Abigail Wolff - Barnard College
Abigail Wolff is from Great Neck NY, went to SAR high school, and spent the past year learning in Israel at Migdal Oz. She is now a first year student at Barnard College and is hoping to study Psychology, History, and Theater. Abigail can be found listening to (and reciting by heart) the Hamilton soundtrack, walking her dog, or reading, and is so excited for this opportunity to inspire Jewish growth on campus.
Adira Smirnov - Princeton University
Adira graduated from Maimonides School in Brookline, MA and spent the past year studying at Midreshet Nishmat. In her free time she likes to hike, bake chocolate chip cookies, eat chocolate chip cookies, and doodle in the margins of important papers.
Alissa Felder - Rutgers University
Alissa is a sophomore at Rutgers University studying Biomedical Engineering. She participated in the Society of Women Engineers, an Israel advocacy club called Scarlet Knights for Israel, and Enable, a club that designs and 3D prints prosthetic hands. Additionally, Alissa enjoys playing basketball, dancing and snowboarding.
Atara Israel - Hofstra University
Atara is from Hewlett, New York majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in mathematics at Hofstra University. She is an active member in the Society of Women Engineers as well as the Hofstra Hillel. During her free time, Atara enjoys reading, watching Netflix, and spending time with friends and family.
Batsheva Moskowitz - Brandeis University
Batsheva Moskowitz loves everything creative! She is part of an improv group and acted in a play at Brandeis University. She loves anything and everything from Trader Joe’s and enjoys cooking fancy meals with Trader Joe’s food. She loves exploring with her camera and taking pictures of little kids and families. Batsheva is very involved in the Orthodox community and Hillel at Brandeis and can’t wait to use her creativity and work with the Yavneh community to bring even more involvement and excitement to Jewish life on campus.
Benjamin Austin - Binghamton University
Benj just started at Binghamton University where he is currently undecided but interested in comparative religions. He is an avid reader who enjoys schmoozes whenever and wherever, going to the beach and playing less mainstream sports.
Bina Aaronson - Barnard College
Bina is from New Rochelle, New York, went to Migdal Oz last year, and is currently in her first year at Barnard College. She loves psychology, which is her possible major. In her free time Bina enjoys reading, running and writing.
Dodie Weinberg - Hunter College
Dodie Lee Weinberg spent the past year mostly learning at Migdal Oz and now at Hunter College. Born and raised in Queens, NY, Dodie attended Central or YUHSG. She likes music, bike riding and laughing at her own bad jokes.
Eitan Leff - Brandeis University
Eitan is from Highland Park, New Jersey and attended Torah Academy of Bergen County for high school. He then spent a year in Eretz Hatzvi and now is a Freshman at Brandeis University, studying Physics. His hobbies are playing sports (especially baseball), reading, and hanging out with friends. He looks forward to helping the Jewish community at Brandeis during his time as a Yavneh Fellow.
Elie Codron - Northeastern University
Elie was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. He moved to Florida with his family during the summer of 10th grade and really fast got involved in NCSY where he started learning more about the beauty of Judaism. 3 years later, he decided to go to Yeshivat Orayta to get answers to the many questions he had and since then has made it his mission at Northeastern University to give every Jew the opportunity he had of understanding how geshmack it is to be a Jew.
Esther Schlossberg - Muhlenberg College
Esther grew up in West Hartford, CT. She is a senior at Muhlenberg College, double-majoring in Public Health and Jewish Studies. She’s really excited to help make a difference in the Jewish community on campus.
Ezra Feder - Harvard University
Ezra Feder, a native of Sharon, Massachusetts, currently studies at Harvard College. On the rare occasion that Ezra has a free moment, he loves spending time outdoors, especially hiking, backpacking, and boating. He also relishes every opportunity he gets to crush Sarah Bolnick at Model UN.
Faraz Moallemi - Santa Monica College
Faraz Moallemi is a Junior at Santa Monica College with a major in Computer Science. He is very active in the Jewish and Israel advocacy community through his work as the Vice President of Students Supporting Israel of SMC, and he often goes to events run by the Chabad and JLIC on campus. He is looking forward to strengthening Jewish life on his campus.
Frances Hoffen - Brandeis University
Frances is a sophomore studying economics at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. She loves cooking, dancing and making new friends. Frances has a renowned collection of hippo-related items.
