Derech Institute for Torah Studies: Faculty

Rabbi Moshe Lazerus is a graduate of Torah Vodaath in New York and has a B.A. from Yeshiva University and an M.S.W. from Columbia University. He has administrated and taught at several Jerusalem yeshivot and seminaries and is concurrently the Director of Judaic Studies for CCIS, a consortium of American colleges for international study. He has authored many articles on scholarship and has written coursework for over 40 college courses. Rabbi Lazerus was a founder and first mayor of the Israeli settlement of Maalei Amos. He is also the director of the Ohr Lagolah Leadership Institute.

Rabbi Zev Leff , Rav of Moshav Mattityahu and Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva Gedolah Mattityahu, is a renowned lecturer and educator. He was the Rav of Young Israel of Greater Miami, and is the author of Outlooks and Insights (on the Torah portion of the week) published by Artscroll.

Rabbi Nachy Brickman attended Yeshiva University and has extensive experience working in Jewish outreach. He has worked in various positions in NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth) as well as running a camp in Russia, and has eight years of teaching experience at the Bi-Cultural Day School in Stamford, Connecticut, as well as at the Jewish Heritage Center, in Queens, New York.

Rabbi David Orlofsky is a graduate of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in New York and the Pressburg Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He is a former regional director for the National Council of Synagogue Youth and is an internationally acclaimed lecturer and educator. He has published essays and been quoted in the New York Times as well as other national publications. He is presently a lecturer at Ohr Somayach and at the Ohr LaGolah Leadership Institute in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yehoshua Poupko has a B.A., M.A. and Smicha from Yeshiva University as well as an MA in Educational Administration from the Citadel Military Academy of South Carolina. He has been teaching in various capacities for three decades. Rabbi Poupko was a pulpit rabbi in New York and an educational director in Peoria, IL. Since his aliyah in 1978 he has served and lectured in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Rabbi Zvi Wainstein is originally from South Africa He studied under Harav Yisroel Zeev Gustman z"l for many years, and subsequently under Harav Moshe Shternbuch, Shlita. Rabbi Wainstein is an educator with years of experience in a broad spectrum of subjects and has lectured worldwide. He has served as an editor for Artscroll Publishers.