Orna Torgeman was born and raised in Haifa, Israel. As a teenager, she served her country in the Sherut Leumi program by teaching sixth grade at a public school and working with a program to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and at-risk youth. She also wrote and produced shows for hospitalized children. Ms. Torgeman graduated from Haifa University with a B.A. in Jewish History and Jewish Philosophy and a teaching certificate. She went on to serve as coordinator of the university’s Jewish Philosophy Department and as an organizer of many international conferences for the university. She began her teaching career in the Philadelphia area at the Solomon Schechter Day School, and in the year 2000, she joined the Kohelet Yeshiva faculty.