Weekly Classes

All previous CBI class recordings are here

 

Tuesdays  // 12PM // in person @ CBI 
Midrash on the Parsha
Rabbanit Meira Wolkenfeld   
This class will explore the weekly Torah portion through the lens of midrash. We will also discuss the history of midrash and study selections from both legal and nonlegal midrashic collections. We will consider how the rabbis developed unique and creative approaches to reading the biblical text. Come think about the Parsha on Tuesdays, and you’ll always have a d’var Torah ready for your Shabbat table.

 

Wednesdays // 8PM // in person @ CBI
Modern Halakhic Voices: Responsa of the 20th Century
November 19, December 3, December 10
Rabbi Yonatan Cohen
Step into the world of modern halakhic discourse. In this series, we’ll study the writings of great 20th-century rabbis — Rav Moshe Feinstein, Chacham Ovadia Yosef, the Tzitz Eliezer, and others — to see how they grappled with the challenges of modernity while remaining deeply rooted in tradition.

 

Men’s Mishnah Chaburah
Rabbi Yonatan Cohen
Join a dedicated group of men for weekly Mishnah study, meeting after weekday morning services and facilitated by Rabbi Cohen. This ongoing chaburah provides a consistent and inspiring framework for daily Torah learning — a chance to start your day grounded in text, discussion, and connection. Space is limited. If you’re interested in joining or learning more, please reach out directly to Rabbi Cohen.

Scholars in Residence

November 21-22
Dr. Sara Labaton
Sara Labaton has served as the Director of Teaching and Learning at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America since 2019. She received a doctorate in Jewish Thought from the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU, where she wrote on esotericism (sod) in the commentaries of Abraham ibn Ezra. Sara has taught at Beit Rabban Day School, the Frisch School, Yeshivat Hadar, and the Wexner Heritage Program. After spending the past year in Jerusalem, Sara and her family are back to calling White Plains, NY home.

 

January 9-10
Elli Kranzler
Elli Kranzler, M.D. is a practicing psychiatrist in New York and a former faculty member at Columbia University School of Medicine. He serves as the Shliach Tzibbur at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. Elli has recorded albums with Dveykus and Journeys, as well as with his daughter Ravital on the recording “Ki Ata Imadi” — “Because You Are With Me.” He has performed and served as a scholar-in-residence in communities throughout the United States and beyond, including CBI in March 2023. We are so excited to sing and daven with him again!

 

March 20-21
Rabbi Ysoscher Katz
Rabbi Ysoscher Katz is the Chair of the Talmud department at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and the former Senior Rabbi of the Prospect Heights Shul. He studied at the Satmar, Brisk, and Beit Yosef Navaradok yeshivot and received his smicha shortly after high school. Rabbi Katz has taught Talmud and halakhah at a wide array of institutions and, for nine years, delivered a daily daf yomi shiur — twice a day in Borough Park — attended by many. In recent years, he has taught weekly Jewish thought and Talmud classes for professionals on the Upper East Side and in Park Slope, as well as at the Skirball Center for adult education. A graduate of HaSha’ar’s educators program, he has also served as the Judaic studies coordinator for the innovative Luria School and taught at Ma’ayanot, SAR, and Ramaz High Schools. In addition, he has directed the Lindenbaum Center for Modern Orthodox Halakhah, composed responsa on vital contemporary halakhic issues, and writes extensively on matters pertaining to Jewish society for publications including the Forward, Jerusalem Post, Makor Rishon, and Times of Israel.

 

June 19-20
Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash
Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash teaches contemporary halakhah and Talmud at Matan, Midreshet Torah V’Avodah (MTVA), Amudim, and the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. She is the educational director of the Pardes Learning Seminar. She moved to Israel in 1991, after graduating with B.A. from Stern College in New York. Nechama holds a master’s degree in Talmud from Bar-Ilan University and is a graduate of Nishmat’s Yoetzet Halacha program and fertility counselor’s program, which certified her to serve as an advisor to individuals with halakhic questions around marital intimacy, and is a certified sex educator. She is an alumna of Matan’s Advanced Talmud Institute, where she studied in Matan’s Hilkhata, Advanced Institute for Halakhic Studies. She is an active member of the rabbinic organization Beit Hillel and has participated in interfaith dialogue through Roots, an organization based in Gush Etzion, where she lives.

Shavuot Scholar in Residence

June 19-20
Rabbi Ben Greenfield
Rabbi Ben Greenfield is the Director of Jewish Learning at The Adelson School, a K-12 community day school in Las Vegas. His innovative writings in Jewish thought appear in Tablet and Lehrhaus and have been recognized with several national awards.

He trained at Gush, YU, Oxford, and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah; he is also the uncle of CBI members Ayala, Ari, and Elisheva Kanefsky.