for over 30 years and has an alumnae counseling hotline for Machal graduates. Mrs. Schoonmaker lectures internationally and gives vaadim for women, live and over zoom. At the OU, she has presented shiurim at Torah New York and the OU Women’s Initiative Weekend of Inspiration and Selichos Night Shiur and most recently has taught a class at the ALIT Summer Learning Program. Mrs. Schoonmaker resides in Yerushalayim with her husband, Rosh Yeshiva of Shapell’s/Yeshiva Darché Noam, and their children.

Ruhama has been teaching Torah and training teachers in London, the USA and South Africa for 20 years. She is the director of the Chief Rabbi’s Office of Education, and is getting her PhD in Education and International Development at University College London. She lives in Johannesburg with her husband and children.

After graduating from SKA High School for Girls, Michlalah, and Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, Jaclyn got her master’s in education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration and is in the process of finishing the doctoral program there. While in New York, Jaclyn taught at SKA. When her family moved to Baltimore, MD she started teaching at Bnos Yisroel and Beth Tfiloh’s high schools while also lecturing throughout the community. She launched a program for high school girls called BGCubed, giving Bais Yaakov girls the opportunity to have meaningful Jewish experiences outside of school where they can grow socially, emotionally, and religiously.   

Mrs. Shalvie Friedman grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and received her BSc in Mathematics from the University of South Africa. Shalvie is a Jewish studies teacher at Hasmonean Girls High School in the UK, a senior educator for Aish UK and a Yoetzet Halacha. In 2020, Shalvie set up Chelkeinu, an organization of Jewish Futures, dedicated to learning and leadership for women in the community.

Yael Davidowitz is a passionate educator to audiences across the life-span. Enthusiastic about sharing Torah values with the broad Jewish community, Yael has worked on projects for NCSY, Aish HaTorah, Emet Outreach and is the director of project Last Kindness for NASCK, the National Association of Chevra Kadisha. For the OU Women’s Initiative, Yael created and recorded the content for Tehilim 150 – a Tehillim program for adolescent girls,  Bitachon for Our Times, a chizzuk series post October 7th, and Three Weeks, One Heart – A Journey to Deepen Ahavas Yisrael. Yael is a certified adult-geriatric nurse practitioner and seasoned fitness professional with over two decades of experience teaching fitness to both children and adults and the founder of Thrive Studio. Yael earned a BA in Judaic studies from Stern College for Women, BSN from Columbia University and MSN from Rutgers University. She lives in Cherry Hill, NJ with her family. Yael can be reached at ydavidowitz@gmail.com.

Michal Horowitz delivers weekly shiurim in her community of the Five Towns, NY, while her Zoom shiurim reach audiences around the world. She has been a scholar in residence in schools and communities, nationally and internationally. In September 2023, Michal was a keynote speaker at Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’ Pre-Yamim Noraim Conference, for the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. At the OU Women’s Initiative, she inaugurated the Torat Imecha Parsha program presenting weekly shiurim on Sefer Bereishit. Michal taught Yehoshua, Tehillim 36-41, and Divrei Hayamim II to over 5,000 women across the globe as part of the Torat Imecha Nach Yomi cycle I. She taught Tehillim 1-41, and Mishlei for cycle II.  Michal presented Rosh Chodesh, Selichot Night and Nach Yomi Siyum shiurim and taught in-depth courses at the ALIT Virtual Summer Learning Programs of 2020, ’21, ’22, and ’23.  Michal’s weekly OU Parsha shiur can be found on the AllParsha App. She has thousands of audio and video shiurim online.  Her writings have been published in YU’s Torah-To-Go, HaMizrachi, the OU’s Jewish Action magazine, and most recently in “Reclaiming Dignity: A Guide to Tzniut”.  Her story can be found on all major streaming platforms on the “Rolling With the Punches” Podcast, Episode 14, Sounds of Silence. Michal lives in Woodmere, NY with her husband and family.