Lecturers

Adina Suslovich

Dr. Nava Finkelman

is a graduate of the Matan Tanakh program. She holds an M.A. in Tanakh from Bar Ilan University and an M.A. in Psychology and Occupational Therapy. Nava has taught in Midreshet Lindenbaum, Midreshet HaRova and Midreshet Yeud. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in Tanakh at Bar Ilan.
Melissa Rayman, Director of Programming

Melissa Rayman

is the programming director of the Matan Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute. She has been involved in formal and informal Jewish education for both adults and children for almost 30 years. Melissa has a degree in computer science from Stern College and certification from the Dyslexia Training Institute. After teaching Judaic studies at Shevach High School and at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, Melissa and her family made aliyah to Beit Shemesh, where she is the Director of Matan Beit Shemesh, teaches children with dyslexia and leads a very popular Tanakh chabura at Congregation Nofei Hashemesh.
Rabbanit Shani Taragin, Educational Director

Rabbanit Shani Taragin

is a distinguished alumna of the Matan Beit Midrash program. She received her M.A. in Tanakh and Talmud from Bar Ilan University and is certified as a Halakhic Advisor. Shani is the Educational Director of Matan’s Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute for Tanakh and Jewish Studies and of the Morot L’Halakha program in Matan HaSharon and she is the curriculum coordinator for the Bnei Akiva-Matan Program (MTVA). In addition Shani teaches courses at Matan and other advanced women's Torah Institutes in Israel.

Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

founder of the Tanakh Study Center www.tanach.org, is an internationally acclaimed Bible scholar and pioneer of Jewish education on the internet. His essays on Parshat Ha’Shavua reflect his vibrant thematic-analytical approach, blending the methods of modern scholarship with traditional approaches.  As a Rebbe at Yeshivat Har Etzion, where he founded the Yeshiva's Virtual Beit Midrash, he is best known for his ability to teach students how to study Tanakh.   Rabbi Leibtag also teaches at Yeshivat Shaalavim, Midreshet Lindenbaum, and Matan and routinely lectures around the globe, primarily as a scholar in residence in communities in North America.

Rachel Hershberg

Rachel Hershberg just loves learning and teaching Tanakh and Jewish philosophy. Originally from Palo Alto, California, she graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in World Religions. A recent participant in the Eshkolot and Lapidot Fellowships, she has taught at She'arim College of Jewish Studies for Women and Amudim Seminary, and is co-director of the Women's Online Beit Midrash. She is married +4 and lives in Beit Shemesh.

Sepha Kirshblum

Sharon Raanan

Sharon Ra'anan has been teaching Tanach, the Slonimer Rebbe, and t'filah to women in Beit Shemesh for over a decade. She earned her Master's from Herzog in 2021. Her areas of specialty include the Shivat Tzion period: Ezra and Nechemia, Hagai, Zecharia and Malachi; and various courses in t'fillah including Shacharit, the Shemona Esreh, and Tehillim.