Tanakh Department - Faculty List

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. Suzanne Cohen teaches Tanakh and serves as Director of Israel Guidance. She holds a B.A. from Stern College, and an M.S. in Jewish Secondary Education and an M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University. She has coached students for the National Bible Contest in various schools on the elementary and high school levels. She has given public lectures and shiurim on Bible and related subjects in various communities in the New Jersey/ New York area, and serves as the Chairman of the Board of Education of the Yeshiva of North Jersey.

Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft, Assistant Principal, has been a teacher of Tanakh for over a decade at Ma’ayanot, and also serves as Director of Student Activities. Ms. Flaumenhaft is an honors graduate of Stern College for Women, and also holds a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School. She is presently completing her Master’s Degree in Bible at the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and is working on a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Azrieli. Ms. Flaumenhaft is a recipient of the prestigious Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. Known affectionately as “Ms. F.” by her students, her passion is evident every day in the classroom, where she engages the minds of her students, challenges them to develop critical thinking skills, and shares her love of learning Torah. Through student activities, Ms. F. brings our Rosh Hodesh programming and Shabbatonim to life, and infuses our many special programs and school trips with her special ruach.

Mrs. Leah Herzog teaches Tanakh and serves as Director of Israel Guidance. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College, earning induction into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. She also earned her Teacher’s Certification from Michlalah, the Jerusalem College for Women. Mrs. Herzog earned her M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Loyola University of Chicago and continued her doctoral work in the same field, as well as completing doctoral work in Educational Administration at the University of Cincinnati. Mrs. Herzog has taught Tanakh and psychology to high school students at the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, RITSS high school in Cincinnati and the Frisch School in New Jersey. She taught at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School for nine years, serving as Chair of the Tanakh Department for the last two. Mrs. Herzog participated in the Avi Chai-New Teachers’ Center mentor training program and has mentored several new teachers. She has taught adult education at the Anne Blitstein Teacher’s Institute in Chicago, the Melton School in Cincinnati and has lectured in the US, Canada, and Israel.

Mrs. Lynn Kraft teaches Tanakh, advises the yearbook, and serves as Chessed Coordinator and a mehanekhet.   She earned her Bachelor’s Degrees in Judaic Studies and Psychology at Stern College for Women, and her Master’s Degree in Bible at Bernard Revel Graduate School. She helped to pioneer, and then studied in Yeshiva University’s RIETS Israel Kollel Midrashiya, a new advanced learning program for women in Jerusalem, Israel. Mrs. Kraft has also taught at Stella K. Abraham High School, Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim, and Sha’alvimfor Women.

Mrs. Shifra Schapiroteaches Tanakh at Ma’ayanot and serves as the faculty adviser of Ma’ayanei Torah. As a Distinguished Scholar at Stern College, Mrs. Schapiro majored in Biology and Judaic Studies. She earned an M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School. Before coming to Ma’ayanot, Mrs. Schapiro assisted in the preparation of several volumes of the series MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and taught at SAR in Riverdale.