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Dr. Rachel Levmore

Agunah and Get-Refusal Prevention Project, Int'l Young Israel Movement in Israel

Dr. Rachel Levmore, To’enet Rabbanit - Rabbinical Court Advocate, is the Director of the Agunot and Get-Refusal Prevention Project, of the International Young Israel Movement in Israel and the Jewish Agency – assisting women and men within the Rabbinical Courts to achieve a divorce within Jewish law. Rachel is one of a team that developed a Prenuptial Agreement for the Prevention of Get-Refusal─ “The Agreement for Mutual Respect" (iyim.org.il/prenup/). As the first (newly legislated) female member of the State of the Israel Commission for the Appointment of Rabbinical Court Judges Dr. Levmore has participated in the appointment of thirty-two Rabbinical Judges: 22 to the Regional Courts and 10 to the high Rabbinic Court of Appeals. An expert on the agunah problem, she is the author of "Min'ee Einayikh Me'Dimah" on prenuptial agreements, published in Hebrew. Dr. Levmore is a recipient of the prestigious Bonei Zion Prize. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Jewish Law from Bar Ilan University; writes and lectures about halakha, women in halakha and divorce in Jewish Law, in Israel and Jewish communities around the world.

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Sample lecture topics:

"Women in Rabbinical Roles: Israel vs. the United States"

"Prenuptial Agreements for the Prevention of Get-Refusal—a Comparison between the Beth Din of America, Rabbi Moshe Tendler’s and the 'Agreement for Mutual Respect'"

"The Halakhic Prenuptial Agreement vs. Romance"

"A Thoughtful Interpretation of the Basic Sources of Jewish Divorce Law"

"The Yearning for a Child to Carry on—Halakha Reflecting Human Nature as regards single women choosing to become a parent"

"Judging the Judges: Women Appointing Rabbinical Court Judges in Israel"

"The Agreement for Mutual Respect: an International Halakhic Prevention of Get-Refusal"

"Thinking about weddings? From the Sources to the Solution: The Prenuptial Agreement for the Prevention of Get-Refusal"

"The Duality of our Existence: Clashes and Enrichment"

"The Jewish-Democratic State—Straddling the Hyphen"

"Women Rabbinical Court Advocates and their function within the Israeli Rabbinical Court System—History, Stories and Ideology"

"Agunot and Victims of Get-Refusal: Living Stories"

"Women in a Man’s World: Agunot released with the help of a Female Rabbinical Court Advocate"

"Solutions to the Agunah Problem—An Analytical Blueprint"

"The Power of the Community and its Limitations in cases of Get-Refusal"

"Self-Perception vs. the Rov's Truth (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik)"

"Seminar of Jewish Law: Divorce according to the Halakha"

"Harchakot D'Rabeinu Tam—Halakhic communal sanctions in the sources"

"Changes in Rabbinic Discourse in Divorce Cases in Israeli Rabbinic Courts: Harchakot d'Rabbeinu Tam and 'shaming'"

"Two Women unchained: Between Israel and the Diaspora"

"Solving the Agunah Problem: What YOU can do"

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Publications:

 

Sample of teaching:

Source Sheet

Video

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Target audience:

Adults, communities, Torah-study programs (yeshivot, midrashot, Rabbinic Ordination programs) synagogues, university students and 11th-12th grade high school students

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Speaking fee:

$800 - $1000 per weekday lecture, $3000 per Shabbat Scholar in Residence

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