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About the Rabbi
In 1995, Emek Beracha (then the "Palo Alto Orthodox Minyan") was blessed with its first full time rabbi,
Rabbi Yitzchok Feldman. Rabbi Feldman is a learned scholar, proactive leader, and a wonderfully warm and approachable
person. An inaugural speech about his background as of 1995 is transcribed below. Note that the Feldmans have eight
children as of 2003: Aharon, Sarah, Aliza, Yehuda, Tziporah, Yaacov, Tehilla, and Malka.
The rabbi can be reached by email at:
Introduction of Rabbi Yitzchok and Ellen Feldman at a reception to welcome them to Palo Alto.
Elul 5755 (Sept 17. 1995)
The year 5756 is a milestone for the Palo Alto Orthodox Minyan. After a two year search, and a move to a new, more
affordable location, we welcome our first full time Rabbi, Yitzchok Feldman and his wife Ellen.
Rabbi Yitzchok (Laurence) Feldman grew up in a suburb of Chicago and attended Evanston Township High. His teenage
years were ones of dissatisfaction with the Judaism he had been exposed to. He recalled once agreeing to go to Yom Kippur
services "only if I could read any book I wanted inside my Siddur (I read the Communist Manifesto).
He went on to Trinity College to enroll in its Guided Studies in Humanities program studying the Western canon from
"Homer to Hitler."After two years he transferred to Yale. Between schools he spent a month in Wyoming at the
National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and visited Israel with the intention of spending time on a kibbutz. Instead
he ended up spending three months at Yeshivas Ohr Somayach. Intrigued with this exposure to Judaism, while completing
his BA in English at Yale (magna cum laude) he "fortified" himself with Hebrew and Judaic studies with
plans to return to Israel.
After graduation in 1985 he immersed himself in Talmud-Torah, first studying at Machon Shlomo in Har Nof and eventually receiving his Smicha
from Mercaz HaTorah in Talpiot, under the leadership of Rabbi Aryeh Rottman.
His eclectic humanities and English literature background combined with his traditional training allows Rabbi Feldman
to maintain a Torah perspective while "gleaning value from an essay by Isaiah Berlin or from Richard II."
His classes in Palo Alto will be enriched by this background. While at Yeshiva Rabbi Feldman was of course engaged in
full time Torah study, yet he found time to look ahead to his goal of being a leader in Chutz L'Aretz. He supplemented
his courses with work focused on community leadership. This included work under Rabbi Hillel Mandel in New York and
outreach work under Rabbi Ya'akov Rosenberg in Yerushalayim and Connecticut and as part of the Ohr LaGola program.
Ellen Feldman, a native of Little Neck, Queens, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Cornell College. She graduated in
1987 with a degree in English Literature and taught a bi-lingual English-Spanish program in primary grades in Kew Gardens,
Queens. In 1988, she traveled to Yerushalayim to study Torah at Neve Yerushalayim.
During that year, Ellen met "Yitzchok" (who was then just Larry) and they were married in October 1989.
She continued her studies there during their first year of marriage. During 1993 - 1995, she ran a gan for preschoolers.
After moving to Talpiot in 1990, the Feldmans gave birth to three children. Aharon, born in 1990 has eclectic interests
like his father:bicycles, cars and his new bunk bed. He began study in kindergarten at the South Peninsula Hebrew Day
School this year. In 1992 Sarah Lieba was born. And Aliza was born in 1994. While at Yeshivas Mercaz HaTorah, the
Feldmans were dorm parents. They gained a reputation of being sensitive and deep listeners to the students as well
as to the other married Kollel members and their wives as they struggled with minor and major decisions. Ellen and
Yitzchok look forward to sharing their love for Torah life and learning with the community.
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