Ben Dreyfus

Ben manages and moderates the NHC’s online discussion lists, oversees the Everett Fellows Program Alumni group, and works on the online Havurah Resource Bank. He participates in Kol Zimrah and Kehilat Hadar, both in New York City. His first Institute was in 2002 as an Everett Fellow and his favorite courses at Institute have been two that he taught, "Playing Dice with the Universe: Rabbinic Literature, Quantum Mechanics, and Indeterminacy" (2004) and "History and Mathematics of the Hebrew Calendar" (2005). They are among Ben’s best teaching experiences anywhere, because of the opportunity to teach and learn from an excited and engaged group ranging from pre-teens to senior citizens, with a wide range of perspectives and full of insights. The Institute is important to him because if he has any sort of new Jewish idea, the Institute is the perfect place to test it out. It is an atmosphere that encourages experimentation and a community that is always willing to try out new things. During the year, Ben teaches physics at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Outside of work, he bikes, blogs, and plays the guitar. His favorite niggun is yai dai dai dai dai dai dai dai dai dai dai dai...