Our Staff
About Ateres Naava • Shabbatons & Events • Apply Now
Ohr Naava is comprised of a team of professional educators and caring individuals who serve as role models and mentors. Private appointments can be made with each staff member to discuss personal matters. Traveling from New Jersey, Monsey, Long Island, and Brooklyn, our faculty is dedicated to giving their audience an enriched learning experience. Our staff is trained to discuss matters on all levels, and they make themselves available on a daily basis. In addition, well-known guest lecturers from both America and abroad are invited to speak in Ohr Naava regularly.
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Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, Founder and Director of Ohr Naava, was raised in Monsey, NY. Under the strong influence and guidance of his parents, he entered the chinuch world at the young age of 21. Since then, Rabbi Wallerstein has been in chinuch for 30 years, teaching and inspiring young adults in the Jewish world to return to their roots. The position of eighth grade boys’ rebbe at Yeshiva of Crown Heights has been his for almost thirty years. He has gained the loving title of “Rebbe” to his students, who turn to him for chizuk, guidance and inspiration. His commitment extends far beyond the classroom, as his talmidim become his children, whom he continues to guide throughout the years. Rabbi Wallerstein gives two chaburas weekly, at Ohr Yitzchok for boys and at Ohr Naava for girls. Rabbi Wallerstein lives with his wife Estee, children and grandchildren in Brooklyn.
Mrs. Judy Bodner, originally from Columbus, OH is a certified life coach who specializes in Dating, Relationships and building one’s Self Esteem. Judy is on the staff of Ohr Naava, giving classes at Ohr Naava, Ateres Naava and Bnot Chaya Academy as well as one-on-one counseling with their students. “Judy’s Place" has become an open home for the girls to spend Shabbos, Yom Tov or just a place to go and relax. She also has been a shadchan for the past 20 years. Judy and her husband Pinny reside in Monsey and have much nachas from their children and grandchildren.
Rabbi Gil Frieman is the pulpit Rabbi of Jewish Center Nachlat Zion, the home of Ohr Naava. He is certified as a shochet, sofer, and has given lectures in the United States, Canada, and throughout Eretz Yisroel. Rabbi Frieman is currently the American Director of seminaries Darchei Binah, Afikei Torah, and Chochmas Lev in Eretz Yisroel, and teaches in Nefesh High School, Camp Tubby during the summers, and lectures weekly at Ohr Naava. In addition, Rabbi Frieman teaches all tracks in Ateres Naava Seminary.
Rabbi Jeffrey Greenberg is the Dean of Ateres Naava Seminary, previously TBY seminary in Queens. He was the Director of New York NCSY for 20 years, until he started M’komi. He is currently the director and founder of M’komi, a kiruv organization for teens and collegiates in Great Neck, Long Island. He grew up in Queens, where he went to Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva and Queens College where he received his Bachelors, Masters, and CPA. He then attended Ner Israel in Baltimore, where he received Smicha, attaining a close relationship with his Rav, Rav Tzvi Berkowitz. Rabbi Greenberg and his family live in Kew Gardens, NY.
Mrs. Daphne Hanson, LMSW, is the co-founder and Director of Programming at Ohr Naava and Ateres Seminary. After spending a few years studying in Eretz Yisroel, Daphne returned to the U.S. to complete her Master’s Degree in Social Work, which she has utilized in various Jewish institutions. Daphne is also the administrator and teacher of Torah and Psychology, Michtav M’Eliyahu, Tznius, and Relationships in Ateres Seminary, subjects which she has taught since its inception. Daphne and her family live in Brooklyn, NY.
Mrs. Nalini Ibragimov attended Barnard College and Moreshet Institute. She lived in Israel for four years where she taught at Michlelet NCSY and in Tikvah Seminary. She also ran monthly yimei iyun for Michlelet Esther. For the following five years, she and her husband worked at Brooklyn College for JLIC, a joint program of the OU and Hillel where she taught and ran various programs for Jewish students on campus. She is currently teaching the sefer Ohel Rachel in Ateres Naava and teaching kallot. Nalini resides in Brooklyn with her husband and children.
