Our Sacks Writing Scholars

Ori Bach is pursuing a master’s degree in Jewish studies at Revel Graduate School and rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He has written for Yeshiva University's philosophy journal, the Symposium, and the Lehrhaus. He has also served as an editor for various publications. 

 Sarah Baird is pursuing a master's degree in modern Jewish history at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. She currently serves as the Dean of the Tikvah Solomon Fellowship and the Dean of Faculty of the Tikvah Scholars Summer Programs, and her essays have been published in The Public Discourse, The Jewish Review of Books, and The Wall Street Journal.

Alex Benedyk is pursuing semikha (rabbinical ordination) at RIETS, Yeshiva University. Before relocating to New York, he worked for the UK Civil Service in London as an economist and policy advisor for seven years. As a former research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, he published several essays on the Israeli economy in The Jerusalem Post. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Bristol, UK.

Aviva Farkas is pursuing a PhD in Jewish Philosophy at Bernard Revel Graduate School. She has published articles in a variety of peer-reviewed and popular venues, including Hakirah, Religions, Comitatus, Chabad.org, and Hevria. 

Marc Fishkind is currently pursuing Yoreh Yoreh semikha at RIETS. He received a BA in Cognitive Science from University of Pennsylvania, and has previously participated as a Nachshon Project Fellow as well as Maimonides School Fellow, and has served as a copy editor for Beis Yitzchak.

Peninah Taragin Gershman holds a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and previously worked as a speech-language pathologist and Medicare Policy Analyst for the Federal Government, writing for trade journals, producing web content, and drafting manuals and federal regulations respectively. She is currently pursuing an MA at the Yeshiva University Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and her most recent piece, "Holocaust Humor, Ethics, and Theological Protest," was published in The Lehrhaus.

Shimi Kaufman is a student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, as well as a Master's student at the Bernard Revel Graduate School for Jewish Studies, with a focus in Talmud and Ancient Judaism. He has previously worked as a Beit Midrash Fellow at SAR High School, and has published several articles in The Lehrhaus.

Matthew Minsk is a recent graduate from Yeshiva College with degrees in American political theory and economics, where he was a Straus Scholar, and he is now pursuing a master's degree in medieval Jewish history from BRGS while studying in RIETS. Matthew's writing has appeared in the Jewish Journal, Wall Street Journal Future View, and various YU undergraduate journals and publications, and he has interned for or participated in fellowships with the Institute for Family Studies, Tikvah, American Enterprise Institute, and The Fund for American Studies.

Hadassah Reich is pursuing a master’s degree in Talmudic Interpretation from The Graduate Program in Advanced Talmud Studies (GPATS). She studied English Literature at Yeshiva University, where she also served as The Commentator's Editor in Chief and was awarded The Dean David and Sarrah Mirsky Memorial Award for Creative Writing. 

Dovid (Dovi) Siderson is in his third year of Semikha Yoreh Yoreh at RIETS while pursuing a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature at NYU. Currently serving on the rabbinic team at the Manhattan Jewish Experience after directing NCSY & JSU in Connecticut, Dovi received Semikha Rav U'Manhig from Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried of the Dallas Kollel and holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in Bible.