Vol. XX, No. 2 | Sivan 5785 | Spring 2025

Spotlight on Devorah Scholars.

Jofa’s mission is to expand women’s rights and opportunities within the framework of halakhah, to build a vibrant and equitable Orthodox community. A key element in furthering our mission is the Devorah Scholars Program, which was incubated at JOFA in 2020 and was designed to support Orthodox shuls in North America as they hire Orthodox women in paid spiritual leadership positions. The program, which has placed 11 women as Devorah Scholars in shuls throughout the United States, was made possible with the generous support of Micah

From the outset, Devorah Scholars have made a significant impact on the communities they have served. Even something as simple as having a spiritual leader in the women’s section to greet women coming to tefillah makes the shul feel more welcoming to them and provides support to women who need help finding the place or saying Kaddish. Dancing with the kallah or mother of the bar mitzvah boy during dancing in the men’s section increases the women’s involvement in these rituals and creates a more inclusive environment. This is in addition to guiding life-cycle rituals, delivering sermons from the pulpit, offering pastoral counseling, adding a woman’s perspective on Jewish texts, and serving as a locus for halakhic questions women may feel uncomfortable asking a male rabbi. As the number of women spiritual leaders in shuls increases, girls and women can aspire to lead, and other synagogues will consider emulating this model.

Some specific impacts of the program are described in the following reflections by the current cohort of Devorah Scholars.

Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Spiritual Leader, Kehillat Sha’arei Orah, Lower Merion, Pennsylvania

As a Devorah Scholar, I assumed the position of spiritual leader at a formerly lay-led synagogue, Kehillat Sha’arei Orah in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. Over the last year and a half in this senior position, I have offered drashot and shiurim, officiated at life-cycle events, and provided pastoral care to the 85 member families of our shul.

Nobody in my shul, myself included, quite knew what it would look or feel like to attend a woman-led Orthodox shul. We are not a partnership minyan; I do not leyn or lead any part of tefillah. The ritual elements of our service are directed by a talented gabbai, with whom I work very closely. We have worked together to create a shul experience that feels at once deeply continuous with our traditions and also respectful to my position. The shul waits for me at the Shema and Amidah. I announce page numbers, introduce the leyning, and lead a wellpaced mourner’s kaddish. The gabbaim and I choose ḥazanim for important dates and, with our larger tefillah committee, we craft standards and expectations for tefillah in our shul.

During services, I lift up our tefillot by modeling and encouraging loud, energetic community participation. Over the past year, we have also pioneered new models for simḥat bat and bat mitzvah celebrations in our shul, which are the first of their kind in any Orthodox shul in Lower Merion. Members of other synagogues come to our shul for smaḥot and feel comfortable: our model is working. We welcome Shabbat guests who are interested in seeing what we have created!

Rabbanit Tanya Farber

Spiritual Leader, Beis Community, Washington Heights, NYC

What an honor to serve as the Devorah Scholar and spiritual leader at the Beis Community in Washington Heights, New York City! Rabbi Hart Levine, spiritual leader at the Beis, created the Beis with a vision of inclusivity, and he and other cofounders imagined a day when a female spiritual leader would serve alongside him.

The Beis had an official installation for me—the first installation for a Maharat graduate—when I became the co-spiritual leader with Rabbi Hart. Since then, we lead from both sides of the meḥitzah in sacred collaboration. I think our collaboration is an ideal model of leadership. We each bring our skill sets and different talents, and by uplifting each other, we uplift the community.

During our services, women tell me that my presence anchors the women’s side, which is especially true for life-cycle events. We’ve incorporated seamless ways for women to participate in the Orthodox service, even though only men receive aliyot, read from the Torah, and are prayer-leaders. We say personalized misheberakh blessings for the women, share words of Torah, and carry the Torah. The Shabbos dancing and singing is joyously animated on our side of the meḥitzah. We also gather for Beis Women’s Tefillah, meeting monthly for minḥa and for holiday megillot reading, and creating our own women’s space within the larger community.

But most of my work goes beyond services. We’ve celebrated many life-cycle events, and supported community members through illness, mourning and personal loss, job transitions, break-ups, divorce, grad students facing antisemitism on campus, and in general, the impact of the war in Israel on us. For certain pastoral moments, I have realized that my being female was necessary: from assisting another woman in tearing k’riyah on a garment at her parent’s funeral, to the joy of being present at the mikveh for a life-cycle moment.

I had also not realized how impactful my role would be beyond the Beis orbit; many of the shaylos, halakhic and pastoral questions I receive, come from Washington Heights young adults who do not regularly attend the Beis, but attend other local Orthodox shuls. Their questions range from standard to unique, including kashrus mishaps, Shabbos observance, niddah, halakhic dating, and beyond. I teach a weekly intermediate Gemara class to both men and women, and Rabbi Hart and I co-lead parshah learning on Shabbos.

The Beis values openness, love of all Jews, and radical hospitality and outreach. The Beis tends to attract spiritual seekers at varied levels of observance and background—from ḥasidish to unaffiliated. And so our high holiday services, Passover seders, and kumzitz prayer and song circles are really special and draw in a wide range of Jews seeking connection, meaning, and community. Both men and women who are new to traditional spaces tell me that my presence as a woman makes Orthodoxy less intimidating; those who have left observance are curious about my role. And those who lean more toward a right-wing Orthodoxy admit that I’ve challenged their misconceptions about feminism, as they see our adherence to halakhah, and dedication to ahavas yisroel (love), kedushah (holiness), and the beauty of building community where all Jews can come together.

Rabbanit Mindy Schwartz Zolty

Rabbanit, Congregation Ramath Orah, Manhattan, New York City

Working at Congregation Ramath Orah this past year as the rabbanit has been a true joy and privilege. In this role, I give monthly drashot on Shabbat mornings and holidays, as well as weekday classes—such as one on the men and women at the margins of the Talmud. I have had the opportunity to learn with and from our heterogeneous congregation and individuals of all ages, whose insights continually sharpen my own thinking and deepen my connection to this work.

I feel especially fortunate that many great Torah scholars—such as Rabbi Saul Berman, Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, and Darshanit Dr. Miriam Udel—attend our weekly Shabbat davening. I’ve been able to learn from their thoughtful feedback and ideas when I share my own Torah.

I am deeply grateful to work alongside my husband, Rabbi Yoni Zolty, who serves as our shul’s rabbi and who has always been my greatest cheerleader and most trusted sounding board in this work. I also feel lucky that our shul supports me not only as a teacher but also as a mother. My husband and I were blessed with a baby boy this past year, and he has been embraced by the shul community—so much so that now, as I return from maternity leave, everyone wants to hold baby Lior during services while Yoni or I are speaking!

Our shul is full of powerhouse women who have long led critical initiatives, including our monthly Women’s Tefillah service, much of our adult education programming, and our CSS (Community Security Service team), in addition to serving as current and former board members, vice presidents, and presidents. It has felt like a natural fit for our shul to have a woman in a position of Torah leadership as well.

I am immeasurably grateful to JOFA and the Devorah Scholars Program for making this possible for our small but mighty congregation.