Our Staff

Professional, ethical, and dedicated to ending the suffering of agunot wherever possible, our staff stands ready to assist you. Experts in the Halachic aspects of marriage and divorce and keenly aware of the human side, we will support and guide you through the process as best we can to alleviate unnecessary pain.

Rav David BigmanAv Beit Din

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.

Rav Ariel HollandDayan

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.

Rav Shuki ReichDayan

Coming Soon

Rav Barry DolingerExecutive Director

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 TruboffDirector of the Institute for Agunah Research and Education

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 MacnerWest Coast Coordinator / Legal Advisor

Esther Macner, Esq. serves as the West Coast Coordinator for the IBD, helping to manage and assist our California-based clients on the ground. Esther is also the founder and president of Get Jewish Divorce Justice, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles dedicated to preventing gett 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 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. She studied rabbinic texts at Michlala in Jerusalem, holds 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.

Naomi Schorsch SteinDirector of Operations and Case Management

For over fifteen years Naomi was Director of Admissions and Communications and a Judaic Studies teacher at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island. In 2021 she pivoted to filmmaking and is currently, together with her sister, co-producing and directing a personal essay film exploring their spiritual inheritance called And When Your Children Ask. Naomi holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern Languages and Culture from Columbia University and a B.A. from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Hebrew Literature.

Harshita LakhianiChief Financial Officer

Harshita brings extensive expertise in financial consulting to the International Beit Din, particularly as a QuickBooks specialist. She has 26 years of dedicated service to the Jewish community in Providence and serves as CFO for the Jewish Community Day School of RI, providing invaluable financial stewardship. Harshita has offered her consultancy to numerous synagogues across New England. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting from H.R. College of Commerce, Mumbai, India.

Rabbanit Leah SarnaDirector of Public Education and Media

Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Director of Public Education and Media for the International Beit Din and the Spiritual Leader of Kehillat Sha’arei Orah in Lower Merion, PA. An award-winning Jewish educator, she has taught Torah in Orthodox and Jewish communal settings around the world, and she particularly loves empowering women of all ages to feel ownership over the most complex areas of the Torah library. Her written works can be found in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus and the Jewish Review of Books, and she is currently writing a book of Torah and Halacha relating to pregnancy, birth and the beginning of life. 
 
Leah has extensive advanced higher Jewish education and holds a BA in Philosophy & Psychology from Yale University. 

Emily Goldberg WinerIntake Specialist

Emily Goldberg Winer is the Director of Spiritual Engagement at Congregation Beth Sholom and a hospital chaplain in Providence, RI.

Her previous positions include: Boston Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute, intern at the Stanton Street Shul, Congregation Beth Sholom/Talmud Torah, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, chaplain at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, community educator at Brandeis, and coordinator at the Hebrew Home of Riverdale. She completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Jewish Innovation Fellowship at the 92nd Street Y, the Join for Justice Fellowship, and the rabbinic student fellowship at SHI-NA.

A Wexner Graduate and Atra Fellow, Emily has engaged in programs rooted in religious diversity, first among fellow Jews at the Bronfman Youth Fellowship and Drisha, and later across faiths at the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding, Tanenbaum, and Auburn. Emily lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her husband Jonah, their daughter Selah, and their extroverted Golden Retriever named Barley.

Anna CableIntake Specialist

Anna Cable is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Rhode Island.  A graduate of Smith College School for Social Work, Anna worked for years providing home- and school-based trauma treatment to families with young children.  She has completed certifications in Child-Parent Psychotherapy and the Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) Framework for trauma treatment.  In addition to serving on the staff of the International Beit Din, Anna provides individual, family and couples therapy to clients in the greater Providence area.

Randy GorodDevelopment Consultant

Randy Gorod is the President & CEO of Pisgah Consulting. With over 30 years of development experience, Randy offers his expertise to small and mid-sized non-profits, guiding their strategy and day-to-day tactics, as well as consulting and coaching. He is passionate about being a catalyst for positive change, helping his clients build a strong foundation, and maximizing their efforts. Randy has years of theoretical and practical experience in program development and creation, organizational development, and fundraising.  He is the past Chapter President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is involved on the global level.

Randy holds a B.A. in Public Relations from the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, and an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Columbia University’s Teachers College.  He obtained his coaching certification from Coaching.com.

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