Rabbi Yair Spitz is principal of Jewish studies and interim head of school at B'nei Akiva Schools, which include Yeshivat Or Chaim and Ulpanat Orot. Rabbi Spitz was born in Cleveland, OH and was 5 years old when his parents made aliyah to Efrat, Israel. His formal education includes time at Hesder Yeshiva in Dimona, Machon Meir Yeshiva in Jerusalem and Kollel Meretz in Mevaseret Tzion. He received practical training in rabbinics from the Strauss-Ameil Institute of Ohr Torah Stone and smicha from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. In addition, Rabbi Spitz has a teaching certificate from Moreshet Ya’akov Teachers College, a BA in Jewish Education from Oholo College and an MA in Jewish Studies from Lander College.
Rabbi Spitz served in the IDF artillery corp, including a tour in Lebanon. He holds the rank of First Lieutenant and serves as a battalion chaplain in the reserves.
After earning smicha in 2003, Rabbi Spitz and his wife, Nitza, moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he served as the assistant rabbi and interim senior rabbi of Baron Hirsch Synagogue before returning to Israel in 2005 to serve as a rabbi, teacher and Director of Recruitment and Admissions for Leadership Yeshiva Academy in the Golan Heights. In 2007, Rabbi Spitz became the Educational Director of the Koby Mandell Foundation in Efrat and, since 2009, served as rabbi and Executive Director of the Shoshana Educational Campus of Ohr Torah Stone in Efrat. Rabbi Spitz has implemented many innovative programs, including: MAJYC – Memphis Area Jewish Young Couples; Magen Ba’aretz teen summer in Israel; “Dialogues”, a journal dedicated to the relationship between Torah and modernity; and Hamivtar college summer learning program.
