Speakers at the conference
Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair
Lecturer in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy, International Speaker
Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair is a lecturer in Talmudic logic and Jewish Philosophy at the Ohr Somayach/Tanenbaum College of Judaic studies in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Sinclair’s background includes professional photography and a thriving career in the music industry, opening in 1972, the first twenty-four track recording studio in Europe, publishing the music for an international hit musical (1973) and co-producing a quadruple-platinum selling album (1976).
In 1987, he settled in Jerusalem to immerse himself in the study of Torah. Today, in addition to his teaching position in Ohr Somayach, he is a prolific writer and a sought-after speaker in Israel, the UK and the USA.
Shaindy Babad
Chairperson of Temech
Shaindy is a serial non-profit entrepreneur for almost 20 years. She was actively involved in the creation and management of the OneFamily Fund and MiBereshit. She was a founding member and director of the Kemach organization, from concept development to securing initial funding to building the relationships that made Kemach an integrated, powerful force for positive change in its target community.
Shaindy is best known (by all of us!) as the devoted Director of Temech from 2008-2019. She took the reins of Temech and implemented an organizational restructure and growth plan that catapulted Temech forward. Shaindy forged relationships and won involvement from key figures within Israel’s economic landscape, the JDC, government and relevant foundations and new sectors and industries. In 2019, Shaindy transitioned to a new advisory role, giving her more time to devote to her family and a wide range of projects while still enabling Temech to benefit from her vast experience and invaluable expertise.
Hadassah Levy
Digital Marketer
Hadassah has been a digital marketer since 2004, before the title even existed! She specializes in content writing, social media/email marketing and content management, with a little bit of WordPress development, PPC and SEO thrown in for good measure. Hadassah works with clients around the world and focuses primarily on websites with Jewish content. She has presented at Temech, Megacomm, PICO and more.
Sharon Rottman
Partner at Shemesh Media
Sharon Rottman is a long time resident of Bet Shemesh, devoted to connecting residents with the information they need to navigate day to day life in our city. She is a strong believer in using technology to support and build community. Sharon is a partner at Shemesh Media, publishing the popular ShemeshPhone and shemesh.co.il.
Riva Pomerantz
Bestselling Author, Founder of Masterpiece: Unite & Write, Where Frum Women Write and Shine
Riva is renowned for her 12 bestselling, true-to-life novels and hundreds of articles. She creates top-tier, dynamite marketing materials for dozens of companies and non-profits.
Many frum female writers struggle with loneliness, self-doubt, and gaining access to the right contacts in the industry. Riva’s newest project, Masterpiece: Unite & Write provides a supportive online community, where you can interact with like-minded women, make new contacts, and become more confident, productive and successful in your writing journey. Check it out at
Rivki Segal
Torah Educator and Author
The one thing that defines Rivki, no matter where life has brought her, is spreading the wisdom of Torah. Rivki taught Judaic Studies for 15 years in high schools in Atlanta and Baltimore. In parallel, she was the Director of the Women’s Institute of Torah in Baltimore from 2000 to 2005.
After making aliyah in 2005, Rivki found opportunities to teach Torah in her new home. She taught in the Shearim, Midreshet Tehillah and Machon Raaya seminaries, and is the current Director of both the volunteer and fellowship divisions in the Shlavim English Program. In addition, Rivki held the position of Program Director at the OU Israel Center from 2010 to 2017, founding the L’ayla Women’s Initiative. She is the author of the sefer Living Tehillim. Oh, and in her spare time (?!), she gives weekly Parsha and Tehillim classes to groups of women in Jerusalem.
Heather Dean
Journalist and Interviewer
Throughout her career as a premier entertainment journalist, Heather Dean reported for many popular television networks including MTV, The Associated Press, and E! Entertainment Television. During this time, Heather conducted hundreds of interviews with A-list celebrities, and attended countless premieres and galas. Heather chose to leave her glamorous career in Manhattan in order to actualize her newfound dreams in Israel.
Heather hosts Aish.com’s only weekly podcast, “At Home in Jerusalem” where she speaks with Jewish Stars on the topics of Judaism and family-life.
Dr. Yehudit Abrams
Founder and CEO of MonitHer Ltd.
MonitHer’s goal is to dramatically reduce the death and suffering due to late diagnosis of breast cancer, by making cutting edge early detection methods affordable and accessible for all. MonitHer Ltd. was winner of Mass Challenge Israel 2018 and the Israel Wework Creator Awards 2018.
Yehudit worked as a mechanical engineer at HP and Intel in robotics and plasma science prior to medical school. After receiving her MD, she was awarded a 25k Google scholarship to attend Singularity University on the NASA campus. During medical school, she traveled extensively with international medical volunteers across the globe, gathering the critical experience needed to join NASA as a Biomedical scientist developing and accessing medical diagnostics supporting the Mars mission.
While working in ultrasound at NASA, Yehudit decided to dedicate herself to preventative medical imaging, opting to work on early detection of breast cancer after losing her cousin, a gynecologist and breast cancer survivor who was passionate about early detection. Yehudit served as medical director for 4 years leading research for a breast ultrasound company prior to founding MonitHer Ltd.
Rifka Lebowitz
Financial Consultant, Speaker, and Author
Rifka is a financial consultant, speaker, and author, specializing in personal and small business finance. After a decade in the Israeli investment and banking industry, she went out on her own to pursue her dream: helping business owners, individuals, and couples to be smarter about – and with – their money. Founder of the extremely popular Facebook group Living Financially Smarter in Israel, Rifka speaks on personal finance all over Israel and abroad.
You can learn more about Rifka’s book, Smarter Israeli Banking, here: http://rifkalebowitz.com/smarter-israeli-banking/.
Esther Heller
Editor-in-Chief, Author, Writing Coach
Esther Heller is editor-in-chief of Menucha Publishers and Menucha Classroom Solutions. She’s the author of the novel The Lost Daughter. She also coaches writers and does developmental editing. She is always interested in meeting new writers and graphic artists.
Tamar Ansh
Presenter @JerusalemChallahExperience, Director of JWWS and Copywriter
Best-selling cookbook author (including her book, A Taste of Challah) and food columnist since 2004, Tamar Ansh has developed her fascination with challah, baking and cooking into the Jerusalem Challah Experience Media Network. Through this, Tamar inspires audiences of all ages with her interactive challah demos for bat mitzvahs, family fun days and Shabbos Project challah bakes, and via her Challah Bytes email list.
In parallel, Tamar founded and runs the Jerusalem Women’s Writers Seminar, a.k.a. The JWWS, a yearly event with the mission of uniting Jewish female writers, helping them polish their skills and catapult their business, and connecting them with the biggest names in Jewish publishing.
Oh, and in her “ordinary” life, Tamar is an experienced copywriter for businesses and NPOs. She can be reached at tamar@tamaransh.com
Put the date in your calendars...
21 Cheshvan 5780 / November 19, 2019
International Convention Center (Binyanei HaUma), Jerusalem
and register now!
מנהלת המרכז למצוינות עסקית ומובילת תכניות חילוץ מתקיעות עסקית
עופר בן דור