Administration
Rabbi Mayer Neuberger
Rosh Hayeshiva
Rabbi Mayer Neuberger, a native of Baltimore, Md, studied in Mechina High School of NIRC, Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Yeshivas Mir (Jerusalem) and Beis Medrash Govoha (Lakewood), where he received semicha. Rabbi Neuberger came to Atlanta in 1997 to join the Atlanta Scholars Kollel and has served as Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Yisrael since the yeshiva’s founding in 2001. He is married to Rivka Neuberger (nee Hopfer) who currently works as an anesthetist at Grady Hospital. They have four children.
Mr. David Jaffe
General Studies Principal
David Jaffe is originally from Atlanta. He has a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and minored in entrepreneurialism. He is a lifelong educator starting with peer-tutoring in middle school. Since 2009 David has been spending his summers developing and running camp counselor training programs, leading summer camp teams, and coaching young people. He has taught Sunday school for six years and Geometry for three years. In 2021 David joined the Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael team as the General Studies Principal. He lives with his wife and children in the Toco Hills community.
Mrs. Sheryl Pitocchelli
Assistant Principal
This is currently under construction.
Rabbi Avrohom Tkatch
Menahel
Rabbi Avrohom Tkatch grew up in Overland Park, Kansas and attended the Yeshiva of South Bend, Yeshivas Mir (Jerusalem) and Beis Medrash Govoha (Lakewood), where he received semicha. Rabbi Tkatch joined the outreach Kollel in Bensalem, PA then moved to South Bend, IN in 2004 where he served as Menahel and 12th grade Rebbe for 11 years at the Yeshiva of South Bend. Rabbi Tkatch came to Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year.
Ms. Beruriah Sawyer
CFO
Ms. Beruriah Sawyer is a native Atlantan. She attended Georgia Institute of Technology where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Developmental Psychology. Post graduation, in order to further her career, Ms. Sawyer studied business systems management, labor law, and computer applications at Florida International University. After working for several years as a computer systems analyst designing programs for financial systems, Ms. Sawyer decided to stay at home with her growing family. While at home, she worked as the office administrator of a self-owned manufacturer’s representative company and homeschooled until her children entered the day school system in Atlanta. She worked temporarily as bookkeeper for the Yeshiva in its second year, 2003, and was later hired as office manager in the Fall of 2004.
Judaic Studies
Rabbi Naftali Estreicher
Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Estreicher is the tenth grade Rebbe at Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael. After eight years of learning at the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia and five years in Jerusalem’s Mir Yeshiva he returned to his hometown of Atlanta Georgia. Rabbi Estreicher was a founding member of the Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael Kollel in 2001. Rabbi Estreicher has also served as a rebbe at Camp Bonim for a number of years during the summer and completed the Ohr Legola outreach training program.
Rabbi Binyomin Alon
Rabbi Binyomin Alon is the 11th grade Rebbe at Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael. After studying in Beis Medrash and Mesivtah of Baltimore, he spent several years learning in Yeshivas Kodshim (R' Tzvi Kaplan) in Israel. Following his years in Israel, he married Fraidy and joined Beis Medrash Gavoah in Lakewood. In 2014, Rabbi Alon came to Atlanta to become a founding member of Kollel Ner Hamizrach along with seven other families. While studying in the Kollel, Rabbi Neuberger formed an 8th grade extracurricular study group, which Rabbi Alon taught. It was this group of boys that would later form his 11th grade class when he joined the Yeshiva full time in 2017.
Rabbi Aharon Feldman
Rabbi Aharon Feldman was raised in Palo Alto CA. He attended Yeshivas Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim and was a member of Kollel Netzach Yisroel (Rechnitz's kollel) in Los Angeles. Rabbi Feldman has published seforim on mesechtos Nida and Eiruvin. Most recently he taught at Mesivta Birkas Yitzchok and at the Yeshiva Gedola of Los Angeles. He and his wife, Shira, along with their five children moved to Atlanta before the 2021-2022 school year.
