Staff

Rabbi Avraham Gombo – Founder

A renowned educator in the Charedi community for the last 30 years, Rabbi Gombo serves as Principal of the Karlin Talmud Torah elementary school in Bnei Brak and head of the committee of the Talmudey Torah in Israel. Rabbi Gombo supervises Achiya’s services in the learning centers, promoting professionalism as well as strict adherence to Halachic standards of behavior. His natural warmth and deep understanding of children’s issues are the basis of his educational leadership, which is acknowledged throughout the Orthodox world.

 

 

 

Yitzchak Levin – Co-Founder and General Manager

As General Manager since Achiya’s inception, Yitzchak Levin works to broaden the scope of Achiya’s activity in terms of therapeutic interventions for learning- challenged children, training for teachers, and support for parents. Under his leadership, Achiya has gained full accreditation from the Ministries of Education, Health and Welfare, and has grown to become the standard-setter for the identification and treatment of learning differences in orthodox communities in Israel and throughout the world.

 

Mr.Levin holds a B.A. in Educational Counseling from Bar Ilan University.

 

 

Teachers’ Training Center  

Raphael Horowitz – Raphael Horowitz, an educational counselor with a Master’s Degree in his field, has been appointed to the post of Director of the Teachers’ Training Center as of June, 2011. 

Mr. Horowitz has a rich history of experience in education and teaching, and special expertise in dealing with at-risk youth; he specializes in guiding people involved with young people at risk.  He was one of the founders of youth villages for such youngsters, and served as a truant officer for Haredi teens in Bnei Brak from 2001-2011. 

Mr. Horowitz has a long history in the academic world: he served as an advisor in the Ono Academic campus in the Haredi section, and as a lecturer in other colleges.  In addition, he was a speaker in “El haMekorot – Back to the Roots”, as a division head in a yeshiva high school, and Head of a Kollel for “ba-alei t’shuva”, those learning about their faith. 

 

Senior Staff – Learning Centers

 

Gad Doer – Didactic advisor and Educational Psycholinguist

Dr. Doer is the originator of a reading acquisition program designed especially for learning disabled Talmud Torah children, which is based on traditional methods of Jewish learning. Dr. Doer holds a doctorate in psycholinguistics from the Sorbonne University.

 

Rabbi David Unger- Pedagogical Supervisor and Didactic Diagnostician of the Reading Department

Rabbi Unger serves as an educational supervisor in 38 Talmudei Torah and is a consultant to several educational institutions in the Diaspora.

Rabbi Unger lectures on the Reading Process and Pedagogy at the Achiya Teacher Training College.  He holds a B.A. in didactic diagnostics from Bar Ilan University.

 

Rabbi Yaakov Weingarten – Supervisor and didactic diagnostician of the Gemara Department.

Rabbi Weingarten also serves as supervisor of the Ohel Asher Special Education School. He holds a B.A. in didactic diagnostics from Bar Ilan University.

 

Senior Staff – Child Development Centers

Rivka Elovitz – Director of Occupational Therapy

Ms. Elovitz has worked at Achiya since 2003, and has over a decade’s worth of experience in the field, specializing in disgraphia (writing disorders) and sensory integration disorders.During the years 2005-2008, Rivka coordinated the Maagan – Achiya early intervention program, implemented in Elad kindegarten frameworks.  She assist in the development of the program, and provided counsel for professional staffs.   She has a B.A. from Tel-Aviv University and a Master’s degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

 

Hili Ben-Tzvi – Director of Speech and Language Therapy

Before joining Achiya in 2008, Ms. Ben-Tzvi worked for hospitals and private clinics, as well as for the Israeli Ministry of Education. She currently supervises an interdisciplinary clinic in Rosh Haayin and runs a private clinic in Matan. Ms. Ben-Tzvi holds a BA and Masters degree from Tel Aviv University.

 

Sefi Cohen – Director of Physiotherapy

Ms. Cohen has been working within the Charedi community since 1992 as a diagnostician and therapist at the Maccabi Health Clinic in Bnei-Brak. She is a graduate of Bobath  (neurodevelopment treatment) for children and babies and also specializes in the treatment of premature infants. Cohen holds a B.A. in physiotherapy from Tel-Aviv University.