Meet the Silvers

Rabbi Ami Silver earned his BA in Jewish Thought and World Religions from McGill University, which included a year and a half of classes at Hebrew University.

Since that time, Ami has been living in and around Jerusalem, studying at Yeshivat Bat Ayin and and Yeshivat Sulam Yaakov, where he received his semicha. He taught and mentored newcomers to Jewish learning at Ashrei, Sulam Yaakov's beginners' program. Over the years, he has worked as a tree-planter in the Canadian hinterlands, a Jewish outdoor educator in Israel, and a translator for the Steinsaltz Center. Additionally, he has trained in various counseling programs.

Ami strives to unearth relevant life lessons from all areas of Torah learning and observance. To that end, he is passionate about helping others discover their personal connection to Torah and Judaism, and enhancing that connection through fun, meaningful experiences.

His other loves include hiking, running, basketball, and playing guitar, and he is always up for a good shmooze, game of basketball or jam session.

Eliana Silver graduated with a BA in psychology. In 2004, Eliana made aliyah and immersed herself in intensive studies at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo in the heart of Jerusalem for five years. During that time, Eliana taught in their Women’s Beginner’s Program, ran a healthy catering company, and worked as an editor and translator for the Steinsaltz Center. She played an integral role in founding and running the Ve’ani Tefilah minyan, studied counseling at the Jerusalem Polarity School, and trained as a group facilitator for Jewish women’s groups.

Eliana loves cooking, especially large nourishing meals in the grand tradition of her Jewish foremothers—her grandmother authored many wholesome kosher cookbooks. She loves great coffee shops, reading the New Yorker and all good writing, hiking, and dancing. As a Torah educator, Eliana’s passion is developing personal relationships that foster the individual’s discovery of a meaningful Jewish experience. Eliana can often be seen around campus with the newest and cutest addition to the Silver family, their daughter Noveya Tzion.