Straus Scholar Alumni

Allie Orgen (SWC '24) is an analyst at a Private Foundation based in New York City. She completed internships and fellowships with Congressman Josh Gottheimer, the Charles Group, and Teach Coalition. She is also an alumnus of academic fellowships hosted by The Fund for American Studies, the American Enterprise Institute, and AIPAC. While at , she was the president of PAC, where she led three of their annual Missions to Washington. 

Natan Ehrenreich (YC '23) is a Communications and Government Affairs Fellow at the Becket Fund and a fellow at the Public Interest Fellowship. At Becket, he assists with research and analysis of legislation related to religious liberty and produces communications material for the organization. Natan graduated summa cum laude from in May of 2023 as one of nine undergraduate valedictorians. He has participated in Summer fellowships at the Heritage Foundation, the Hertog Foundation, the Tikvah Fund, and the American Enterprise Institute. His writing has appeared in National Review, where he served as an editorial intern in the summer of 2023.

Michael Weiner (YC '21) is an M.A. candidate in National Security and Intelligence at the Texas A&M Bush School in Washington, DC. After graduating from with a BA in Political Science in 2021, he served as a research assistant at the Hudson Institute, working for two former senior government officials writing books on the Middle East. He also interned for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Eliott Dosetareh (YC '20) is a law student at Cardozo School of Law and currently serves as a Civil Rights Law Clerk at The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. At Cardozo, Eliott serves as a staff editor on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, where he has researched multi-track diplomacy and the Abraham Accords. He is also an active member of the Jewish Law Students Association and Real Estate Law Association. Before starting law school, Eliott served as a research and executive assistant at the World Jewish Congress in New York City, where he analyzed legislation pertaining to anti-Semitism, Holocaust education, and bi-partisan support for Israel. Eliott graduated from in 2020 with a BA in Economics and a minor in Psychology.

Penina Spearman (SCW '23) is currently studying in ’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmud/Tanach Studies (GPATS) program toward a master's degree in Tanach, and she is pursuing an M.A. in Humanities with a concentration in Jewish Classical Education through Tikvah's Lobel Center and the University of Dallas. Prior to studying at Stern College, she spent a year in Israel at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim (MMY). Penina received a degree in philosophy as a Jewish Foundation for Education of Women (JFEW) scholar. Penina was a Tikvah Summer Fellow and worked on a project to help both with the editorial and research process for a book adaptation of essays by Rabbi Meir Soloveichik for Koren Publishing.

Eliana Wagner (SCW '22) is a law student at Columbia Law School. She graduated from Stern College for Women in 2022 with a BA in political science. Through the Pre-Law Judicial Internship Program, Eliana had the opportunity to intern for Judge Ruchie Freier at the Queens County Civil Court and gained extensive insight into the legal process. In past years, Eliana has worked as a legislative intern with the American Jewish Congress and as an intern on a congressional campaign. On campus, Eliana served as the president of the campus Israel club and participated in student government. She also spent a summer in Washington, DC, as part of the Tikvah Fund's fellowship program. In her free time, Eliana enjoys playing basketball, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Benjamin Gottesman (YC '23) is the associate director of high-school fellowships at the Tikvah Fund. He graduated from in May 2023 with degrees in Political Science and Jewish Studies, and he was a participant in the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Honors Program. Benjamin also played a major role in student life, serving as the editor-in-chief of the Observer, one of the school’s university’s student newspapers. In the past, Benjamin has interned at the Kohelet Policy Forum in Jerusalem and in the office of New York State Senator Kevin Parker.

Elimelekh (Eli) Perl (YC '22) is a software engineer at Goldman Sachs. Elimelekh received his B.S. in Computer Science from in 2022, graduating summa cum laude as both an Honors student and a Straus Scholar. He resides in Hillside, NJ with his wife, Yael, and their son, Bentzi.

Yonatan Kurz (YC '23) is currently pursuing semikha at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and an MA at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. A proud alum of the Straus Scholars Program, Yonatan graduated summa cum laude from Yeshiva College in 2023, majoring in Political Science and Jewish Thought and Philosophy with a minor in Psychology while learning in Rav Michael Rosensweig’s shiur. Before his time at , Yonatan spent two years in Israel at Yeshivat Sha’alvim. He has served as a legal research intern for the Orthodox Union's general counsel, a participant in American Enterprise Institute’s Summer Honors Program, and a Beren Summer Fellow for the Tikvah Fund. Yonatan is a rabbinic intern at the Jewish Center in Manhattan, and after receiving his semikha and graduate degree, he hopes to attend law school.

