In his short time here as our Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Mordechai Lebhar has made a profound impact. His enthusiasm for learning has invigorated our morning and afternoon intra-Kollel learning and his expertise and fluency in Talmud and contemporary halacha have raised the bar for all of us. In addition, his high-level classes all around LA have raised considerably LINK's profile as a true community-wide Kollel. Rabbi Lebhar's charming personality as well as warm wit has won him many admirers in both the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities.

A native of Montreal from Moroccan ancestry – Rabbi Lebhar is one of the unique young Talmidei Chachamim who are equally fluent in Sephardic and Ashkenazic halachic traditions. (It doesn’t hurt that he speaks 5 languages, including Yiddish and Farsi!) After studying at the Chicago Telshe Yeshiva, Rabbi Lebhar spent 10 years learning at the feet of some of Israel’s most illustrious sages, especially, Rabbi Tzvi Kushelevsky and Rabbi Azriel Auerbach. In addition, he has had tutelage from several leading Poskim (halachic authorities) in Jerusalem. Before coming to LINK, he was a very popular Halacha teacher at Shapells/ Yeshiva Darche Noam and headed a night Kollel for professionals in Har Nof. He is the author of 3 full-length halachic works as well as seven monographs on various applications of Jewish Law and Prayer.

Mrs. Lori Lebhar, a native of Highland Park, NJ, moved with her family to Israel at age 13. She has a Degree in Psychology from Thomas Edison University. In Jerusalem, she taught in an early intervention learning center for children with developmental and learning disabilities, helping them to “mainstream”. Her warmth and graciousness have endeared her to all in her brief sojourn in LA. She has allowed her husband to devote so much of his time to learning, teaching and writing while taking over most of the responsibilities for raising their five wonderful children.

A veteran of nearly 21 years in Rabbinic and Outreach work, Rabbi Eli Stern is the senior member of the LINK team. His broad experience in many areas has allowed him to be a key resource for the other members of the team as well as for his many students. His irrepressible wit combined with an uncanny ability to connect Torah ideas to contemporary events makes his classes especially appealing. Whether to searching people with limited backgrounds or those who have been observant for many years, Rabbi Stern has a well-earned reputation in counseling and guiding Jews with keen insight and compassion. A gifted writer and speaker, he is an eloquent communicator of timeless Torah values in the contemporary idiom.

A native of Manhattan, Rabbi Stern began his Yeshiva learning after graduating with a degree in Political Science from Hunter College of CUNY. After 2 years in Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, he studied for 7 years at the Yeshiva of Staten Island, under Rabbi Reuvain Feinstein. He has held outreach and/ or pulpit positions in Buffalo, Richmond and Dayton before coming to LA in 1996 to become Ashreinu’s pioneering campus Rabbi (JAM). He laid the ground work for much of LINK’s outreach mission while serving as Outreach Director and Associate Rabbi of the Westwood Kehilla from 1997-2002. He still keeps up with many of his relationships while forging new links with interested students.

Mrs. Robin Stern, a native of Richmond, VA, has been a full partner with her husband in all of his Torah endeavors. She attended Touro College in New York and served as an advisor to NCSY for many years. She has taught formal and informal Jewish learning to students of all ages as well as English, Science and Maths in Yeshivos on both coasts. For 11 years, she had been a mainstay in the Toras Emes secular studies department. Now, she teaches math and science to junior high school girls at Bais Tzivia (the Girls Cheder). In addition, she is the beloved “Morah Robin” at “Bubbies’ House” pre-school here in Westwood. Her warmth as a tutor and as a Shabbos “hostess with the mostess” has attracted dozens of women to the path of Torah. While making this all look easy, she has found the time to raise a beautiful family of six children.

If LINK is all about teaching Torah to Jews of all backgrounds and abilities, then Rabbi Shimon Abramczik personifies the LINK ideal. He has won wide acclaim as a Rebbe par excellance. His uncanny ability to convey intricate Talmudic and halachic topics to even “entry-level” students has distinguished him as a much–beloved LINK teacher. In particular, his halacha series has won many plaudits for its clarity and “user-friendliness” and his introductory Talmudic skills classes have magically transformed novices into fluent Gemara learners, seemingly overnight

A veritable gentle giant (6’2”) known for his warmth of self-effacement, Rabbi Abramczik hails from Monsey, NY. After learning in local yeshivos, he then spent the next 10 years pursuing his advanced Gemara learning in Israel, at Yeshivas Bais Yisroel and then at the famed Mirrer Yeshiva. While in Kollel in Jerusalem, Rabbi Abramczik found the time to volunteer at the “Zone”, a crisis center for “at risk” youth. He also attended the Ner L’Elef Teacher Training Institute in Jerusalem, specializing in developing skills for Jewish Outreach.

