Rav David Bigman has been the Rosh HaYeshiva at Yeshivat Ma’ale Gilboa since 1995. He studied at the Skokie Yeshiva, Kerem B’Yavneh, Merkaz Harav and Netzech Yisrael. He received semikha from Mechon Ariel in Haifa. He received his B.A. in economics with honors from Wayne State University. From 1983 – 1988, Rabbi Bigman was Rabbi of Kibbutz Maale Gilboa, and from 1987-92, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKibbutz HaDati Ein Tzurim. Rabbi Bigman has served on various batei din and has long been active in the issue of Mesuravei Gett. Rabbi Bigman served in the Israeli army.
For over three decades, Rabbi Ariel Holland has taught Halacha and Talmud in numerous institutions and communities throughout Israel and the Diaspora. Currently, he is a Ram in the Tekoa Yeshiva and serves as a rabbinical Posek in various institutions. He is a fellow in the Ad-Hena Institute for Jewish Heritage in Galicia & Bukovina. Rabbi Holland has semikha from Rav Adin Steinzaltz with whom he studied for many years.
Coming Soon
Rav Barry Dolinger serves as the Executive Director of the International Beit Din and has served as the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom in Providence, RI since 2011. He is also a practicing attorney in RI and Massachusetts, where his practice areas include estate planning, probate, business organization, contract law, and employment discrimination.
He received his ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) affiliated with Yeshiva University in 2011, graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, and received a J.D. from Fordham Law School in 2011.
Rav Zach Truboff is the author of Torah Goes Forth From Zion: Essays on the Thought of Rav Kook and Rav Shagar and regularly teaches in institutions of advanced Torah learning. Before making aliyah, he served for nearly a decade as the Rabbi of Cedar Sinai Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio. He received ordination from Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg in 2007 and graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UMass, Amherst in 2002
Esther Macner, Esq. serves as the West Coast Coordinator for the IBD, helping to manage and assist our California-based clients on the ground. She brings her decades of legal experience and expertise in Jewish divorce to the IBD team. Esther is also the founder and president of Get Jewish Divorce Justice, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles dedicated to preventing get abuse. She was instrumental in supporting the passage of the California Coercive Control statute, laying the groundwork for gett abuse to be covered under this law. Esther also spearheaded revising the Beth Din of America’s Jewish Prenuptial Agreement for California. She has served as a Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Domestic Violence Bureau at the King’s County District Attorney’s Office in New York and engaged in the private practice of matrimonial law and mediation in New York. Her educational background includes the study of rabbinic texts at Michlala in Jerusalem, a BA in psychology from the Hebrew University, an MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary, a JD from Cardozo School of Law and the Loyola School of Law Center for Conflict Resolution.
Susan Galla joined the staff of the International Beit Din as Administrative Assistant in November, 2020. Her multi-functional background primarily in not-for-profit Jewish organizations, includes working with rabbis and liaison between executive directors and lay leaders.
Susan found a special connection within the Jewish community by joining the IBD. Her goal is to assist the professional staff in advancing their aim to end the plight of the agunot, and to engage board members and lay leaders to support our mission to end igun.
Susan was born in Hungary and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She and her husband Peter raised their sons in Queens, New York, where she was actively engaged in their children’s yeshivot. Currently living in New Rochelle, NY, Susan and Peter are active members of the Young Israel of Scarsdale.
Susan is fluent in English and Portuguese, has good knowledge of Hebrew and Hungarian, and can carry a reasonable conversation in Spanish.