Noam Josse (YC '22) is currently a law student at Columbia Law School. He graduated from in May 2022. At , Naom was in the Mazer Yeshiva Program in Rav Shulman's Shiur and led the chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society. He participated in summer fellowships at the Hoover Institution and the Witherspoon Institute and is fluent in French.

Yehuda Goldberg (YC '22) is pursuing semikha at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and a graduate degree at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He graduated from Yeshiva College in 2022, and was class valedictorian. Prior to studying at , Yehuda spent two years at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He is interested in Jewish thought and the intersection of theology and political philosophy. Yehuda is a rabbinic intern at The Jewish Center in Manhattan.

Judah Fortgang (YC '22) is a quantitative sports trader based in Philadelphia, and previously worked at a private philanthropic foundation in New York City. Judah graduated from Yeshiva College with a degree in Political Thought in 2022. As an undergraduate, Judah was the vice president of 's Alexander Hamilton Society and a Beren Summer Fellow at the Tikvah Fund.

Jonathan (Yoni) Fenster (YC '20) is an associate attorney at Alston & Bird in New York City. He has a law degree from Fordham University Law School. At Fordham, he served as an associate editor for the Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law and was a Fellow at the Center of Law and Information Policy. He also interned for the SEC in the enforcement division. Jonathan graduated from in 2020 with a BA in Biology. He currently lives in Teaneck NJ with his wife and son.

Rebecca Aduculesi (SCW '23) resides in Israel, where she recently completed the Tagel learning program in Tanach and Halacha. She graduated from Stern College in May 2023 with a degree in Biochemistry. On campus, Rebecca volunteered as a teacher for START! Science and served as a mentor for College EDge. She served as a news editor for the Observer.

Ayelet (Brown) Jarashow (SCW '23) is currently a staffing coordinator at Achieve Behavioral Health in Monsey, New York. She is also the Teen Director at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, NJ, where she also enjoys teaching upcoming bat mitzvah girls and their mothers. She is currently working as a research assistant in the Multi-Model Psychotherapy Research Lab at Ferkauf's Graduate School of Psychology. Ayelet graduated from Stern College in May 2023 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Public Health. She is pursuing graduate work at 's Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

Reuben Hartman (YC '23) is an assistant design manager at Landau Properties. He graduated in May 2023 with a major in Political Science and a minor in Architecture. In the summer of 2023, Reuben served as a resident advisor on the Tikvah Fund’s Tikvah Scholars Program for high school students.

Abigail Pinchot (SCW '22) is a project manager at OpenDor Media, where she oversees the development and writing of podcasts and conducts research for future projects in Jewish history and Israel education. Abigail graduated from Stern College for Women in 2022 with a major in English literature and minor in sociology. Abigail is passionate about the arts, has won awards for her art pieces, and continues to sell her artwork. Abigail served as an NCSY advisor and has led NCSY summer programs. Abigail assisted with the non-profit organization MyZuzah, whose mission is to deliver as many mezuzot as possible to Jewish homes throughout the United States.

Ezra Wildes (YC '23) graduated from in May 2023 with a degree in Computer Science and minors in Mathematics and Philosophy. At , he interned at Dicta, a data science company focused on democratizing Jewish and Hebrew texts and tools. After graduation, he interned at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Cost Anomaly Detection. He is currently pursuing semikha at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS).

Baruch-Lev Kelman (YC '21) is currently pursuing a PhD in Jewish History at Bernard Revel Graduate School. He earned his BA summa cum laude in Jewish Studies with a minor in Architecture from Yeshiva College (‘21). Upon graduation, he received the Dean Bacon Award for Excellence in the Humanities and Jewish Studies and The Rosenblum Award for Excellence in the Study of Jewish History. As an undergraduate, Baruch-Lev served as the Glatt Research Associate at the Center for Israel Studies, contributing to the exhibit Samaritans: A Biblical People (Museum of the Bible, 2022). He has also attended the University of Urbino in Italy, researching Jewish contributions to the Italian Renaissance while serving on the Shoah Prize Committee of the San Paolo Vatican Press.

