Our Speakers

• Mrs. Esti Kimche
  Week 1: זריזות - Alacrity More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Esti Kimche

  Mrs. Esti Kimche is originally from London, England. She now lives in Baltimore, MD, after moving with her husband, Shmuel, and their children from Israel. Esti is an educator with experience in many different areas, having run programs and taught in various capacities in both London and Israel. She is also a sought-after tour guide in Israel.
• Mrs. Dina Schoonmaker
  Week 2: הקפדה - Resentment More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Dina Schoonmaker

  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.

• Mrs. Elana Moskowitz
  Week 3: קנאה - Jealousy More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Elana Moskowitz
• Mrs. Ruhama Welcher
  Week 4: כבוד עצמי - Self Respect More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Ruhama Welcher

  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.

• Dr. Michelle Sarna
  Week 5: גמישות - Flexibility More about this speaker
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  Dr. Michelle Sarna

  Dr. Michelle Sarna is a licensed psychologist, in private practice and serves as a psychologist at SAR Academy and Camp Stone. Among other positions, she has served as the Associate Director for Training and Professional Development of the OU’s Jewish Learning Initiative on College Campuses (JLIC), and the JLIC educator at NYU. Michelle co-founded and co-directs the Orthodox Leadership Project, for which she received the Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36 Week award. She lectures and writes on topics related to psychology, spirituality, development, and family life. She lives in downtown Manhattan with her husband and 6 children. Michelle’s husband, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, is the Chief Rabbi of the United Arab Emirates.

• Mrs. Shifra Rabenstein
  Week 6: בושה - Inhibition More about this speaker
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  Mrs. Shifra Rabenstein

  Mrs. Shifra Rabenstein has been teaching Limudei Kodesh subjects to high school students for over twenty-five years.  She has served as a mentor to high school teachers, offering guidance on issues such as lesson preparation, classroom management, implementation of instructional strategies, and addressing the needs of specific students.  She helped structure a high school curriculum to educate students in being responsible users of technology, and revised manuals for teachers on how to teach the Foundations curriculum. Mrs. Rabenstein received a M.Ed. in School Administration and Supervision from Johns Hopkins University.  She was an award finalist for the Grinspoon Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.  She also received the Rabbi Herbert Birnbaum Award from the Center for Jewish Education for extraordinary dedication to the Jewish people and outstanding teaching. Mrs. Rabenstein currently serves as a teacher, 12^th grade counselor, and teaching mentor in Bais Yaakov High School of Baltimore.  She teaches, as well, in Baltimore’s Women’s Institute of Torah Seminary.  She leads weekly learning groups for women and lectures for women and high school girls across the country.