.Has headed Beit Morasha, the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and Leadership in Jerusalem, since 1998, and serves as the academic director for the Center's Robert M. Beren College. He is also a lecturer at the Herzog College in Alon Shvut, was among the founders of the Ma'aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts, and from 1992 to 1997 was the principal of Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem. He is a member of the Himmelfarb school board, serves on the AMIT network's spiritual-pedagogical committee and the national plenum of the Bnei Akiva youth movement. His books and articles discuss topics in Talmud, Jewish halacha (law) and agadah (legend), and Jewish thought and education. Rabbi Dr. Brandes is a graduate of Yeshivat HaKotel and received rabbinic ordination from the Israel Chief Rabbinate. He holds a Ph.D. in Talmud, received from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2003.