UPCOMING:

The Varieties of Religious Experience:
Bringing William James and the Sefat Emet into dialogue on the nature of religion, ritual and the quest for spirituality

• MEOROT NYC Fellowship, Thursday 14th November, 6:30-8pm
• MEOROT Brandeis Fellowship, Thursday 5th December, 6-7:15pm

 

RECENT ENGAGEMENTS:

Guest Speaker, Matters of Taste, JCDS benefit dinner, Boston, Sunday, March 31, 2019

Rabbinic Intern, Congregation Netivot Shalom, Teaneck, NJ, academic year 2017-2018

Limmud Festival 2017, Birmingham, UK, Thursday 28th December 2017

• Hadarat Nashim: the exclusion of women in Jewish life –  10:40-11:50
• Marvelous Mishnahs and where to find them – 12:10-13:10

Invited international guest speaker, Limmud Italy, 2-3  June 2017

Shabbat Shalem Scholar in Residence, Congregation Beth Israel, Berkeley, CA, 17-18 February 2017

Women Who Work Together – Navigating Clergy and Rebbetzin Relationships, WLI Conference, NYC,  Monday 16th January 2017

What If God Was A Woman?  Belief and Beyond Belief Festival at Southbank Centre, Sunday 22 January 2017

Limmud Conference, Monday 26 December 2016

• Discretion & Vulgarity: A fresh look at the Jewish value of tzeniut beyond the hemlines – Monday 10:30-11:40
• Occupy Judaism: re-claiming responsibility for Judaism – Monday 14:30-15:30

Paris, Launch of Judaisme & Feminisme, 30 November 2016

Brighton JSoc, 22 November 2016

Bristol JSoc, 15 November 2016

Invited speaker Limmud, Liverpool, 4-6 November 2016

Invited international guest speaker  Limmud, New Zealand, 26-28 August 2016

Guest Shiur, Caulfield, Melbourne, Shabbat Nachamu, 20 August 2016

Scholar-in-Residence at Or Chadash, Sydney ,  8-14 August 2016

First Scholar-in-Residence appointed to Hampstead Shul for academic year 2015-16

Scholar -in-Residence Beth Jacob Congregation, Irvine, CA, 19-20 February 2016

Invited international guest speaker  Limmud, South Africa, 31 July – 10 August 2015

VIDEOS:

Pre- Rosh Hashanah message 5778

Sukkot Guests: Celestial & Terrestrial 

Webinar: Bat Mitzvah Reimagined, JOFA July 2016

Webinar: JOFA in the UK, a Case Study in Going from Zero to Sixty

Women of Faith Panel at WOW (Women of the World) Festival in London 2014

A SAMPLING OF TOPICS:

 {Community Transformation}

Leveraging Tradition & Innovation

Tradition and innovation are opposite poles of a continuum. Ultra Orthodoxy and progressive Judaism comfortably occupy the extreme ends of this spectrum. Centrist Orthodox communities and individuals situate themselves somewhere in the middle which is both an exciting but precarious position with constant pressure being exerted from each pole. How can we leverage the poles in such a way as to create a dynamic center that is at the same time deeply rooted in tradition while constantly renewing itself through innovation? In answering this question we will draw on behavioral psychology of Dr Barry Johnson  Polarity Management.

Occupy Judaism: Reclaiming Responsibility for Your Judaism

We are blessed with robust Jewish institutions such as synagogues, schools and community centers and it is in these institutions that a large part of our Judaism is played out. But is there a cost to this “outsourced” Judaism? Have we sidelined the greatest Jewish institution of all; the Jewish Family? How might we reclaim familial and personal Judaism while still utilizing the best our communal institutions have to offer?

 

{Text Based Study}

The Varieties of Religious Experience

Bringing William James and the Sefat Emet into dialogue on the nature of religion, ritual and the quest for spirituality.

The Nature of Sanctified Time 

Is sacred time an objective reality or is it the result of our subjective experience? The rationalist Maimonides and the mystical Zohar hold opposing views. We will explore these two approaches and ask how they contribute to our understanding and experience of Shabbat.

 

{Orthodox feminism}

Lines vs. Circles 

There are two very different models that can be applied to those seeking greater involvement in Jewish ritual; a linear model through which the seeker must first climb elementary rungs before being allowed access to higher ones, or a circular model which sees any point of entry as valid and leading to increased commitment. Synagogues frequently present men with the circular model while confronting women with the linear one. Why the different standards? And what impact does this have on the women themselves, on the community and on the continuity of Orthodox Judaism?

Discretion & Vulgarity: A fresh look at the Jewish value of tzeniut beyond the hemlines
While Haredi women receive rabbinic missives circumscribing the exact length, color and snugness of their clothing, an exhibition at the Barbican Museum in London explores vulgarity and the boundaries of ‘good taste’. This is an interactive exploration of how we might fulfill the charge ‘ Walk modestly with your God’ ( Micah 6:8)