By Emily Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief
After four years at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Avrumi and Rebbetzin Michal Schonbrun will be leaving the Beren campus to serve as rosh beit midrash and rosh midrasha at Kohelet Yeshiva High School in Merion Station, Pennsylvania. During their first year as faculty at YU, the Schonbruns served as the Rabbininc Intern Couple on the Beren campus and the past three years, as Scholars in Residence.
Rabbi and Rebbetzin Schonbrun have formed lifelong connections with students and rebbeim at YU through learning Torah. “It has been so incredible to interact with and spend time with the students in our time here,” Rebbetzin Schonbrun told the YU Observer. “It’s really special to grow alongside them,” she added. “There is a really deep bond that people cultivate and develop when learning Torah.”
“The most impactful, and thereby the most meaningful and memorable aspects of our role has been the ability to develop and cultivate relationships with the Beren campus students, and in particular through the medium of Torah and individual conversations,” Rabbi Schonbrun told the YU Observer. “Students pointing to and identifying with the Beren campus as a primary source of their spiritual growth and a critical juncture in their spiritual journey speaks volumes as to what makes this institution so special.”
As part of their roles, the Schonbruns have helped create a thriving Torah environment in the Beren campus beit midrash, learning with students, having individual conversations with them, leading chaburot and spending Shabbat with students on campus.
Rebbetzin Schonbrun has particularly appreciated the opportunity to lead chaburot because they allow her to connect with students as they “delve into dvar Hashem (the word of God) together, to uncover certain insights and to make meaning of what the Ribono Shel Olam (God) wants from us in a collective, joint learning experience and the excitement that comes with that.”
Ariel Melnitsky (SCW ‘25) told the YU Observer that the chaburot led by the Schonbruns “have profoundly enriched my own limmud Torah (Torah learning) and perspective.” At the same time, she added that the Shonbruns’ impact on YU has also reached the community more broadly.
“Beyond their Torah, it is their warmth, approachability and genuine care that have transformed the campus atmosphere and left a meaningful imprint on so many students,” she told the YU Observer.
In particular, Rabbi Schonbrun has been impacted by watching students grow over the years. “Seeing students aspire to live their lives with ahavas Hashem (love of God) and yiras shamayim (fear of God), driven by Torah values, and strive to grow and thrive throughout their time on the Beren campus, seeing how each student uses her mind, her unique talents and skill set to grow in her personal avodas Hashem (service of God), striving and aspiring to become the greatest version of herself has been tremendously inspirational,” Rabbi Schonbrun said.
Eliana Diamond (SCW ‘25) emphasized that the Schonbruns have made a profound impact on her time at YU, serving as role models for her. “I truly can’t imagine the school without them,” she told the YU Observer.
“They have each provided me with mentorship, guidance and mountains of invaluable Torah,” she added. “They have managed to reach the hearts of hundreds of students while still treating every student as an individual, making us each feel valued and heard.”
For the past three years, the Schonbruns have worked alongside Rabbi Azriel (Azi) Fine and Rebbetzin Ellie Fine, Beren campus Rabbi and Rebbetzin.
“Working alongside the Fines has been such a tremendous zechus (privilege). They are the most incredible people,” Rebbetzin Schonbrun said. “We learn so much from them, from their middos, from how they interact with people, from how much they invest themselves.”
She added, “It’s so special for us that we came in as friends, that we have cultivated such a deep friendship with them.”
The Schonbruns have been true partners to Rabbi and Rebbetzin Fine these past three years. “Ever since our first meeting, to know that we had unbelievable partners in thinking about all the different ways that we could help enhance the Torah learning, spiritual life and general atmosphere of the campus, and to be able to do so with people who are so steeped in Torah both on a knowledge level but are also role models of Torah” has been “an unbelievably tremendous privilege,” Rabbi Fine told the YU Observer of working with the Schonbruns.
By teaching classes and giving chaburot, the Schonbruns have “really raised the caliber of Torah learning” on campus, “giving students access to incredibly high level, thoughtful and deep Torah,” Rabbi Fine said.
Rabbi and Rebbetzin Fine, as well as the entire YU community, will miss the presence of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Schonbrun. “We think their talents are going to shine both individually and collectively in their new role, as sad as we are to see them leave,” Rabbi Fine said.
For Rebbetzin Fine, one of the things she enjoyed most about working alongside the Schonbruns was their dedication and thoughtfulness to making sure they were reaching students in the most optimal way.
“Anytime we had a meeting to plan things and think about what we wanted to accomplish in the upcoming semester and through our programing, I always found that each of them, Michal and Avrumi, would always ask such thoughtful questions, making sure we were really trying to accomplish our goals,” Rebbetzin Fine told the YU Observer. “They really helped motivate me to be more intentional in my work and to be more goal-oriented.”
Rebbetzin Fine added that the Schonbruns have put so much energy and care into each and every student. She emphasized that Rebbetzin Schonbrun would invite students over to their apartment for cookies in the evening and that Rabbi Schonbrun would make sure to teach chaburot Friday morning, even when there are not many students on campus.
“I felt that they raised the bar of the type of talmud Torah that we are doing here amongst students, and believing in them that they could have a higher level of learning,” she said.
Nava Sturm (SCW ‘25) told the YU Observer that she is grateful she had the opportunity to learn from the Schonbruns during her college experience. “Their passion for Torah learning and dedication to the Beren students has truly enhanced our campus community over the last three years,” she said. “The Schonbruns have really taught us all by example and shaped our learning for the better.”
Rebecca Henner (SCW ‘26) told the YU Observer that Rabbi and Rebbetzin Schonbrun have made the Beren campus a warm, welcoming and comfortable environment during their time here. “The Schobruns have impacted the campus community by really just making Stern feel more like a community,” she said.
The Schonbruns hope to bring what they have learned during their time here to other people in the future. “YU has been in many senses the wellspring of our avodas Hashem,” Rebbetzin Schonbrun said. “Our rebbeim, our teachers, our mentors, we have gained so much from being here and we only hope that we gave over even a little of that during our time here.”
Photo Caption: Rabbi and Rebbetzin Schonbrun learning alongside students in the Beren campus beit midrash
Photo Credit: Rabbi Fine