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Maharat
Yeshivat Maharat is a Jewish educational institution in The Bronx, New York, which is the first Orthodox-affiliated yeshiva in North America to ordain women. The word ''Maharat'' () is a Hebrew acronym for phrase ''manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toranit'' (), denoting a female "leader of Jewish law spirituality and Torah." Semikha is awarded to graduates after a 3- or 4-year-long program composed of intensive studies of Jewish law, Talmud, Torah, Jewish thought, leadership training, and pastoral counseling. The ordination functions as a credentialed, albeit controversial, pathway for women in the Orthodox Jewish community to serve as clergy members. History In 2009, Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber ordained Rabba Sara Hurwitz. She was the first woman to receive Orthodox-affiliated semikha. That same year, Hurwitz and Weiss founded Yeshivat Maharat with the intent to be an Orthodox rabbinical school for women in New York, with Hurwitz as President. Four years later, th ...
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Women Rabbis And Torah Scholars
Women rabbis and Torah scholars are Jewish women who have received formal ''semikhah'' (rabbinic ordination) as rabbis or are recognized for their studies and contributions to Jewish religious tradition, respectively. The ordination of women in Judaism has grown since the 1970s, with thousands of Jewish women having received formal ordination since then (see ). The majority of them have been associated with progressive Jewish religious movements, including Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Liberal Judaism (in the United Kingdom), Reconstructionist Judaism, and Jewish Renewal. In Orthodox Judaism, the issue of women's ordination is complex and has not reached a consensus. Although a large and growing number of Orthodox women have received rabbinic ordination, many major Orthodox communities and institutions reject women's credentials if not ordination. As an alternative approach, some Orthodox Jewish institutions train women for various formal Jewish religious leadership roles ...
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Open Orthodoxy
Open Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish religious movement committed to following ''halakha'' (Jewish law), emphasizing intellectual openness in Jewish scholarship and practice, and expanding the role of women in Jewish life. The term was coined in 1997 by Rabbi Avi Weiss, who views ''halakha'' as permitting more flexibility than normative Orthodox Judaism had traditionally allowed for. Weiss opened Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), a men’s rabbinical school, in 1999 and later founded Maharat for training women clergy. In 2007, Weiss co-founded the International Rabbinic Fellowship for Open Orthodox rabbis, and, in 2015, he and Rabbi Asher Lopatin, YCT's president, resigned from the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). The movement's ordination of women is a source of friction within Orthodox Judaism. Overview Weiss sought to establish an approach to Orthodox Judaism that emphasizes inclusivity and open-mindedness compared to traditional norms. As a result, he founded new educatio ...
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Lila Kagedan
Lila Kagedan ( years old) is a Canadian-born Jewish rabbi who in 2016 became the first woman with the title rabbi to be hired by an Open Orthodox synagogue. This occurred when Mount Freedom Jewish Center in New Jersey hired Kagedan to join their "spiritual leadership team." She is currently the rabbi at Walnut Street Synagogue, an Open Orthodox synagogue in Massachusetts. Background Lila Kagedan is the first woman with the title rabbi to be hired by an American Open Orthodox Jewish congregation. Ordination Prior to her ordination as rabbi, Kagedan studied at Midreshet Lindenbaum, an Israeli institution of higher learning for Orthodox women. Kagedan trained and received ordination in the summer of 2015 from '' Yeshivat Maharat'', the Open Orthodox women's religious training program founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss in the Bronx, New York. Unlike other ''Maharat'' graduates, who assumed titles such as ''rabba'' (feminine version of "rabbi") or ''maharat'' (''manhiga hilchatit ru ...
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Sara Hurwitz
Sara Hurwitz is an Orthodox Jewish spiritual leader aligned with the " Open Orthodox" faction of Modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States. She is considered by some to be the first female Orthodox rabbi. She serves at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale as Rabba and she is the president and co-founder of Yeshivat Maharat, both in Riverdale, New York. Early career Hurwitz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on March 15, 1977, to relatively secular parents Melanie and Mervyn Hurwitz. Seeing the violence in apartheid South African and not wanting to raise a family there, the Hurwitz family moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1989. Due to the lack of Jewish day schools in Boca Raton at the time, she chose to attend the local public school. Her Jewish education came from her synagogue life, youth groups, and her aunt, who introduced her to Orthodox Judaism. As a teenager, she was interested in teaching Torah and Jewish text to adults. Hurwitz graduated from high school in 19 ...
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Agudath Israel Of America
Agudath Israel of America (; also called the Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Judaism, Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Haredi community, advocates for its religious and civil rights, and services its constituents through charitable, educational, and social service projects across North America. Functions Agudah serves as a leadership and policy umbrella organization for Haredi Jews in the United States, representing the vast majority of members of the yeshiva world, sometimes known by the old label of ''misnagdim'', as well as a large number of Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic groups. However, not all Hasidic groups are affiliated with Agudath Israel. For example, the Hasidic group Satmar (Hasidic dynasty), Satmar, which is vehemently Anti-Zionism, anti-Zionist, dislikes Agudah's relatively moderate stance towards the State of Israel.Jonathan Rosenblum, "Reb Elimelec ...
