Past Fellows

Miriam Zami is a PhD student in Talmud and Ancient Jewish History at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies (Yeshiva University). After studying at Midreshet Lindenbaum for a year, Miriam graduated with her BA from Stern College for Women, and then served as the Springboard Jewish Education Fellow for the Hillel at Baruch, City, and John Jay Colleges. She is currently an editor at The Lehrhaus, an online publication for Jewish thought and scholarship. Miriam lives in Brooklyn with her husband. Miriam is passionate about Jewish adult education and hopes to incorporate her academic work into her classes. She is excited to develop skills and a pedagogical approach through the teaching opportunities and mentor relationships offered by the Fellowship. Miriam is interested in teaching within the Modern Orthodox community generally, with a particular focus on teaching and mentoring women within her own Syrian community.

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Neti Linzer Penstein is pursuing a Masters degree in Talmud and Jewish Law at Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) as well as a Masters degree in Jewish Philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. After studying for a year at the Migdal Oz Beit Midrash for Women, Neti earned a BA in philosophy at Princeton University. She worked for two summers as the Rosh Beit Midrash in Camp Stone, as a teaching fellow at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School and at Maimonides School, and was part of Yeshiva University’s Sacks Scholars Graduate Fellowship in Ethics and Entrepreneurship. Neti sees a teaching career as a natural outgrowth of her love of learning. She is excited to receive the mentorship in pedagogy and classroom skills provided by this Fellowship, and to teach the adult learners of Ma’ayan, which will help her lay the foundation for a future as a teacher of Torah.

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Leora Orenshein holds an MA in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation from Stern College and an MA in Gemara and Halacha from GPATS. She currently teaches gemara and halacha at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School. Last year she taught gemara and halacha at Midreshet Torah V’Avodah. Previously she was a GPATS intern at Kemp Mill Synagogue, the director of chinuch at Camp Moshava Ba’ir, and a visiting scholar at several shuls. Leora is looking forward to refining her pedagogy and teaching skills under the guidance of the mentors in the Ma’ayan Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program, and to connecting with the Boston community of adult learners.

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