Miriam Leah Gamliel (born Lani Droz; 1976 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

) is an American

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

actress, singer, and activist. A ''

baalat teshuva In Judaism, a ''ba'al teshuvah'' (; for a woman, , or ; plural, , , 'owner of return God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a Jewish secularism, secular lifestyle or ...

'' with a background in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

, she is the founder of the Arts and Torah Association for Religious Artists (ATARA), an organization promoting Orthodox women in the arts. In 2012, she was named one of ''

The Jewish Week ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

'''s "36 Under 36", a list of influential Jewish figures under age 36.

Early life

Gamliel was born in

, to a

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

family. She studied at a local

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger i ...

before switching to

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

. She also studied musical theater at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. While pursuing a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in musical theater, she took a year-long trip to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to study abroad at She'arim College of Jewish Studies for Women in

Har Nof Har Nof () is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem with a population of 20,000 residents, predominantly Orthodox Jews. History In Talmudic times, Har Nof was an agricultural settlement that served Jerusalem. Remains o ...

, which motivated her to become religious. Told that theater was incompatible with an Orthodox lifestyle, she abandoned the field for several years. Upon returning to the United States, she completed her bachelor's degree from

in 1999 and earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

library science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

s. She then attended

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac a ...

's Graduate School of Jewish Studies, where she worked as a librarian and was involved in the

Association of Jewish Libraries The Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) is an international organization dedicated to the production, collection, organization and dissemination of Judaic resources as a library, media, and information service. AJL has members in the United St ...

, graduating with a second master's in

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

. In 2020, Miriam Leah received her Doctorate in School Administration from Yeshiva University.

Arts and Torah Association for Religious Artists (ATARA)

Gamliel co-founded the Arts and Torah Association for Religious Artists (ATARA) in late 2006 while she was a student at Touro. ATARA provides arts education, performance opportunities, and other resources to Orthodox female artists looking to express themselves within the boundaries of

halacha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mi ...

. Gamliel was inspired to develop ATARA after being commissioned to direct an all-female version of '' A... My Name Is Alice'' for

Congregation Ohab Zedek Congregation Ohab Zedek, sometimes abbreviated as OZ and formally known as the First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek, is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 118 West 95th Street, Upper West Side, in Manhattan, New Yor ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The organization is best known for its annual three-day Arts & Torah Conference, which features performances and workshops in music, theatre, poetry, dance, and film. Presenters have included Rachel Factor, Shaindel Antelis, and former

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

dancer Dena Abergel, while conference events have been held at

Merkin Concert Hall Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Spec ...

Kaufman Center Kaufman Music Center is a performing arts complex in New York City that houses Lucy Moses School, Special Music School, and Merkin Hall and the "Face the Music" program. Originally known as the Hebrew Arts School, it was founded in 1952 and is ...

, and

Stern College for Women The Stern College for Women (SCW) is the undergraduate women's college of arts and sciences of Yeshiva University. It is located at the university's Israel Henry Beren Campus in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan. The college provides program ...

Personal life

A former resident of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Gamliel currently lives in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

with her husband, Michael Gamliel, and children. As an adult, she has studied at the

Drisha Institute The Drisha Institute for Jewish Education is a center for advanced Jewish learning located on the Upper West Side of New York City. Though initially founded to promote advanced scholarship for women, it has since expanded to offer text-based learnin ...

and

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration The Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration is a graduate school part of Yeshiva University which specializes in Jewish education Jewish education (, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and rel ...

. She is the program director of the Broadway Kids program at

Shulamith School for Girls Shulamith School for Girls is a Centrist Orthodox Jewish school. It was the first Orthodox Jewish elementary school for girls in North America. The name ''Shulamith'' () is a feminine form of the Hebrew name Solomon, which loosely translates to ...

Credits

As actress

As director

Other credits

* ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...

'' (1998) (Season 28, Episode 14: "Little and Big") ( location producer)

References

External links

ATARA official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamliel, Miriam Leah Living people 1976 births Orthodox Jewish women musicians 21st-century American actresses American directors American Orthodox Jews Touro College alumni American emigrants to Canada Actresses from Pittsburgh Barnard College alumni Jewish American singers Jewish American actresses 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American Jews