Rabba Amalia Haas served as Director of Spiritual Engagement at Congregation Beth Sholom in Providence, Rhode Island, from 2021-22, in the first cohort of Devorah Scholars. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where she works as a chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic. She is the mother of six incredible children, ages 12-25. She is also the Founder […]
Rabbanit Jennifer Kotzker Geretz joined the spiritual leadership team at Netivot Shalom in Teaneck, NJ, in Spring 2020 as a Devorah Scholar. Working with Rabbi Nati Helfgot, lay leaders, and members, Rabbanit Geretz developed and lead educational and other programs during the week, and on Shabbat and holidays. Passionate about Jewish education, she developed vision and
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Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter is a Devorah Scholar and the founder and spiritual leader of the South Philadelphia Shtiebel, a modern orthodox community. Through prayer, learning and gathering opportunities, the Shtiebel strives to nourish spiritual growth and community connections across experiences and life stages. Rabbanit Fruchter also holds the position of Halachic Advisor for Women’s Health
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Rabbanit Atara Lindenbaum is the Associate Rabbanit at Hebrew Institute of White Plains. Rabbanit Atara received ordination from Yeshivat Maharat, after previously completing the Tanakh Educator’s Program through Matan and Hebrew University, as well as a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from Hunter University. She has done work in community planning in Westchester and New York
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Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn is a Board Certified Chaplain at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she specializes in Palliative Care, Critical Care, and Emergency Psychiatric Care, and she is the current president-elect of NAJC (Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains). Rabbanit Alissa is also the Devorah Scholar at Netivot Shalom in Teaneck, NJ. From 2014
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Jofa is cosponsoring Shabbaton Shivyoni at the Princeton University Center for Jewish Life (aka, Princeton Hillel) next Shabbat, March 24-25. Students from across the country are welcome for a Shabbat focused on building a unique intercollegiate community that is halakhic, inclusive, and dynamic. Highlights include partnership minyan tefillah, and shiurim with scholars in residence, Rabbanit Leah Sarna and Rabbi Ethan Tucker.
Shabbaton Shivyoni Shabbat, March 24-25 Princeton Hillel Read More »
by Bruria SpraragenRonda Angel Arking, Editor Hanukkah today is one of the most well-known and commercially promoted holidays. We do not think of Hanukkah as a new holiday; each family has well-established Hanukkah traditions. Yet, of all the holidays we celebrate, Hanukkah has the least textual basis. The apocryphal writing, The Book of Maccabees, was
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by Nomi Kaltmann Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year that takes place each year in Tishrei involves an abundance of ritual and preparation. We blow the shofar; we eat symbolic foods; we prepare ourselves for long hours of communal prayer. We celebrate the ushering in of the Jewish new year with festive meals and reflecting
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by Gila Sacks [1] It was an extraordinary moment, and it would have been happening this Succot: At the end of every seven years, after the sabbatical year, on the festival of Succot…read this Torah before all of Israel to their ears. Assemble the entire nation: men, women, and children, and the strangers who dwell
Succot and Hakhel: The Point of Re-entry Read More »
By Erin Leib Smokler [1] The holiday of Sukkot is famously one of joy. The Torah exhorts us “וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ,” “You shall rejoice in your festival” (Deuteronomy 16:14). It then follows with an even more bold demand: “וְהָיִ֖יתָ אַ֥ךְ שָׂמֵֽחַ” — “You shall have nothing but joy” (Deut. 16:15). Our liturgy accordingly refers to the
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