Yechiel Kalmenson

Yechiel Kalmenson (aka Rabbi On Rails) found his way to software development through an unconventional path. Born in Brooklyn and trained as a rabbi in Israel, he spent his early career teaching—a role that taught him how to break down complex concepts and guide others through challenging problems.

After discovering that debugging code scratched the same intellectual itch as Talmudic analysis, he made the leap into web development. The transition from ancient texts to modern frameworks proved surprisingly natural.

He now lives in New Jersey with his family, where he works as senior software engineer at Rise8 and contributes to the Ruby community, including serving on the RubyConf Program Committee. When he's not coding, you'll likely find him explaining why good code and good teaching have more in common than most people think.