On October 25, 2015, the second class will graduate from the U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program of Nishmat's Miriam Glaubach Center.

Julia Baruch serves as the Yoetzet Halacha at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and West Side Institutional Synagogue. She studied at the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women – Migdal Oz for one year after attending the Ramaz Upper School. Julia graduated from Columbia University cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology. She then graduated from Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center’s U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. Julia worked as a research assistant at Columbia University Medical Center's Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's and the Aging Brain and she plans to pursue a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology. She grew up in Englewood, NJ and currently lives on the Upper West Side with her husband, David, and son, Jacob. E-mail at JB.Yoetzet@gmail.com.

Rookie Billet was certified as a Yoetzet Halacha in 2015 by Nishmat’s U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. She is the Principal of Shulamith School for Girls of Long Island, Middle Division, having previously served as Principal of Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School, at Stella K. Abraham High School, and at Yeshiva University’s Central High School She also taught Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language and Literature for many years, and continues to serve as an active Rebbetzin at the Young Israel of Woodmere (since 1980), as a kallah teacher, educator, motivational speaker, adviser and mentor. Mrs. Billet earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College, a B.Ed. and Hebrew Teacher's Diploma from Yeshiva University, an M.A. from the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and studied in Israel for several years, including in the Senior Educators Program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.



Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Shira Donath attended Michlalah Jerusalem College for a year and a half, and then attended Stern College for Women, where she received her B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in Business and Management. Shira and her husband Rabbi Jeremy Donath are Rabbi and Rebbetzin of Congregation Darchei Noam in Fair Lawn, NJ, and Shira now serves as their Yoetzet Halacha as well. Additionally, she teaches AP Psychology at Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School.

Shiffy Friedman is thrilled to join the recent graduating class and become a Nishmat Yoetzet Halacha. After attending Ma'ayanot in Teaneck and studying at Migdal Oz for a gap year, Shiffy received her BA in Jewish studies from Stern College and a dual MA in education and Jewish studies from NYU. She currently teaches Judaic studies to middle school students at SAR Academy. She and her husband Noam and their children, Avital and Adir, live in Manhattan and serve at the Columbia/Barnard Hillel as OU-JLIC (Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus) educators. Talia Furleiter, originally from Teaneck, New Jersey, has an M.A. in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation from Yeshiva University's Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Studies. For two years, she taught introductory Halakha at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in Manhattan. Additionally, Talia was the founding instructor of Bavli Ba'Erev, a nightly Gemara study group for undergraduate students at Stern College, and has taught kallah classes for the past five years. Talia was a fellow in the second class of Nishmat's Miriam Glaubach Center's U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program and is currently an OU-JLIC (Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus) educator at Queens College. Talia lives in Washington Heights with her husband Matthew and their two sons Yehuda and Ezra.

Ilana Gadish serves as Yoetzet Halacha in Manhattan at Fifth Avenue Synagogue, the Jewish Center, Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim, Lincoln Square Synagogue, Congregation Ramath Orah and Congregation Shearith Israel. Ilana is a graduate of Nishmat's U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. She also teaches Talmud and Tanakh at the Ramaz Upper School. She previously served as an intern on the clergy of Lincoln Square Synagogue, and before that as a congregational intern at United Orthodox Synagogues in Houston, Texas. Ilana received her M.A. in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation at the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) at Stern College for Women, where she also received her B.A. with a major in Judaic Studies and a minor in Biology. She spent a year studying at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem, as well as two summers at the Drisha Institute. Ilana currently lives on the Upper West Side with her husband Moshe Peters.