Dr. Natan Ophir grew up in Philadelphia and studied at the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. In 1974 he graduated Yeshiva University and then moved to Jerusalem where he studied for seven years at Yeshivat Mercaz Harav Kook. He received Semicha from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and then completed an MA and PhD in Jewish Philosophy at Hebrew University where he served as the University Rabbi for 16 years from 1982-1998.

Rabbi Dr. Ophir founded Meorot, the Jewish Meditation Institute of Jerusalem, http://jewishmeditation.org.il. Recently, Dr. Ophir published the first academic biography of Reb Shlomo Carlebach, www.CarlebachBook.com. Currently, he specializes in computerized methods for teaching academic English to religious students at JCT (Lev Academic Center) and at Ono Academic College Jerusalem Campus.