Alex Jefferson

"Tefillah: A Window into the Soul, A taste of Our Dreams, and an Expression of Our Deepest Joy"

In this session we will explore Tefillah as an introspective and meditative experience. Through an analysis of a couple of texts and tefillot, we will aim to make our next Tefillah a little more meaningful.

Alex is currently a Beit Midrash fellow at SAR High School in Riverdale, where he strives to inspire small groups of students through teaching Tanakh, Talmud, and philosophy. In the afternoons, Alex continues his own studies in the Yeshiva University Beit Midrash in anticipation of his aliyah this summer and study for semikha at Yeshivat Otniel.

Dr. Sharon Koren

"The Redemption of Leah in the Zohar"

Dr. Sharon Koren is Associate Professor of Medieval Jewish Culture at the Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City.

Elliot Schwartz

"VeShamru: Text and Context: We know these verses from the siddur but how do they translate from the Torah into our weekly prayers?"

Elliot Schwartz has rabbinic ordination from RIETS and makes his living as an optometrist. He takes a special interest in matters involving Jewish liturgy.