GRADUATE STUDENTS

Rabbi Yonasan Bender

M.A. Student

Yonasan is a graduate of Hebrew University’s School of Social Work and Social Welfare. He completed postgraduate training in a wide array of therapeutic approaches, including CBT at The Beck Institute, behavior and emotion-focused therapies, marital therapy, and parenting. In addition to his studies at Hebrew University, he is currently pursuing professional development in Jungian analysis.

Before Hebrew University, he studied at Washington University in St. Louis and Drake University, majoring in philosophy and ethics. He received his rabbinic ordination from Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz and served as a rabbi in northern England. He has taught Jewish philosophy and ethics in numerous yeshivas and seminaries and presents regular courses on Jewish moral symbolism and issues in contemporary psychotherapy to the public.

Yonasan is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He’s a key member of the clinical team at The Place, the Jerusalem Centre for Emotional Wellbeing. As a dialectical behavioral therapist skills trainer, he collaborates with Machon Dvir. He’s also served as an instructor for the National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder Family Connections program.

He specializes in treating anxiety, depression, anger, poor self-esteem, insomnia, autism, eating disorders, psychosis, problems in parenting, and marital conflict. He has an extensive background working with individuals, couples, families, and children in his therapy practice in Jerusalem.

As a part of Professor Benish-Weisman’s research lab, he is currently investigating the connection between one’s value structure and how this might be expressed in their broader prosocial behavior.

Yonasan resides in Jerusalem with his wife, Braha, and four amazing children.

EINAT ELIZAROV

Graduate Student

BA in Counseling and Human Development & Special Education, University of Haifa, 2017; MA in Education and Human Development, University of Haifa, 2019. Both completed with distinction.

Currently a doctoral student (accelerated track) in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the UH under the supervision of Prof. Maya Banish-Weisman and Prof. Yair Ziv.

My Ph.D. research "The Associations among Values and Social Behavior in Preschool Children: The Mediating Role of Social Information Processing" examines the development of values system in preschoolers; the associations between values, social information processing and social behaviors; and the associations between parents' personal values priorities, and their children's values through several parental and dyadic factors.

My interests focus on the social-cognitive development of young children: values development and the parental and/or the dyad [parent-child] aspects that may affect young children's values system; young children's personal values and the social schemas and mechanisms, which involve in and/or effect the relations between these values and young children's social behavior; social information processing in young children; values and academic functioning/learning behaviors; the ways that values relate to (or intervene in) other relational and social-environmental factors in the kindergarten class context.

Publications:

[2019-present]

Published

Arbel, R., Sofri, I., Elizarov, E., & Ziv, Y. (2021). Preschool Children’s Social Information Processing Mediates the Link between the Quality of the Parent-Child Relationship and the Child’s Learning Difficulties. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1972.

Ziv, Y., & Elizarov, E. (2019). Social information processing model. In S. Hupp and J. Jewell (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Under review:

Elizarov E., Benish-Weisman M., & Ziv Y. Teacher-Child Relational Conflict and Maladaptive Social Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Children’s Values.

Feniger-Schaal R., Stern A., & Elizarov E. The effect of a medical clown intervention on the playfulness of children with intellectual disability.

Kyoung Lee T., Benish-Weisman M., R. Vos S., Fernanda Garcia M., C. Duque Marquez M., A. Calderón I., Konshina T., Elizarov E., & J. Schwartz S. Psychological distress, employment status, and family functioning during the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel: Moderating roles of COVID-19 daily prevalence.

In progress:

Benish-Weisman, M., Daniel E., Elizarov E., & Sverdlik N. Motivation for national identification: A comparison of majority and minority groups in Israel.

Honors and Awards

[2019-present]

Elected to Haifa Grad Team of the University of Haifa which is a leadership program for outstanding doctoral students.
Awarded the Azrieli Graduate Studies Fellowship (a 3-year fellowship)
Awarded a research grant from the Pnina and Ze'ev Barnovsky Foundation to encourage research in early childhood education.

The Levtzion Scholarship for outstanding doctoral students from the periphery

[2017]

University's President Scholarship for doctoral students.
University Rector's Award for the most outstanding undergraduate student (valedictorian).

Presentations at Professional Conferences

[2019-present]

Elizarov, E. (2021, December). The ways to measure values in preschool years and the role of preschoolers’ values in the kindergarten context. Paper presented at the NEVET seminar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

Elizarov, E. (2020, February). The associations among values and social behavior in preschool children: The mediating role of social information processing. Paper presented at the 8th Inter-University Conference on Early Childhood Education and Development. Jerusalem, Israel.

Elizarov E., Daniel E., Sverdlik N., & Benish-Weisman. (2019, May). Motivation for national identification: A comparison of majority and minority groups in Israel. Poster session presented at the International Values Conference: Understanding Personal Values – Personality, Context and Culture. Jerusalem, Israel.