Rabbi Aryeh Adler
Rabbi Aryeh Adler grew up on the lower east side of Manhattan, and then Teaneck NJ. He studied at Yeshivas Kerem B’Yavneh, Yeshiva University where he graduated cum laude, and R’ Tzvi Kushelefsky in Eretz Yisrael. He received semicha from Rabbi Beryl Wein while he was sho’el u’meishiv in Yeshiva Shaarei Torah and studying under his uncle, Rabbi Yitzchak Adler, whose derech halimud he adopted. Rabbi Adler began his teaching career teaching an honor’s eighth grade class in Monsey, NY after which he taught in Moshe Aaron Yeshiva HS in Central NJ for 12 years. In addition, while in NJ, R Adler took his love of teaching and spreading devar Hashem to Rutgers University, teaching students on campus and in his home for several years. He gave weekly classes in the community and maintained ongoing relationships with his many students. Rabbi Adler came to Atlanta to join YOY in 2011 with aspirations to mold his talmidim into b’nei Torah and lamdanim.
General Studies
Mr. Chris Ellis
Mr. Christopher Ellis is a native of Atlanta. He attended Auburn University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, concentrating on Actuarial Science. He discovered that teaching was a more rewarding and fun career than working in insurance. Mr. Ellis holds certification from the state of Georgia in all content areas of secondary mathematics. He has been with Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael since 2015, having taught all different levels of mathematics.
Dr. Richard Katz
Dr. Richard Katz is a trained linguist, specializing in language history and how grammatical features come about. He earned his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Georgia in 2016 and moved from Athens to Atlanta so that his wife could pursue her career in accounting. He first came to Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael in the fall of 2018 where he teaches Language Arts and English to the 9th and 12th grade. In class, he works on strengthening students' skills in close reading and argumentative writing. Outside of class, he is writing a book about the history of grammatical structures like the perfect tense. He and his wife have a two year-old son.
Mr. Haoran Yang
Haoran Yang, known more often by his nickname Mickey, was born and raised in China and moved to the United States when he was 18. He speaks both Mandarin and English. After graduating from Birmingham Southern College with a Bachelor in Mathematics, he came to Atlanta to pursue a graduate degree at UGA for Math Education. Mr. Yang enjoys basketball, and is a big Spurs fan. (He may have spent four years of college at Alabama, but says he is not really a Roll Tide fan.) Mr. Yang delights in both math and teaching, so is pleased to have come to Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael in the 2019-2020 school year as a Mathematics teacher.
Mr. William Ellis
Mr. William Ellis attended both the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. He holds a BS Ed. in Secondary Social Science Education and a Masters in Educational Leadership and Supervision. He taught in the Gwinnet County school system for over 35 years; was department chair for eleven years; and served on the committee that developed the geography certification test used in the State of Georgia to certify teacher expertise in the subject of geography. Mr. Ellis began teaching at Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael in the fall of 2009 and now teaches the full range of social sciences including AP US History and AP US Government.
Mr. Samson Onibiyo
Mr. Samson Onibiyo earned his B.S. in Applied Geophysics at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria then moved to the Atlanta area to obtain a M.S. in Geosciences at Georgia State University in 2016. Mr. Onibiyo started teaching math in 9th grade and has been teaching math and science for more than two decades. He believes in showing students the fundamentals of every subject and building on that base. His specialties are math, physics, chemistry, environmental science and geology. During his spare time, Mr. Onibiyo enjoys watching, playing and even officiating soccer and volleyball. He joined the yeshiva staff for the 2021-2022 school year.
Mr. Joshua Corin
Mr. Joshua Corin has a Master's Degree in English, a Master's Degree in Theatre, and a Master's of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing. He has more than 21 years teaching experience from grades K – 12 as well as college-level. He also has published six novels (most recently AMERICAN LIES for Random House) and over a dozen comic books (most recently SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL for Marvel). He is left-handed, has driven across the US 1.5 times, and has a short-haired cat named Princess Tater Tot.