“From Zion will go forth Torah” (Isaiah 2:3). Today, a new kind of Torah—women’s Torah—is coming out of Israel from an impressive array of high-level batei midrash (study halls) for women. Over the course of Jewish history, only a handful of women have been cited as interpreting Jewish law. The daughters of Zelophehad, who requested […]
Manhigot: Models of Women’s Torah Leadership in Israel Read More »
I want to thank the JOFA Journal for the invitation to discuss the important issue of serara as it pertains to women. A few introductory remarks are in order. First, serara, or holding a position that allows for coercive power, while considered by most of us to be desirable in the course of one’s career
Serara and Women: Who May Wear the Crown? Read More »
Before I became engaged to my husband, I went home to spend Pesach with my family in Boca Raton. My mother always takes out books that she thinks I might enjoy from the library, and for this visit she insisted that I read The Rabbi’s Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life by Shuly Schwartz.1
Models of Empowerment Read More »
Before examining the historical significance of Yeshivat Maharat’s recent ordination ceremony, I want to acknowledge and thank the courageous women who have heretofore demonstrated spiritual leadership in the Orthodox community. Reb Mimi Feigelson, mashpiah ruchanit of American Jewish University and a Yeshivat Maharat advisory board member, and Rosh Kehillah Dina Najman, spiritual leader of Kehilat
The Maharat Moment: Why Yeshivat Maharat’s Ordination Matters Read More »
Many writers have brought biblical stories to life in works of historical fiction, but few have turned an imaginative eye upon the tales of the sages of the Talmud. (Milton Steinberg’s classic As a Driven Leaf, portraying the life of Elisha ben Abuya, comes to mind as an exception.) Now, Ruth Calderon, who famously taught
A Bride for One Night: Talmudic Tales Read More »
For twenty years I have been deeply interested in contemporary responsa literature as a source of halakhic discussion, and have specifically taken an interest in the contributions of women to the halakhic discourse. In 1998 we saw the publication of Jewish Legal Writings by Women, which broke new ground as the first book “by observant
Mah She’elatekh Esther Vate’as Read More »
It was Hoshana Rabba, the last day of Sukkot on which we use the arba minim, and I was sitting in my office with my etrog occupying a prominent place on my desk. This year I had been fortunate to find a real beauty, and I was reluctant to put it away for the last
The Etrog as a Marker of Passage Read More »
Six mornings a week, rain or shine, a diverse group of women in central Israel, aged thirty to fifty, gather together for forty-five minutes to study Talmud. Each of the participants brings her own unique perspective to the table. One member of the group is an interior designer who always finds the aesthetic beauty in
Women Learn Daf Yomi from a Woman Read More »
A stranger walking into the auditorium of Bais Abraham Congregation on a Tuesday evening might be surprised to see some two dozen women of all ages sitting together deeply engaged with a text of Gemara. Most of these women have encountered the actual daf (page) of the Talmud for the first time in this program.
Shalhevet Women’s Kollel of St. Louis—Diving In Read More »
Shortly before this journal went to print, the Modern Orthodox world heard that Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l, had passed away. Given that this JOFA Journal is about the nature of halakhic authority, it seemed appropriate to write about the Modern Orthodox world’s leading Torah scholar and educator and the influence Rav Lichtenstein had on Orthodox
An Appreciation: Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l Read More »