Gidon Amsellem - Cornell University
Gidon Amsellem is a freshman pursuing a pre-medical biology major at Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences. In his free time, he loves to play saxophone and clarinet and sing, especially with other people. He also loves working with and teaching children and making them and other people laugh.
Golda Daphna - Columbia University
Golda is a Sophmore in Columbia majoring in Biomedical Engineering. She is the Communications Director for 6Days Productions, a volunteer at Youth for Debate, a member of Columbia’s Undergraduate Recruitment Committee, and an active SSI member. In her free time Golda can be found writing poetry, singing songs, and walking into things simultaneously.
Isaac Muller - Washington University
Izy spent the past two years at Yeshivat Orayta, where he developed a love for learning. At Washington University, he's thinking of studying political science as well as finding other passions on campus. In his free time, he enjoys making kombucha and pickles.
Jacob Nayowitz - Washington University
Jacob starts WashU this fall after attending SAR High School and spending a year at Yeshivat Torat Shraga in Jerusalem. He isn't sure what he wants to study but is looking into both History and Statistics. Jacob is the oldest of four crazy boys who all love to play sports and have a great time.
Jared Hurwitz - University of Michigan
Jared is a Big Brother and volunteer coordinator at Chai Lifeline, planning events for the children involved. He also enjoys learning philosophy, economics, and Torah, as well as rooting for the Baltimore Ravens.
Jessica Hader - Muhlenberg College
Originally from East Brunswick NJ, Jess is now a senior at Muhlenberg College studying English, Education, and Creative Writing. She's a member of the Chabad Executive Board on campus and is always looking for ways to help Berg's growing Jewish community. In her free time, you can find Jess reading, writing, or hanging with friends.
Jonathan Kirsch - Binghamton University
Jonathan Kirsch is a freshmen at Binghamton University studying business in the School of Management. Aside from being a Yavneh fellow, Jonathan is involved in a countless amount of Israel activism programs and Jewish outreach on campus. Some of Jonathan’s hobbies include playing basketball and baseball, attending Binghamton basketball games, and learning with the Chabad Rebbeim.
Jonathan Nooriel - Georgia State University
Jonny Nooriel was born and raised in Atlanta Georgia and attended the Atlanta Jewish Academy. Afterwards, he went on to study at Yeshivat Orayta for a year and is now a freshman at Georgia State University. There he is involved in Hillel and Chabad on campus, as well as being the Masa Ambassador for the University. On his free time Jonny loves to be active, play sports and have a good time with friends and family.
Jordan Senior - University of Maryland
Jordan grew up in Brooklyn, NY, attended Yeshivah of Flatbush from K-12, and then went to Yeshivat Orayta. Jordan has volunteered on Kol HaNearim (volunteer program working with children at risk) in Israel for the past 3 summers. Some of his interests include Torah learning, Politics, sports, and volunteer work.
Josh Graham - UCLA
Josh Graham is a fourth-year civil engineering student at UCLA. He enjoys being the OU-JLIC gabbai in campus, along with leading weekly lunch and learn classes and Shabbat programming. For Havdalah, he loves to break out his guitar or violin as a finishing touch for a great Shabbat experience!
Julie Sohnen - University of Pennsylvania
Julie is a sophomore at Penn this year and is currently the head of the Sunday Night Learning Program and the London Kollel at Penn. She loves school, but in her free time she enjoys watching movies, going on walks, eating ice cream (only chocolate with hot fudge, obviously), and spending time with friends doing pretty much anything. Julie is very excited to be a Yavneh fellow this year and can’t wait to see the opportunities it brings!
Lauren Koralnick - Barnard College
Lauren grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, graduated from Maimonides School, attended Midreshet Nishmat during her gap year, and is currently a sophomore at Barnard College. At Barnard, Lauren is a pre-med students who plans to study Psychology and Art History because she can't choose just one. Outside of academics, Lauren loves skiing, hiking, Broadway shows, singing, ice cream, adventures, and helping her campus Jewish community thrive.
Leilah Abelman - Hofstra University
Leilah is a 20 year old political science student at Hofstra University. She is active in her campus Hillel and interested in creating a more robust orthodox community at Hofstra. Leilah spends her free time reading and cooking too much food.
Libby Mael - New York University
Libby is a sophomore at NYU studying Applied Psychology. The most meaningful part of living in Downtown Manhattan for her is being involved in both the Shalvehet and Chabad communities. In Libby's free time, she can be found on the basketball court or eating in the best Kosher restaurants in NYC.