Mrs. Huvi Abramczik has achieved a loyal and popular following amongst the women students at LINK for her inspirational and meticulously researched classes on prayer and spirituality. She has touched many lives with her warmth, erudition and keen concern for all of her students. She also tutors women one-on-one, dispensing much life-long learning and advice that belies her age.

Mrs. Abramczik is also a native of Monsey (“the other side of the hill”). She attended Bnos Yisroel Seminary in Jerusalem and earned a BA in Business Communication from Touro College. She also attended the Ner L’Elef Teacher Training Institute in Jerusalem. Rabbi and Mrs. Abramczik are the proud parents of three children.

If we had to identify the neshomah (soul) of the Kollel it would have to be Rabbi Daniel Weinstock. His passion for learning and teaching touch all areas of his life. From his heartfelt and uplifting tefillos (prayers), to his uncompromising zeal to understand and internalize the Dvar Hashem (word of G-d) – he has a profound impact on so many people. Whether directly as a teacher or through osmosis, Rabbi Weinstock has been that ideal yardstick by which others have measured their spiritual growth.

Thus it’s not by accident that it is Rabbi Weinstock who awakens the dawn each morning at 5:30 am. First with teachings of mussar and then with intellectually challenging Gemara classes. The 18 or so members of the exclusive “Gemara In Your Kup” club are literally pulled out of their slumber by the dynamo of Torah excitement called Rabbi Weinstock. That same energy is evident some 14 hours later in his advanced Talmud class each night-undiminished by a full day of intense intra-kollel learning and private tutorials.

Rabbi Weinstock is a native of Brooklyn, NY. After attending Yeshivas Torah Temimah in Brooklyn, MIR in Jerusalem and Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, he spent five intensive years at the famed Beis Medrash Gevohah in Lakewood. Along the way, he joined the Westwood Kehilla for an unforgettable SEED program in the summer of 2001. His passionate shiurim, earnest friendship and stirring guitar playing made an indelible imprint on the entire community.

During that busy summer, Rabbi Weinstock stole away a few minutes to be introduced to his future wife, Tally (nee Brenner). Mrs. Weinstock, a native Angelino, studied at the Bnos Chava Seminary in Jerusalem. She is currently pursuing a Speech Therapy Degree at Cal State Northridge. As a tutor and beautiful role model for women of all ages Mrs. Weinstock exudes a true warmth and accessibility. The Weinstocks are the proud parents of two wonderful girls.

Besides learning full-time with great diligence in our Beis Medrash, Rabbi Noam Waltuch has started two new programs in Pico-Robertson. One is a community Beis Medrash at Congregation Adas Torah, and the other is a bold undertaking for high school students, pairing them up with their fathers for chavrusa learning on Thursday evenings. Renowned for his clarity and self-effacing character, Rabbi Waltuch also teaches for our Kollel Institute and learns Gemara one on one with students of all ages. A first-class Talmid Chacham and native of Edison, NJ, he is a graduate of Yeshiva University and studied at the famed Mirer Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Mrs. Ilana Waltuch, a native Angelino, is a graduate of YULA who also studied at Neve Yerushalayim in Israel. She graduated from Barnard College in New York with a degree in Psychology. Having recently given birth to their second child, she will soon be joining our women’s division in teaching a variety of shiurim for women of different backgrounds.

Mrs. Sarah Gertel is the Program Director of TLC (Torah Learning for Collegiates), LINK's college women's learning and outreach program. In Mrs. Gertel's tenure, she has expanded the program from the Tuesday night class structure to a comprehensive, award-winning organization that assists girls in all aspects of their development.

The program focuses on providing inspiring classes with amazing teachers in a "happening" social setting, mentoring where girls get the one-on-one guidance they need, special events both social and religious, opportunities to learn in Israel, all in a laid-back atmosphere where the girls build relationships and forge friendships.

Mrs. Gertel has been involved in the field of outreach for the past twelve years. Post high school/seminary, Mrs. Gertel did college campus kiruv and recruiting for JAM/Ashreinu in Los Angeles, CA. After which, she moved to Israel and worked for Aish Hatorah's JEWEL program doing one-on-one mentoring, educational programming and fundraising. She then worked for Heritage House where she single-handedly produced and directed an overseas-abroad outreach program at Hebrew University Har Hatzofim, Jerusalem.

Although they greatly miss living in Eretz Yisroel, together with her husband Dr. Yehuda Gertel, clinical psychologist and darling daughter Raina, Mrs. Gertel is grateful to be living in sunny California where a bike ride along the ocean with some TLC girls is just a quick car ride away. A true lover of nature, Sarah Gertel enjoys hiking, picnicking, boating (floating 2 miles an hour down rivers and streams in her two-person blow-up boat, the S.S. Gertel, to be exact) and playing her guitar alongside just about any place with a few trees and a trickle of fresh running water.