About Matan

Matan has created innovative advanced Beit Midrash programs that influence and transform the Jewish world, in Israel and beyond, as well as multifaceted community programs that bring Torah learning beyond the walls of the Beit Midrash to students from wide-ranging backgrounds, all united by their thirst to learn Torah, Talmud and Halakha.

Over the years Rabbanit Bina has received a number of distinguished awards including The Hadassah Women’s prize for her important work in Advanced Jewish Studies for Women (2002), an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University for her lifetime achievement in teaching Torah to women, Aliyah, education and social service (2006), Emunah’s Woman of the Year (2008), the Bonei Zion Prize for outstanding Anglo Olim who have contributed in a significant way towards the State of Israel (2014), the Manhattan Jewish Experience Torah Leadership Award (2018), and she was honored as a Yakir Yerushalayim in 2021 for her extraordinary contribution to Jerusalem. Most recently she received an honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan university for her lifetime achievements.

Malke and her husband Rav Aharon Bina, Rosh Yeshiva of Netiv Aryeh, have five children and many grandchildren.

In 1994, in answer to requests from the community, Oshra founded the Matan Mother-Daughter Bat Mitzvah program, Jewish Women through the Ages, in order to make the Bat Mitzvah milestone meaningful. The program was so successful that it quickly expanded to locations around the country and it continues to grow. In 2004, the program crossed the ocean and since then has been operating in over 80 communities in North America and around the world.

Oshra leads the Gavna Ensemble; is deputy head of the Raanana Religious Council and a sought after speaker in Israel and around the world. She is married to Rav Tzvi Koren, Rav of Kehillat Kinor David in Ra’anana and Rav of the AMIT Raananim High School. Together they have raised four children.

Sadie Rennert was born in Warsaw in 1902 and immigrated to the US as a young girl. She grew up in East Flatbush, New York. From an early age she was referred to as an “Angel” because of her devotion to her family and community, her wisdom and acts of loving kindness. These qualities defined her throughout her life and live on in her family.

Ira Leon Rennert, Sadie’s son, describes his mother as a model of love who received joy by giving to others. He recalls with longing their warm and welcoming home, full of the light of Torah and Yiddishkeit, values that came from the heart and are the bedrock of the lives of Sadie’s descendants. Ira and Ingeborg Rennert are leaders and visionaries of many communities in Israel and around the world. They support and immeasurably strengthen the Jewish people in countless ways. They enable the growth of Jewish learning through their commitment to Yeshivot, Midrashot and Torah centers. They have built many mikvaot and synagogues throughout Israel and have had countless Sifrei Torah written that have been donated to diverse communities around Israel. Inge Rennert devotes time and effort to a wide range of Jewish causes in Israel and the US. We at Matan are deeply grateful for the inspiration and encouragement she has given to advanced Torah learning for women. She has motivated and challenged us to aspire to ever greater achievements.

Sadie Rennert’s life values are being transmitted from generation to generation. Her grandchildren Tamara (Tami) , Yonina (Nina), and Ari and great grandchildren Mia, Alexander, Bezalel, Gabriela, Eliana, Yehoshua, Calev, Yeshayahu and Samuel live lives steeped in Torah and Jewish tradition and are devoted to Jewish causes.

Sadie’s granddaughters, Tami and Nina, were amongst the first group of women who studied with Malke Bina in the summer of 1988, prior to the establishment of Matan. This group was the driving force behind the establishment and development of Matan Jerusalem, helping us to become the leading Torah Institute for women.
Matan’s dream is to continue to find ways of answering the needs and challenges that we face through pioneering Torah studies, promoting and strengthening Torah scholars and leaders.

Memories of Sadie and the values that she embraced, encourage us to continue working towards achieving these goals.

In our mind’s eye, Mindy’s memory is like a spring – pure, calm, gentle and alive. Mindy had the ability to filter out the noise of modern life and hone in on what truly mattered. She seemed to know how to rejoice in the essence of life - compassion, a search for the spiritual and family. At various times and in different places throughout her life, Mindy was a partner in a number of communal activities, with extensive and wide-ranging connections within the community. In the days when she needed to heal and regain her health, she made a conscientious choice to withdraw from the fast track into her home where she could focus on her health and her wonderful family – David, Sasha, Keren, Itai, Yael and Noam. Family and friends who came to visit were always warmly welcomed and felt that holiness lay within the walls of her home - it was the place where the important was truly important.

Mindy was extremely perceptive. She was sensitive to the nature and temperament of each child, enabling them to grow in their own unique manner. She was attentive but never overbearing. At times she chose restraint which can be the most challenging response of all.

It always seemed that Mindy approached each new day refreshed and invigorated. She was both self-assured and humble, aware of what she knew and that tomorrow she might know more or perceive her knowledge differently. Her desire to learn and gain new perspectives, the knowledge that what was apparent yesterday might appear different today, was so evident in her actions that even written words could not have expressed it more clearly.

Mindy lived as she believed - consciously, morally, kindly, fully accepting others, despite their shortcomings, in the belief that our faults are part of who we are. The perfection and completeness of who she was, the purity and true devotion in the way of life she chose to live, are as eternal as the flowing water of a spring.