Rabbi Eli Joseph Mansour is a Sephardic Orthodox rabbi of Syrian Jewish descent. He is an eminent Torah scholar and a renowned speaker. Currently he leads a congregation of Sephardic Jews of Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, and Morrocan backgrounds in Brooklyn, N.Y. Rabbi Mansour attended community yeshivot, graduating Magen David Yeshivah and Shaare Torah High School. He then went to Israel where he studied at Mercaz HaTorah. Upon returning home he continued to learn in various places including Ateret Torah in Brooklyn, and the Beth Midrash Govoha in Lakewood. He then joined the prestigious Keter Sion Kollel to learn under the guidance of Rabbi Max Maslaton. He received smichah in 1998. The Rabbi co-authored a Sephardic Hagada Shel Pesach with commentary that was published by Artscroll Publishers. Rabbi Mansour currently serves as the Rabbi to a congregation known as Bet Yaakob, where he gives daily classes in Mishnah, Gemara, Halachah, Torah, Neviim, and a variety of subjects relevant to the Orthodox community. He continues to advance his learning at the Keter Sion Kollel. Rabbi Mansour, his wife and children live in Brooklyn, NY.
Rabbi Yerachmiel Milstein is an exciting, accomplished and much sought-after speaker who was the host of a regular weekly radio program on stations WEVD, WVOS and the Talkline Communication Network for over ten years. As a Senior Lecturer for Aish HaTorah’s Discovery Seminars for the past 20 years, he has appeared before tens of thousands throughout North America, Israel, Europe, Australia and South Africa. A student of Yeshivas Mir Jerusalem and ordained at Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem in New York City, Rabbi Milstein helped found the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science and is a founding board member of the Selikoff Center for Environmental and Occupational Medicine in Ra’anana. As Executive Vice President of Project Chazon, Rabbi Milstein addresses over 10,000 11th and 12th grade teens each year throughout the English speaking world and is a widely consulted teen and parenting counselor. Rabbi Milstein speaks at Ohr Naava every Tuesday evening and is available for pre-arranged private appointments afterwards. In addition, Rabbi Milstein teaches in Ateres Naava Seminary weekly.
Rabbi Y Y Rubinstein has taught in Schools, Seminaries, Yeshivas and Universities. He is a writer and has authored four books. Rabbi YY has spoken to Kollelim from Lakewood NJ to Gateshead in England. He was a regular Broadcaster on BBC National Radio and TV writing and hosting several shows. The BBC have asked him to continue broadcasting for them from New York. He is regularly invited to lecture all over the world from South Africa to Israel and the Queen of England has declared her self a "Fan" of Rabbi YY's Broadcasts saying,"He's awfully good!" Rabbi YY says, "Of all the things I have done, Ohr Naava is by far the most important and most exciting. I consider myself very fortunate to be working with Rabbi Wallerstein and his team, they are outstanding." 
Rabbi Mordecai B. Twerski, the Hornosteipler Rebbe, is the Rabbi of Congregation Ateres Shloime in Brooklyn, New York. His Chassidic community began seven years ago when Rabbi Twerski and his family moved from his hometown in Denver, Colorado. He continued the leadership of his father’s Chassidic community in Denver for over twenty years. The Late Rabbi BC Shloime Twerski Ztz”l was among the few Post WW II young Chassidic Rabbis with a direct lineage directly back to the Baal Shem Tov, who were American raised and yet dedicated to bringing the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidic teaching, into the contemporary Jewish world. In 1982 after his father’s passing, Rabbi Mordecai Twerski returned to Denver to carry on this spiritual path. The challenges facing today’s Jewish families have been at the forefront of his work. In addition to leading his Chassidic community, Rabbi Twerski, who has a MBA in accounting and a postgraduate certification in Family Therapy, has an active practice in Family Counseling reaching across all lines of the Jewish community. In his work with the community in Denver, he was renowned for his tireless efforts in outreach to the entire Western Region of the USA. Rabbi Twerski inspires the Ateres Naava seminary students weekly with his enlightening and unique style of education. He resides with his family in Brooklyn, NY.
Mrs. Malky Wallerstein attended BYA High School, BJJ Seminary, and NYU college. As an avid speaker, she has been involved in adult and young adult education and mentoring for over two decades. Her classes in Ateres Naava, which include Igeres HaRamban, Mesilas Yesharim, and Neviim/Kesuvim, encourage questions, discussion and exploration of ideas, by working through the actual text. She also teaches Parsha and High School Biology in the Brooklyn area. She is the wife of Rabbi Eliezer Wallerstein, and lives in Flatbush with her husband and children.