Maddie Hamadah - Hofstra University
Maddie is currently majoring in Education at Hofstra University. When shes not studying, she works at HANC HS and as a motivator for Azamra DJ. She is a huge fan of the New York Rangers, Dunkin Donuts coffee, country music and bad puns.
Michaela Rosenberg - Rutgers University
Michaela is currently a sophomore at Rutgers University studying chemical engineering. She is very active in the Israel advocacy community and is a Hasbara Fellow. Her hobbies include oil painting and hanging out with friends.
Mikalya Shkedy - Queens College
Mikayla grew up in Houston, Texas, where she attended LSU (Linda Shkedy University), aka was homeschooled. From there, she went on to attend Sha'alvim for Women. She is currently a Psychology major at Queens College and hopes to go into Radiation Therapy, where she will have the opportunity to help cancer patients. Mikayla loves hiking and hanging out with her Adopt a Bubby. If you're ever looking for Mikayla, you'll always find her with a peanut butter jar in hand!
Moryel Yashar - UCLA
Moryel is from Los Angeles, CA and graduated from YULA Girls High School. Currently a sophomore at UCLA, she is pursuing the pre-med track. She is looking forward to improving Jewish student life on campus through her position as Vice President of UCLA's OU-JLIC.
Negeen Arasteh - UCLA
Negeen is a fourth year student and incoming EVP of Student Supporting Israel at UCLA. She is passionate to make Judaism accessible to all Jews and to educate people on Israel with her advocacy. For fun, Negeen enjoys anything that involves creativity and can often be found painting or playing guitar.
Netanel Shedlo - Rugters University
Netanel is from Teaneck, NJ. He went to Torah Academy of Bergen County for high school followed by a year of Torah study at Yeshivat Lev Hatorah. He is now studying civil engineering minoring in music at Rutgers University and serves as Education Chair and Gabbai for the Mesorah Orthodox community at Rutgers Hillel. He did one year of yavneh and is excited to return as an Aryeh fellow this year.
Noah Fine - University of Maryland
Noah grew up in Baltimore, MD, and is currently a freshman at the University of Maryland. Having spent a year at Yeshivat Orayta, he is very passionate about his Judaism and Jewish learning, and is excited to share that passion and his ideas with others. Math and politics are Noah's biggest interests, and he can often be found reading or discussing FiveThirtyEight's latest article.
Rachel Gilder - York College
This is Rachel Gilder. She is currently at York College but is very active in the Queens College Jewish community. She hopes to bring more activities to the Queens College campus and greater Queens Community.
Rachel Kellner - New York University
Rachel is studying math, creative writing, and whatever else sparks her interest at NYU. Before college, she spent a year in Israel learning at MMY and now serves as Gabbait for the Shalhevet Board at NYU. She loves doing yoga and sitting in dog-friendly coffee shops where she can play with puppies while getting caffeine.
Robert Samuel - Rutgers University
Robert is currently a second year Supply Chain Management major at Rutgers Business School. He is originally from Long Branch, NJ and is heavily involved in the Rutgers Jewish community, currently serving as a board member of Mesorah, the Orthodox community on campus. His interests include playing sports such as tennis, baseball and ping pong. He is also very interested in the aviation field and is working toward getting his private pilot's license.
Robin Tassler - Queens College
Before attending the Macaulay Honors program in Queens College, Robin attended Frisch for High School and MMY during her year in Israel. She is Majoring in Psychology and Minoring in Jewish Studies with plans on going into Jewish education. Robin has been active in Yachad for the past few years in various leadership capacities and is also apart of the the JLIC programming team in Queens.
Rosie Wolkind - Johns Hopkins University
Rosie is a freshman at Johns Hopkins planning on studying Political Science. At Hopkins she works as a lifeguard, is an active member of the Hillel on campus, and hopes to join the debate team. Before matriculating to Hopkins Rosie spent a year learning at Migdal Oz, an Israeli Beit Midrash for Women’s learning.
Sabrina Wannon - UCLA
Sabrina is a committed, engaged Jewish leader on UCLA’s campus. She is on the pre-med track and spends her free time learning, chatting, and drinking coffee at Hillel.
Sara Schatz - Stern College
Sara Schatz was born and raised in Jersey, but she hasn't been there too much but since she graduated high school. She spent two full years shteiging away at MMY (MMY) in Jerusalem, and is now in her second year at Stern as a Jewish Education major and Psych minor. She is also the proud president of Yeshiva University's Israel Club, Genocide Awareness Club (she also serves as a student delegate in an international fellowship that combats crimes against humanity across the globe), and Blood Drive Committee, and is the layout editor for her college's newspaper. Sara loves community and learning from the variety of personalities that G-d put on this planet, and is incredibly excited to foster that love through Yavneh this year.
