Honorees
Gadi and Jana Romm
Jana and Gadi Romm are the recipients of the Parents of the Year Award. Their two oldest sons, Benjamin (Beni) and Ilan study at Yeshivat Har Etzion. Beni studied at Yeshiva for Shana Alef and Bet between 2021 and 2023, after which he attended the University of Pennsylvania for one year. That year, the tragic events of October 7th compelled him to return to Israel to enlist in the IDF through the Yeshiva. Beni just completed his Machal Hesder service in Combat Engineering and has returned to Yeshiva to continue his learning. This year, his brother Ilan, joined him at Yeshivat Har Etzion and is currently studying in Shana Alef. While in high school, Beni and Ilan both participated (in different years) in the International Chidon HaTanach, finishing in 3rd and 2nd place, respectively.
Jana is a pediatrician at the North Central Bronx Hospital in New York, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Gadi is an Engineering Manager at Addepar, a wealth management software company, and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Their three sons, Beni, Ilan, and Ori, had the benefit of a Frisch high school and Westchester Day School education, where many alumni of Yeshivat Har Etzion have educated them.
Above and beyond their direct connections with the Yeshiva, Jana and Gadi proudly represent the White Plains, New York, community and the Hebrew Institute of White Plains,whose leaders are also alumni of Yeshivat Har Etzion and Migdal Oz – Rabbi Chaim Marder and Rabbanit Atara Lindenbaum. For Jana and Gadi, the Yeshiva has built a place where their shared values – Ahavat Torah, Yir’at Shamayim, Medinat Yisrael, Achdut, Gmilut Hasadim – are taught and modeled for their children, and they, in turn, strive to model it in their own lives.
Rabbi Elliot ’07 and Rena Schrier
Rabbi Elliot Schrier attended Yeshiva Har Etzion in 2007. While at the Yeshiva, he had the privilege of studying under Rav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rav Moshe Taragin, and Rav Doniel Schreiber, and briefly studied in the shiur of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l. In addition, Rabbi Schrier’s year in Gush was Rav Amital zt”l’s final year serving as Rosh Yeshiva, and his exposure to our founding Rosh Yeshiva left a profound impact.
Rabbi Schrier and Rena took over the pulpit of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in August of 2021. Rabbi Schrier previously served as the Rabbi of the Albert Einstein Synagogue and on the rabbinical staff of Congregation Beth Sholom, in Lawrence, NY. He also served as the Chair of the Talmud Department and Rosh Beit Medrash at the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School.
Rabbi Schrier is a graduate of Yeshiva University, where he studied extensively under Rav Michael Rosensweig ‘73. He received his Semikha from RIETS as part of the Wexner Semikha Honors Program.
Rena holds a (BSN) Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Columbia University, an MBA from NYU, and a Master’s from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Judaic Studies. She currently works as the Chief Administrator for the Joints and Pediatric Service Lines at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Rabbi Schrier and his wife, Rena, are the proud parents of Coby, Zachy, Gav and Avi.
Rachel Weber Leshaw MO ‘09
Rabbanit Rachel Weber Leshaw spent two formative years in Migdal Oz, after growing up in a home deeply inspired by the Torah of Yeshivat Har Etzion. Her parents, Eli and Elka Weber, were active members of the Gush alumni community in the United States before their aliyah and her father’s subsequent joining of the Gush faculty as Director of Overseas Programs.
After studying in Migdal Oz, Rachel received her bachelor’s in Judaic Studies at Stern College, followed by two years in Stern’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies. After making aliyah, she received her certification as a yoetzet halacha from Nishmat’s Keren Ariel program and serves as a volunteer yoetzet in her community, not infrequently to American alumnea of Migdal Oz who are starting their married lives in Israel.
Rachel serves as a Gemara Ra”m at Ohr Torah Stone’s Midreshet Lindenbaum, and spends her summers teaching at Pardes. She has taught online and shares Torah content on Instagram as @rabbanitrachel. She is also the host of the Kol Deracheha podcast, produced by Deracheha: Women and Mitzvot, an online project under the auspices of Yeshivat Har Etzion.
Rachel lives in Efrat with her husband David and their four children, Joshie, Annaelle, Hadar and Ori.