Administration
Rabbi Reuven Brand, Rosh Kollel
Rabbi Reuven Brand is the Rosh Kollel of the Yeshiva University Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago. Rabbi Brand was a member of the Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon at Yeshiva University, where he received his ordination from its affiliate, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Brand has served as Rabbinic Assistant at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He holds a Master's degree in Jewish Education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration and a B.A. in history from Yeshiva College. He also studied at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh in Israel. He has published several articles on Talmudic topics and edited three different volumes of Jewish scholarship. Rabbi Brand is a founder of Lman Achai, a student organization dedicated to the needs of Jews in Israel, including feeding the hungry and supporting victims of terror. He has served as Scholar-in-Residence and directed educational programs in communities across the United States, in Europe and Australia. He and his wife, Nechama, and their three sons, Chaim, Ilan and Aryeh Mordechai, live in Skokie.
Email:rbrand@chicagotorah.org
Sam Medow, Executive Director
Sam Medow joins the Kollel as Executive Director after serving as Program Director for Chai Lifeline Midwest. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa and spent time studying at both Tel Aviv University and Yeshivat Darche Noam in Jerusalem. Sam also holds an MBA from Roosevelt University and resides in West Rogers Park with his wife Shuli and their son Levi.
Email:smedow@chicagotorah.org
Kollel Fellows
Rabbi Noah Baron comes from Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He attended Frisch high school. Afterward, he studied in Israel at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He earned his BA in Math from Yeshiva University and a Masters in Education from Azrieli. He is nearing the completion of his Semicha. Noah recently moved from Washington Heights, NY with his wife Tova and his son, Ari.
Email: nbaron@chicagotorah.org
Rabbi Mendel Breitstein has been a Rebbe at Ida Crown Jewish Academy, teaching Gemara, Chumash, halacha, machshava and Jewish history. At his previous post at Maimonides School in Brookline, MA, Rabbi Breitstein was a Fellow in the Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Institute. He has studied at the University of Maryland, Bernard Revel Graduate School and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University. He and his wife, Abby, and their three sons, Aryeh Shmuel, Ezra Nachshon and Noam Akiva live in West Rogers Park.
Rabbi Hagay Elitzur joins us from Jerusalem where he lived in Ir David, next to the Kotel. Rabbi Elitzur learned for six years at the Yeshivat Hesder Or Etzyon under Rav Chaim Drukman. He holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Sociology and has worked as an organizational consultant. Rabbi Elitzur and his wife, Naama, and their two daughters, Ateret and Tamar, currently reside in Skokie.
Email: helitzur@chicagotorah.org
Rabbi David Pri-Chen grew up in Petach Tikva and studied at Machon Lev High School in Jerusalem. He subsequently studied at the Yeshivat Hesder in Yerucham, a small town in the Negev, while simultaneously studying at Yaakov Herzog College. During that time, Rabbi Pri-Chen taught at Kol Yaakov, an elementary school in Yerucham. He also taught Gemara and other Judaic subjects at Yeshivat Belevav Shalem, a local Yeshiva high school. Following his studies, he served in the Israeli army in the Golani brigade. He lives in West Rogers Park with his wife, Tal, and their daughters Daria and Hilla Yehudit.
Email: dprichen@chicagotorah.org
Rabbi Michael Teitcher is from Oceanside, NY. After high school, he learned in Yeshivat Hakotel for two years, and studied at the University of Maryland. He went on to complete his B.A. in Biology at Yeshiva University. He studied at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Seminary of Yeshiva University, and spent a year of study at the Gruss Kollel in Jerusalem. Rabbi Teitcher and his wife, Ayala, live in West Rogers Park.
Email: mteitcher@chicagotorah.org
Rabbi Mordechai Turoff is originally from Miami Beach, Florida. He spent two years studying at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel before enrolling at Yeshiva University. After receiving his bachelors degree in history at Yeshiva University, he studied for smicha at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary. Rabbi Turoff and his wife, Atara, and their daughter, Nava Tehila, live in West Rogers Park.
Email:mturoff@chicagotorah.org
Rabbi Ira Wallach is from Woodmere, New York and attended HAFTR High School. He then went on to learn in Israel at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh for two years. Following his studies in Israel, Rabbi Wallach attended Yeshiva University and earned his bachelors degree in economics. Upon the completion of his degree, he and his wife, Batsheva, lived in Israel for a year while Rabbi Wallach studied at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, after which he returned to Yeshiva University's affiliate Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Wallach attended Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education. During the past year, he served as the rabbinic intern at the Eitz Chaim Synagogue in Livingston, New Jersey. Rabbi Wallach, his wife, Batsheva, and their two children, Avigail and Shia, live in Skokie.
Email: iwallach@chicagotorah.org
773.973.6557