Talmud Department - Faculty List

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 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.

Ms. Sarah Gordon teaches Talmud, Jewish History, and Jewish Philosophy, and serves as a tenth-grade mehanekhet. After graduating from Stern College with a B.A. in Judaic Studies, Ms. Gordon spent two years studying at Yeshiva University's Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies. She holds an M.A. in Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School, and is currently working toward another M.A. in Modern Jewish History at the Revel Graduate School. She has spent time studying at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim, and was a Fellow in the Midreshet Lindenbaum Educators Program. Ms. Gordon has extensive experience in informal Jewish education, serving in a number of leadership positions at Camp Stone, including Educational Director, as well as working as a Program Head for Bnei Akiva's MachHach Ba'Aretz Israel trip.

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.
 

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.

Mrs. Tova Warburg Sinensky teaches Talmud and Jewish Philosophy at Ma’ayanot. She also facilitates religious programming, including Why-aanot Live, our religious guidance program, and co-manages Why-aanot, our Judaic Studies Faculty Blog.  After earning her B.A. in Philosophy from Stern College and completing its S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program, Mrs. Sinensky studied Talmud and Halakha for two years in Yeshiva University’s Advanced Talmudic Studies Program for Women.  Upon completing the program, she joined the Ma’ayanot faculty.  She holds an M.A in Secondary Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School. She served as a community Scholar-in-Residence in Englewood for three years, and has lectured in communities throughout North America.  She and her husband are currently the Rabbi and Rebbetzin for the Jewish community at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Ms. Devorah Wolf teaches Talmud, and is a mehanekhet for grade eleven, as well as a Special Services Assistant at Ma’ayanot.  She has a B.A. from Barnard College, is a graduate of the Stern Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies, and is pursuing a Master's Degree in English Literature at Hunter College.  Ms. Wolf has also studied at Drisha Institute, Bernard Revel Graduate School, and Pardes Institute.  She has taught for The Princeton Review, and tutored students in writing at Stern, Barnard, and Lander Colleges.