Teaching:

2018-2019, In the Counselling and Human Development department (Faculty of Education, Haifa university). I was the lecturer in a BA course titled "Research Experience in Educational Context." The course introduced second-year students to educational research and gave them training in implementing research and writing a research seminar thesis.

Other academic activities in the last two years:

[2021-present]

Initiator and coordinator of a new mentoring program for first-year BA students at the Department of Counseling and Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa.

Research coordinator in the BSF project called "’Mom, that`s not how things work here’: Parent-youth acculturation discrepancies and their effects on family functioning and adjustment among immigrant families in the US and Israel", under the supervision of Prof. Schwartz Seth from The University of Miami & Prof. Maya Benish-Weisman from The Hebrew University.
Part of the leading team of the Doctorate Community at the faculty of Education, University of Haifa. As part of our initiated social-academic activities, I also co-organized the eighth doctoral conference of the Faculty of Education (July, 2021).
The content manager of the Department of Counselling and Human Development's FaceBook page.

For further information please contact:

050-3056288, Natushe2@gmail.com

OMER LEVY KARDASH

PhD Student

Omer is a Ph.D. student at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her dissertation focuses on the development of identity formation among adolescents who stutter. Omer works as a speech and language pathologist and clinical guide at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and in a private clinic. She achieved distinction in her MA degree in Child Development at the Faculty of Education from Bar Ilan University and in her BA degree in Communication Disorders from the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. In addition, Omer is a faculty member in the Department of Communication Disorders at Tel Aviv University, where she teaches Stuttering exercises, a Multi-disciplinary course for developing teamwork, and Language disorders exercise to B.A. students. Additionally, she conducts therapy groups for children who stutter and their parents at the university. She also volunteers at AMBI, The Organization of People Who Stutter in Israel, who won the President's Award for Volunteering in 2022. Omer's academic excellence has also been acknowledged through her receipt of the President's Scholarships program for doctoral students in the Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Publications:
Freud, D., Levy-Kardash, O., Glick, I., & Ezrati-Vinacour, R. (2019). Pilot program combining Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with stuttering modification therapy for adults who stutter: A case report. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 72(4), 290-301.
Amir, O., Wolf, M., Mick, L., Levi, O., & Primov-Fever, A. (2015). Parents' evaluations of their children's dysphonia: the mamas and the papas. Journal of Voice, 29 (4), 469-475.

Inbal Moscovich

Ph.D. Student

I am Inbal Moscovich, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, specializing in the organizational development track, and a fellow of the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace. Under the guidance of my supervisors, Prof. Maya Benish Weisman and Dr. Tammy Rubel Lifschitz, I am exploring the intricate interplay between personal values and voluntary behaviors within various sectors of Israeli society. My research aims to delve into the potential bidirectional relationship between personal values and diverse forms of volunteering, shedding light on the underlying motivations that drive individuals to engage in different types of voluntary activities. Beyond academia, I enjoy culinary adventures, Zumba, science fiction literature, and cherishing moments with my beloved husband, Roee, and our adorable son, Reem.

SHIRLEY ORBACH

M.A. Student

MA student in the program of Early Childhood Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Currently works as Speech and Language Pathologist. specialized in developmental delay and ASD.
I received my BA in Communication Disorders from Hadassah academic college in 2010. Completed with distinction.

I spend my free time with my family and friends, create jewelry, play the guitar, read and learn.

Khitam Shehadi-Darawshi

PhD candidate

I have an MA specializing in learning disabilities, diagnosis, and treatment, with a thesis, and another MA in the International Center for German and Modern European Studies, also with a thesis. Both were studied at the University of Haifa.
I hold multiple roles within the Ministry of Education, including serving as the Pedagogical Director, conducting diagnoses, and supervising the Learning Disabilities Division. Additionally, I am actively involved as a lecturer in teacher training courses and colleges, focusing on education and learning disabilities.
I am a cognitive-emotional therapist and a member of a research laboratory specializing in attention at Tel Aviv University. My interests include continuous learning, exploring diverse cultures through travel, and engaging with people from various cultures around the globe.

GALILA TEKLE WUBBE

M.A. Student

M.A student in the program of Early Childhood in the field of mental health, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She received her B.A at the Hadassah College in Jerusalem at department of Language and Communication Disorders.
Galila currently works with young children and children diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum at educational settings and at her own clinic. She is a member of ISEF organization that aims to promote equal opportunities in education and reduce social inequality in Israeli society. Also, she is member of "Olim beyahad" association, that aims to create meaningful employment integration for outstanding Ethiopian Israeli Jews academics in the Israeli economy. Galila immigrated to Israel in 1997 from Ethiopia at the age of 10. She is married and mother of two, she enjoys spending her free time with her family.