The faculty of the Jewish Study Network is composed is Jewish scholars with a variety of experiences and backgrounds.
See below for more information on individual members of our team.
See below for more information on individual members of our team.
Rabbi Asher Coleman
Rabbi Asher Coleman hails from Clifton, NJ and spent his formative years under the tutelage of expert scholars in New York yeshivos. Turning to the pursuit of practical Jewish law after his marriage, he sought and continues to receive rabbinic mentorship from Rabbi Micha Cohn of Jackson, NJ, a noted rabbinic authority and expert on Jewish medical ethics. Rabbi Coleman enjoys the in-depth study of halachic responsa, and is an avid student of both Jewish and Western thought. He has worked as a translator of contemporary Hebrew Torah commentaries and is the author of a number of scholarly essays in both Hebrew and English on subjects ranging from Jewish law and practice to Biblical philology. asher@jsn.info
Rabbi Dov Dukhovny
Rabbi Dov Dukhovny was born in Odessa and raised in San Francisco. He attended U.C. Berkeley for a year before leaving to pursue full-time Talmud study, most recently at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. His main areas of interest at the JSN are Bible, Talmud, and Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, and he is a part-time translator of medieval rabbinic texts. Rabbi Dukhovny enjoys philosophy and mathematics (in which he received his B.A. from Rutgers), and occasionally plays the piano. dovd@jsn.info
Rabbi Joey Felsen
Rabbi Joey Felsen, Founder and Executive Director of the JSN, hails from Toronto, Canada. A skilled educator, Rabbi Felsen teaches classes at the JCCs in Palo Alto and Los Gatos, as well as a host of other venues. He is the founding Board President of Meira Academy and a recipient of the prestigious Grinspoon-Steinhardt National Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. joey@jsn.info
Rabbi Dovy Grossman
Rabbi Dovy Grossman was raised in Queens, NY, where he attended Yeshivas Shaar HaTorah. He studied in Jerusalem at the Mirrer Yeshiva and most recently at BMG in Lakewood, NJ and recived his ordination from Rav Kalman Epstein. He is a Torah enthusiast par excellence. Rabbi Grossman spent summers in Santa Cruz before making the move to Palo Alto with his wife, Laeya and their four beautiful daughers. dovy@jsn.info
Rabbi Avi Lebowitz
Rabbi Avi Lebowitz received his ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore and a Masters in Education from Johns Hopkins University. An expert in the realm of Halacha (Jewish law), Rabbi Lebowitz published a comprehensive and scholarly work on the Mikvah (ritual bath), which includes an innovative commentary on the related Mishnaic tractate. He is also a certified mohel with a stellar reputation thoughout the Bay Area. avi@jsn.info
Rabbi Ezy Poupko
Rabbi Ezy Poupko hails originally from Montreal, Canada but has spent decades in American Yeshivas. Having been raised in a rabbinic home, Rabbi Poupko is familiar with all aspects of Jewish communal life. He received his ordination from Beth Medresh Gavoha in Lakewood, NJ. He enjoys the study of Halacha (Jewish Law) and is an outstanding public speaker. He is committed to teaching people from a variety of diverse backgrounds and can make the most complicated ideas digestible for all audiences. ezy@jsn.info
Rabbi Dan Raphael Tobaly
Rabbi Dan Raphael Tobaly was born in France, grew up in New York, and spent the past 10 years studying Torah in Israeli yeshivot. He received rabbinic ordination from Midrash Sephardi (Jerusalem), a teaching degree (spec. Oral Law) from Herzog College (Alon Shvut, Israel), and a B.S. in Finance and International Business from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business; he also spent some time in the finance and consulting fields. A passionate Torah educator and lecturer, he easily connects with people of all backgrounds and currently teaches in English, French, and Hebrew.
dantobaly@gmail.com |
Aliza Coleman
Aliza Coleman was born in Jerusalem, Israel and raised in Palo Alto, CA. Her parents, Rabbi Yitzchok and Mrs. Ellen Feldman, have served the Bay area in general and the Palo Alto community in particular with dedication for decades as the Rabbi and Rebbetzin of Congregation Emek Beracha. Aliza served her community as a teacher of Jewish subjects across the Torah spectrum at both Meira Academy and South Peninsula Hebrew Day School. After marrying and relocating to Lakewood, NJ, she returned with her husband and children to Palo Alto to resume teaching at Meira Academy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Thomas Edison University and a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Bellevue University.
Yehudis Dukhovny
Yehudis Dukhovny (nee Breitowitz), who was born in Los Angeles and raised in Toronto, Canada, taught high-school mathematics before working for several years doing front-end database programming with SQL, VB.net, and C#, and more recently with Wordpress and CSS. Outside of coding, she enjoys working with her hands, sewing dresses for her three daughters and baking artisan cookies. She is currently the front office staff at Meira Academy in Palo Alto. yehudis@jsn.info
Sarah Felsen
Mrs. Sarah Felsen was born in San Francisco and spent her early childhood years in Berkeley before relocating to Queens, NY. She has an M.A. from Columbia University in Learning Disabilities. Sarah teaches 1st grade at the South Peninsula Hebrew Day School and couses in Jewish thought at Meira Academy in Palo Alto. Sarah@jsn.info
Laeya Grossman
Laeya Grossman was raised in Cincinatti and then Atlanta. Her family has been involved in Jewish education for several generations and she has inherited their passion for sharing the wisdom of the Torah. Laeya is no stranger to Silicon Valley and the industry of high tech. She continues to work as the Director of Sales of PriceManager, a software company based in New Jersey that allows companies to track online pricing. laeya@jsn.info
Fia Lebowitz
Mrs. Fia Lebowitz graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Masters in Special Education and practices in the Bay Area. In addtion, she is an outstanding teacher of Jewish studies in Meira Academy in Palo Alto and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Yeshiva Preschool in San Jose. Mrs. Lebowitz also serves as the contact person for Bikur Cholim in the region as well, attending to the needs of patients and their families who arrive for medical treatment. The Lebowitzs have six children. fia@jsn.info
Chany Poupko
Chany Poupko was raised in Lakewood, NJ and has been involved in education for several years. She taught primary school before moving to Palo Alto to join the faculty of Meira Academy and currently teaches Navi (The Books of the Prophets) to the high school students. She is the proud mother of two adorable children and is actively engaged in creating dynamic programs for the Jewish Study Network. chany@jsn.info
Rivka Tobaly
Rivka Tobaly (nee Sabbah) was born in Montreal, Canada to a rabbinical family. Her grandfather was the Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Quebec, Canada, and her father the founder and head of advanced Torah-learning institutions in Israel. At the age of two, Rivka moved to Jerusalem, where she ended up studying at prestigious religious seminaries and graduating from university with a degree in Special Education. Prior to moving to the Bay Area, Rivka taught primary/middle school and spent 7 years as a special-education kindergarten teacher.
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