Halakha Department - Faculty List

Rabbi Donny Besser teaches Talmud and Halakha, serves as our Mashgiach Ruchani,and leads the ParshaClub and Mishmar Program. He earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School, received his semicha from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and has been involved in informal Jewish education for teens and adults throughout his career. He came to Ma’ayanot in 2005, after six years practicing law. Rabbi Besser was involved in editing the Masoret HaRav Yom Kippur Machzor, whose commentary incorporates insights of Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Currently, he is preparing a birkon with the Rav’s commentary.

Mrs. Shayna Goldberg teaches Halakha and serves as a mehanekhet for grade eleven. Mrs. Goldberg holds a BA from Yeshiva University’s Stern College, an M.A. from its Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education, and a certificate from its Advanced Talmudic Studies Program for Women. In addition, she has completed a two-year program of study at Nishmat’s Keren Ariel Institute for Yoatzot Halakha in Jerusalem and now serves as a Yoetzet Halakha for Congregations Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, Ahavath Torah in Englewood, and The Kesher Synagogue in Tenafly. She previously taught Talmud and Tanakh, and served as the Mashgicha Ruchanit,at Stern Hebrew High School in Philadelphia.

Mrs. Rivka Kahan, Principal, has been active in shaping all aspects of academic and religious life at Ma'ayanot since she joined the faculty in 2002.  Before becoming principal, Mrs. Kahan served as Tanakh Chair, Director of Israel Guidance, Director of Professional Development, and Assistant Principal.  She also wrote Ma'ayanot's halakha curriculum and taught Tanakh, Talmud, Halakha, and Jewish Philosophy.  She holds an M.A. in Bible from Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University, and Certification in Talmud and Jewish Law from the Drisha Scholars Circle. She studied at Nishmat in Jerusalem and has a B.A. from Barnard College.  Mrs. Kahan embodies a passion for education and a deep commitment to Ma'ayanot's unique educational vision of helping students develop the skills and confidence to be active, creative, critical thinkers in all areas of learning and life.
 

Mrs. Dena Knoll is the Talmud Chair and a master Talmud and Halakha teacher at Ma’ayanot. After earning her B.A. from Stern College in Biology and Judaic Studies, she was one of the pioneering members of the first class of Yeshiva University’s Advanced Talmudic Studies Program for Women, a two-year graduate program dedicated to the study of Talmud and Halakha. Mrs. Knoll, a recent winner of the prestigious Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, holds an M.A. in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School.

Rabbi Zev Prince is a Talmud and Halakha teacher at Ma’ayanot. For Rabbi Prince, teaching at Ma’ayanot is a homecoming of sorts. A Teaneck native, he, along with his wife, Gila, and son recently moved back from Boca Raton, Florida, where he worked in adult education as a member of the Boca Raton Community Kollel. Prior to that, the Princes lived in Jerusalem. A graduate of Yeshiva University with a degree in Psychology, Rabbi Prince learned in the RIETS semicha program, an affiliate of Yeshiva University and its Israel Kollel in Jerusalem.