Sarah Austin - Cornell University
Sarah is from Long Beach, New York, and just returned from studying at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem for the year. She’s a Viticulture and Enology major at Cornell University, and is very excited to get involved on campus. In her free time, you can find her reading, traveling, or crocheting kippot.
Sarah Bolnick - Harvard University
Sarah Bolnick hails from New York and studies at Harvard. She enjoys running, quoting The Office, and beating Ezra Feder at Model UN.
Sarah Smart - Cornell University
Sarah Smart is a freshman at Cornell University. She spent last year studying at Nishmat and is excited to work with Yavneh.
Shirel Levy - Emory University
Shirel is from Miami Beach, Florida and is on the pre-med track at Emory University. She spent the past year learning at Baer Miriam Seminary in Israel. Shirel is passionate about learning Torah, advocating for Israel, reading, and writing. She is looking forward to building a strong Jewish community at Emory!
Shlomo Husni - New York University
Shlomo Husni is a sophomore at NYU Stern and is involved in multiple clubs on campus, including TAMID and the finance society. He enjoys reading and backpacking as hobbies
Shlomo Warren - University of Massachusetts
Shlomo Warren graduated from Maimonides School and spent last year learning at Lev Hatorah. He is currently studying engineering at UMass Amherst. He enjoys playing music and sports with friends.
Simon Ganeles - MIT
Simon is a second year student at MIT, majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in architecture. Before coming to campus Simon spent two years at Yeshivat Orayta. He hopes to inspire others and be inspired by them within the Jewish community on campus. When not doing work, Simon loves to listen to vampire weekend and play ultimate.
Tamar Geller - Yale University
Tamar Geller is a current first-year at Yale University. She loves running, playing intramural soccer and writing for the Yale Daily News.
Tamar Janus - Stern College
After graduating from Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville MD, Tamar spent a year learning at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem. She is now studying at Stern College pursuing a degree in Political Science. At Stern, Tamar helps plan Shabbat programming, tutors Hebrew school students, and does Mock Trial. She is passionate about learning and teaching Torah and is excited to create more opportunities for informal learning this year on campus.
Tamar Lilienthal - University of Pennsylvania
Tamar‘s claim to fame is that she is the daughter of a reform rabbi who went to a Chabad school - it doesn’t get any wackier than that! As such, she’s passionate about Jewish pluralism and committed to making every Jew feel welcome and comfortable. She’s also a dancer and writer who dreams of writing for entertainment, so keep an eye out for her films that’ll one day hit the big screen!
Yael Evgi - Stern College
From Queens, NY, Yael attended YUHSG for high school and then Midreshet Moriah in Israel for her shana aleph and bet. Yael enjoys sports, arts, and photography. She ran the Jerusalem half marathon and is on the cross country team in Stern. She’s also involved with MASA and AIPAC on campus.
Yael Weiss - Queens College
Yael Weiss grew up in Seattle, WA. After high school, Yael spent a year learning Torah in Israel, at MMY. Now a Sophomore at Queens College, she is majoring in psychology. Yael is also a Gift of Life Campus Ambassador, a Hasbara Fellow, part of the Queens College Israel Student Association, on the Queens College OU-JLIC co-ed team, and now a Yavneh Fellow! Yael is very excited for this year and hopes to use the resources from Yavneh Fellowships to enrich Jewish life on her campus!
Yehuda Jian - UC Santa Barbara
Yehuda is a religious student on a campus where the nearest kosher food outside of a Trader Joe's is over 30 miles away. As the Director of Legislative Accountability and a member of Chabad Board, he pushes every day to give his fellow Jewish students the best possible environment they can have.
Sam Iofel - Rutgers University
Sam grew up in Fort Lee, NJ, went to Ramaz for high school and then went to study and train for a year at Mechinat Keshet Yehuda in the Golan Heights. Sam is a sophomore majoring in Genetics and hopes to be a doctor one day (after making aliyah and serving in the IDF). Outside of Yavneh, Sam is involved in Israel advocacy, serving on the board of Scarlet Knights for Israel, and in a cappella, as a member of Kol Halayla, the Jewish a cappella group on campus.