Our Scholars

A truly international fellow, Rabbi David Azancot was born in Bogotá, Colombia, but lived in Jerusalem, Paris, and New York before arriving in Houston in April 2022. After completing High School at Yeshivat Chafetz Chaim in Brooklyn, Rabbi Azancot followed the Chafetz Chaim system to Jerusalem and then to their flagship location in Queens. As the son of a prominent Rabbi in Brooklyn, Rabbi Azancot developed a passion for Klal Yisrael which led him to the prestigious Jerusalem Kollel. The Jerusalem Kollel, under the leadership of world-renowned Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, produced leading Rabbinic figures around the world including our very own Rabbi Daniel Masri and Rabbi Johnny Ouzzan. After a rigorous 3 years, Rabbi David Azancot earned his Semiha from Rabbi Berkovits in Halachah, and completed a course in community leadership from the distinguished Ner Le’Elef program. In 2022, Rabbi Azancot was invited to serve as the Assistant Rabbi and Outreach Director at Congregation Beth Rambam where he anticipates to facilitate growth in the local as well as the broader Houston Sephardic Jewish community.

Born and bred in Brooklyn, NY, Rabbi Sheya Lazenga brings Beth Rambam a dynamic Torah personality. After graduating the historic Torah V’daas High School of New York in 1999, Rabbi Lazenga continued his Torah studies in the famed Kol Torah Yeshiva located in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem. There, he studied under world renowned Torah prodigies such as R’Avraham Erlanger and Rabbi Schlesinger among others. In 2003, Rabbi Lazenga returned to the United States where he endured a brief stint at the prestigious Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ before embarking on his Rabbinate training at Kollel Ateres Chayei Raizel in Waterbury, CT, under the direction of Rabbi Chaim Cohen. After 13 rigorous years, Rabbi Lazenga earned his Semichah (Rabbinate Ordination) from the Rosh HaKollel, Rabbi Chaim Cohen as well as Rabbi Hershel Ausch, Av Beis Din of Karlsburg, and Rabbinic Advisor to Chaim Aruchim, an End of Life Counseling and Advocacy Organization established by Agudath Israel of America. He also received a rabbinic certificate from Rabbi Feivel Cohen, noted author of Badei Hashulchan, a classic work on Halachah. During those years, Rabbi Lazenga was promoted to Assistant Rosh Kollel, a position he held for 5 years, before directing his own Kollel in Bridgeport, CT. In 2022, Rabbi Lazenga was invited to serve as Rosh HaLimud of Beth Rambam’s newly founded CBR Learning Center. The Learning Center was established to develop budding Sephardic Torah Scholars into high-caliber Rabbinic personalities.

Placid and personable, Rabbi Nechemia Golfeiz is a founding member of Beth Rambam’s newly established Learning Center and hopes to see it blossom into a cornerstone of the Houston Sephardic community. Rabbi Golfeiz grew up in the Persian community of Baltimore and completed High School at Bais HaMedrash and Mesivta of Baltimore, under the leadership of Harav Tzvi Dov Slanger z”l. In 2012, Rabbi Golfeiz transferred briefly to a Bet Midrash program in Brooklyn, before going to study at Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem. There, Rabbi Golfeiz studied under Harav Chaim Soloveitchik (son of Harav Avraham Yehoshua Soloveitchik) and developed an appreciation for the approach to Torah and Mitzvot unique to the Soloveitchik dynasty. In 2015, Rabbi Golfeiz returned to the United States, and, following a brief stretch at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, joined the Jersey Shore Kollel in Deal, NJ under the leadership of Rabbi Moshe Wadiche. In 2019, while studying at the Jersey Shore Kollel, Rabbi Golfeiz was offered an opportunity to contribute as a writer to Artscroll/Mesorah’s Introduction to the Talmud and later to their ongoing Zera Shimshon project. To date, Rabbi Golfeiz has contributed to 5 Artscroll/Mesorah volumes. After an intensive 5 years in Kollel, Rabbi Golfeiz was welcomed in 2021 to come to Houston and spearhead their newly founded CBR Learning Center.

Rabbi Abraham Ades is a lively blend of the traditional Mexican-Syrian panache mixed with a distinct Yeshiva flair. Born in Mexico City to a prominent rabbinic family, Abraham was primed from a young age for a career in Torah education. After completing High School at Yeshivat Lev Eliyahu (originally named Emek) in Mexico City, Rabbi Ades moved on to study Torah at the renowned Bait Matityahu Yeshiva in Israel. After 3 years of intensive study, Rabbi Ades returned to Mexico City where he continued to study at the Kollel Aram Sova under the leadership of Rabbi Dovid Shwekey. At the tender age of 24, Rabbi Ades was selected by the community of Panama City to come teach the 10th Grade class of Yeshivat Har Sinai led by Rabbi Gavriel Abo. In 2019, Rabbi Ades returned briefly to Mexico to serve as Mashgiach in his past Yeshiva, but soon after returned to his students in Panama. Then, in March 2022, fate led Rabbi Ades and his family to Houston where he welcomed the opportunity to join the newly founded CBR Learning Center. As an esteemed member of the Learning Center, Rabbi Ades hopes to bring the vibrant Sephardic Torah life of Latin America to Houston.