Avishai Samouha (YC '22) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. After spending a year at Yeshivat Sha'alvim in Nof Ayalon, Israel, Avishai began his journey at and the Straus Center. At , Avishai was a board member of the Medical Ethics Society, a co-founder of an a capella group, and completed academic research in several areas. For his Straus thesis, Avishai focused on the foreign policy struggles related to Iranian nuclear ambitions. Additionally, he published a scientific paper and a review article related to the effects of Reovirus treatment on KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer.

Rabbi Ben Atwood (YC '20) serves as the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Ohr HaTorah in Atlanta, Georgia. He also serves on the Judaic Studies faculty of the Atlanta Jewish Academy High School where he is also the Boys Israeli Guidance Director. Rabbi Atwood previously co-created and co-directed OU-JLIC of Greater Atlanta. He has spent summers on the administrative team of the Tikvah Scholars Program and has been involved with Yavneh on Campus, Camp Moshava IO, NCSY, the Memphis Torah Fellowship, and the Shalhevet Jewish Educators Fellowship. Rabbi Atwood graduated from Yeshiva College with a BA in English, and received rabbinic ordination from RIETS in tandem with a certificate in Mental Health Counseling at ’s Ferkauf School of Psychology. Before college, he spent two years studying in Israel at Yeshivat Har Etzion. 

Jennifer Peled (SCW '24) grew up in Los Angeles, California, where she graduated from LA Girls High School. In high school, she served as Senior Class President as well as Captain of the Model UN, Mock Trial, Robotics, and Moot Beit Din teams. Upon graduation, Jennifer attended Midreshet Harova where she enrolled in the Tikvah Overseas Institute. Jennifer completed her degree in Computer Science in May 2024, and looks forward to enriching her work in STEM with a thorough background in Western and Judaic thought. During her time at , Jennifer served as the President of the Computer Science club, the President of the ACM-W chapter, and the President of the Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Club. In her free time, she worked as a Coordinator for Yachad and as an assistant teacher at the Moriah School in Englewood. She now works as a Software Engineer at Microsoft.

Ruchama Benhamou (SCW '24), who commonly goes by Ru, is originally from Miami, Florida. She moved to Los Angeles for high school, attending LA Girls High School, where she rose to be captain of both the flag football and soccer teams and was awarded the 2020 CIF Comeback Player of the Year Award. She also served as editor of her school newspaper, chief editor of the yearbook and volunteered for Yachad, experiences that taught her the importance of leadership, problem solving and planning ahead. She is passionate about STEM and is pursuing a career in science while also having studied in-depth philosophy and liberal arts in the Straus Scholars Program.

Daniel Ganopolsky (YC '24) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Daniel majored in Political Science and was a member of the Pre-Law Society. Outside of the classroom, Daniel was an Associate Justice on the Student Court, Opinions Editor and staff writer for the  Observer, President of the Political Science Society, and Catcher for 's NCAA Baseball team. Outside of , Daniel worked as a Judicial intern at the New York County Family Court and was a former aide for New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov. During his downtime, Daniel enjoys to read and play with his cat, Billy Boy. After graduation, Daniel will work as a paralegal before attending law school. Daniel hopes to bring his work from the Straus Center into law, politics and the public good.

Racheli Gottesman (SCW '24) hails from Woodmere, New York. After graduating from HAFTR High School, she spent a year at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim (MMY) and participated in the Tikvah Overseas Student Institute. At HAFTR, Racheli was the captain of the speech, volleyball, and Shakespeare teams. During the summer, she worked as a counselor for Yachad and engaged in Torah study and teaching at Camp Moshava’s Beit Midrash program. At , Racheli pursued a degree in Computer Science, interning at Eagle Point Funding and Mastercard. On campus, she was a START! Science Leader, a member of the Volleyball and Cross Country teams, and served as an advisor for NCSY and Yachad. Her passion for technology, particularly Big Data and Machine Learning, culminated in her thesis on Big Data, modern privacy legislation, and Jewish Law. The Straus Center was instrumental in shaping her perspective, enabling her to view contemporary issues through the lens of Jewish law and thought. Following graduation, Racheli began her career as a Data Scientist at Mastercard.