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Avi Weiss
Avraham Haim Yosef haCohen Weiss (; born June 24, 1944) is an American Open Orthodox ordained rabbi, author, teacher, lecturer, and activist who led the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in The Bronx, New York until 2015. He is the founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah for men and Yeshivat Maharat for women, rabbinical seminaries that are tied to Open Orthodoxy, a breakaway movement that Weiss originated, which is to the left of Modern Orthodox Judaism and to the right of Conservative Judaism. He is co-founder of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, a rabbinical association that is a liberal alternative to the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America, and founder of the grassroots organization Coalition for Jewish Concerns – Amcha. ''Semikhah'' (rabbinical ordination) of women by Weiss' movement has been a source of friction within Orthodox Judaism. Early life and career Avi Weiss was born to Moshe and Miriam Weiss. His sister is Tova Reich. Weiss received his ''semikhah'' (rab ...
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Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School (YCT) is a Modern Orthodox yeshiva founded in 1999 by Rabbi Avi Weiss. Currently located in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York, YCT's declared mission is to educate and place rabbis who are "open, non-judgmental, knowledgeable, empathetic, and eager to transform Orthodoxy into a movement that meaningfully and respectfully interacts with all Jews, regardless of affiliation, commitment, or background." Its core values include a passionate commitment to the study of Torah and the scrupulous observance of halakha (Jewish law); intellectual openness and critical thinking in one's religious life; expanding the role of women in Judaism; commitment to the broader Jewish community; and a responsibility to improve the world and to care for every human being in it regardless of faith. YCT's rabbinic education program combines a classical curriculum in Tanakh, Talmud, and the codes of Jewish law with a program in pastoral counseling, ...
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Daniel Sperber
Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר; born 4 November 1940) is a British-born Israeli academic and Orthodox Jewish rabbi. He is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Jewish customs, Jewish art history, Jewish education, and Talmudic studies. Biography Daniel Sperber was born in Gwrych Castle, Wales. He studied for rabbinical ordination at Yeshivat Kol Torah in Israel, earned a doctorate from University College, London, in the departments of Ancient History and Hebrew Studies. He is married to Phyllis (Hannah) Magnus, a couples therapist, originally of Highland Park, Illinois. They have ten children. One of their daughters, Abigail, is the founder of Bat Kol, a fringe, Israeli Jewish religious lesbian group. Academic and rabbinical career He is the Milan Roven professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where he is also the President of the Ludwig and Erica Jesselson Institute for Advance ...
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North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes Middle America (Americas), Middle America (comprising the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico) and Northern America. North America covers an area of about , representing approximately 16.5% of Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa, and the list of continents and continental subregions by population, fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. , North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in list of sovereign states and dependent territories in North America, 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's popula ...
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The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City borough of Manhattan is across the Harlem River; and to its south and east is the borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx, the only New York City borough not primarily located on an island, has a land area of and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density of the boroughs.New York State Department of Health''Population, Land Area, and Population Density by County, New York State – 2010'' retrieved on August 8, 2015. The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the West Bronx, west, and a flatter East Bronx, easte ...
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Nahum Rabinovitch
Nachum Eliezer Rabinovitch (; 30 April 1928 – 6 May 2020), born Norman Louis Rabinovitch, was a Canadian-Israeli Religious Zionist rabbi and ''posek''. He headed the London School of Jewish Studies from 1971 to 1982, and the ''hesder yeshiva'' Birkat Moshe in Ma'ale Adumim from 1982 until his death. Early life and education Nahum Rabinovitch was born in Montreal, Quebec to Sarah (née Weiner) and Sam Rabinovitch. After completing an eight-year course of studies under Rabbi Pinchas Hirschsprung, Rabinovitch received '' semicha'' from Montreal's Yeshivas Merkaz HaTorah in the city's first rabbinical ordination ceremony. After obtaining an honours degree in commerce from Sir George Williams College, he left for Baltimore to pursue a Master of Science degree in mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. While there, he studied at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, where he received a second ordination from Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman. Career Between 1955 and 1963, Rabinovitch served a ...
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Yoel Bin-Nun
Yoel Bin-Nun (Hebrew: יואל בן נון; born May 9, 1946 CE; 8 Iyar 5766 AM) is an Israeli religious Zionist rabbi and one of the founders of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Gush Emunim, Michlelet Herzog and the settlements of Alon Shevut and Ofra. He is a scholar of Jewish thought, and a lecturer and expert on the Tanach. Biography Bin-Nun was born in 1946 in Haifa to Yechiel Bin-Nun (Fischer) and Shoshana Bin-Nun (Rosa First), educators and researchers in Judaism and the Hebrew language. His brother, Elchanan Bin-Nun, is the rabbi of Shiloh and the past head of a Yeshiva in Beit Orot. Bin-Nun studied at the Kfar Haroeh yeshiva and, later, the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, where he was close to Zvi Yehuda Kook. He received his Ph.D. from Hebrew University. He fought in the Six Day War and was part of Israel's 55th Paratroopers Brigade that liberated Old City Jerusalem. He is one of the main characters featured in Yossi Klein HaLevi's ''Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli ...
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