Meor Israel Educational Staff

What began as a Jewish mentorship experiment on a single university campus has quickly grown into a masterwork of Jewish engagement operating on 21 prominent college campuses across the country and beyond.

Launched in 2005, MEOR’s unique brand of Jewish leadership training, sophisticated text-based study, and experiential education programming highlight the importance of Jewish values, identity, and community. In just over a decade, MEOR has impacted more than 18,000 undergraduate students, encouraging them to connect with Judaism on their own terms and in their own time.

In 2016, MEOR established post-university programming to ensure that its alumni would have a familial Jewish framework for sustained growth as young professionals.

Now in its second decade, MEOR continues to ignite the Jewish flame within a new generation of young Jewish leaders who are hungry for community, continuity and connectivity.

Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld

Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld is the Founder and President of Meor.

In addition, Rabbi Gershenfeld is the Dean of Machon Yaakov and of Machon Shlomo, two Jewish studies institutions in Jerusalem Israel noted for the high caliber of their students.

His areas of special expertise include developing the relevance of the Jewish ethical tradition to modern man, revealing the beauty and exactitude of Biblical texts, and inspiring students to become educated, passionate and sophisticated Jewish lay leaders.

Rabbi Gershenfeld graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Trinity College with a BA in Economics and MA in History (1976).

Rabbi Yehoshua Styne

Born in Great Neck, NY, Rabbi Yehoshua Styne studied Management and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of business before migrating west to study at USC’s Graduate School of Cinema.

After learning at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, he went on to receive his rabbinic ordination from the Edah Charedis Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Styne is currently the Israel Educational Director of Meor Israel and serves as a Senior Lecturer at Machon Shlomo in Jerusalem.

He resides in Jerusalem with his wife and children.

Michal Levy

Michal was born and raised in Israel and received her certification and specialized degree in education from Merkaz BeitYakov.

She earned a B.A. in English and Education from The Ministry of Education of Israel and also participated in the Counseling Skills Course at the Family Institute at Neve Yerushalayim.

Michal is the Meor Israel Women's Educational Director overseeing and creating the Meor women's program's in Israel. In addition she is the Program Director at Midreshet Tehillah where she teaches and mentors the students.

Over the years she has been involved in teaching and developing many other seminary programs in Jerusalem. Michal lives in Jerusalem with her husband and children

Rabbi Yosef Lynn

Rabbi Yosef Lynn is the director of MEOR Poland, a key program director and educator for other educational MEOR programming, highly involved in many HR aspects of MEOR and serves as the ombudsman.

In addition, he is also the Dean of Students at Machon Yaakov, a career discovery coach, and is the founder and director of Greatness Within Seminars.

He holds a doctorate in Human and Organizational Psychology from Touro and a masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and daughters.

Rabbi Shlomo Gershenfeld

Rabbi Shlomo Gershenfeld, as director of Meor jInternship, focuses on creating dynamic educational and professional experiences for Meor students who are interested in living, learning, and working in Israel for the summer.

Residing in Jerusalem with his wife and children,

Rabbi Shlomo, as he is affectionately called by his students, started and manages his own online sales business, and runs seminars that teaches others how to do the same.