I was born in 1968, known by all by my English name, Bill.  I grew up like any other boy in the Tampa Bay, Florida, area attending public school and eventually began studies at the University of Florida in 1986.  There I was active in bicycling, both competitive bike and triathlon racing as well as touring as far away as Costa Rica where I learned how the "World's Best Coffee" is picked.

During studies at the University of Florida, I started attending religious services at the local Hillel House.  I remember looking at a cute chart of Hebrew letters in the Hillel office, trying to remember what they sounded like.  Slowly I learned more about mitzvot and prayers - and how to read Hebrew again, this time including what the words meant.  The summer after I graduated, I spent the summer at Yeshivat Ohr Somayach where, among other things, I became Gershom.

Afterwards, I returned the the US to begin my scheduled studies in the Brown University PhD program in Economics.  For the first time in my life I hated school and thought I was failing.  After easily passing the first semester core exams, however, I realized I needed a change of direction.  For the second semester, I resumed my religious studies on the side with the help of individuals in the Providence, RI, community and, by the end of the year, made the choice of direction final.

I returned to Ohr Somayach for what turned out to be nine years of advanced Talmudic and Halachic study, culminating in specialized training in outreach and education, preparing me for a four-year tour of duty as a day school rebbe in the States with my wife, Sarah,  and two daughters, Shira and Mimi.  It was during these years of teaching that I came to realize the need for more stimulating Hebrew reading programs for mainstream American Jewish school children.  Read more about my Hebrew reading program.

In 2003, we returned home to Israel in hope that I would secure a job as a teacher.  I lacked, however, one qualification about which I could do nothing - I was neither Israeli-born nor raised.  I found temporary work as a manager in a real estate office where I was exposed to web design and then moved into IT sales.  Since I had grown up the son of two professional salespeople and "eating sales for dinner," it wasn't so surprising.  Still, as a Torah Jew, I preferred making a living in sacred work and had started studies in safrut, the scribal arts, within a year of our arrival back in Israel.  As I worked a full time job, tended to my family and spent as much time learning as I could, it was not easy to squeeze out the time to practice writing and properly learn all the laws to become certified.  Of course, the knowledge required to be a proper scribe goes far beyond basic certification, so in-depth and ongoing studies of these laws have become a daily part of my routine.  Learn more about my work in this area at http://stam.tikuntov.com

All the while, I dreamed of marketing exciting Hebrew language materials and high-quality mehudar STa"M to the English-speaking market.  Since I was always busy with more things than I could handle - plus being a father and husband - I couldn't imagine when I could possibly ever manage to fulfill my dream until I finally decided to pursue the path of the famous statement of Hillel - "If not now, when?" and Tikun Tov was born.