תורת אמך, משתתפותTorah of the Mothers, Contributors
א׳
1Rachel Adelman has a B.A. in Biology from Reed College and is completing her M.A. in Tanakh at MaTaN (Machon Torani leNashim– The Sadie Rennert Women’s Institute for Torah Studies) in Jerusalem through Baltimore Hebrew University. She is a regular contributor to MaTaN’s web page with commentaries on the weekly Bible portion. She also teaches Torah in her community in Beit Shemesh and writes poetry, much of her work inspired by biblical and midrashic sources. Her published works include “Judah’s Bones” (Commentary), “In the Skin of a Lion,” and “A Voice from the End of the World” (European Judaism).
ב׳
2Chana Balanson (Deutsch) z”l (1951–1992), held an M.A. in Jewish History from Touro College. She taught Bible and Jewish Thought for many years at MaTaN Women’s Institute for Torah Studies, and at Michlalah Jerusalem College for Women. Additional biographical information is appended to her essay.
ג׳
3Miriam Birnbaum is a Ph.D. candidate in the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. She holds B.A. degrees in History and English Literature, and in Jewish Education, from York University (Toronto). She was a Fellow of the Machon Gavoha Institute at Nishmat Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study for Women, has studied at Michlalah Jerusalem College for Women, and is now working as a Research Assistant at the Gruss Talmudic Civil Law and Israeli Law Collections of N.Y.U. Law School.
ד׳
4Erica Brown holds M.A. degrees in Religious Education and Judaic and Near Eastern Studies from Jews’ College, the University of London, and Harvard University. She has served as the scholar-in-residence for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, and has been on the faculty of numerous adult education programs in Boston, London and Jerusalem, including Jews’ College, Midreshet Lindenbaum and Nishmat. She has published several articles on the study of Tanakh and education. She is currently a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel School for Advanced Professional Jewish Educators in Jerusalem.
ה׳
5Yardena Cope-Yossef holds a Law degree from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She has studied in the Scholars Program at MaTaN Women’s Institute for Torah Studies and in the Talmud Department of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She has taught Talmud, topics in Jewish Law, and courses on Women in Judaism at MaTaN, Pardes and an on-line course through the World Zionist Organization’s Jewish University in Cyberspace. She currently serves as Director and teacher at MaTaN’s Advanced Talmudic Institute.
ו׳
6Sarah Malka Eisen studied at the University of Toronto and Michlalah Jerusalem College for Women, and holds a B.A. in the Humanities. She has taught at Midreshet Rachel (Shapell’s), She’arim, Ma’ayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and various other seminaries, yeshivot and educational programs.
ז׳
7Jane Falk (Margolis) holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Princeton University and M.A. degrees from Princeton, Columbia University and the Sorbonne (Paris). She has also taught at the Hebrew University, City University of New York and University of California, Berkeley. She currently works as a consultant in cross-cultural communication to multinational corporations, and has taught this subject at the College of Netanya and Bar-Ilan University.
ח׳
8Ilana Goldstein Saks has a B.A. in Religion from Barnard College and an M.A. in Tanakh from Bar-Ilan University. She studied for a number of years in the Bruriah Scholars’ program at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem. She teaches Tanakh at Midreshet Lindenbaum and Midreshet HaRova in Jerusalem.
ט׳
9Tamara Goshen-Gottstein holds a B.A. degree in Education and Administration from Antioch University. She is a certified Childbirth Assistant and works as a labor companion. She studied at Yakar in Jerusalem and went on to teach in the Yakar Women’s Beit Midrash. She currently works with a group of midwives exploring Jewish texts related to fertility, midwifery and birth.
י׳
10Susan Handelman received her Ph.D. in Literature from the State University of New York and was Professor of English and Jewish Studies for twenty years at the University of Maryland. She is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation for adult Jewish education, and has recently moved to Israel to join the faculty of the English Department at Bar-Ilan University. She is the author of two books, The Slayers of Moses: The Emergence of Rabbinic Interpretation in Modern Literary Theory (State University of New York Press, 1982) and Fragments of Redemption: Jewish Thought and Literary Theory in Scholem, Benjamin and Levinas (Indiana University Press, 1991). She has also co-edited with Joseph Smith, Psychoanalysis and Religion (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990) and co-translated and edited On the Essence of Chassidus by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (Kehot, 1978).
י״א
11Batya Hefter has an M.A. in Rabbinic Literature from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She has taught at Midreshet Lindenbaum and MaTaN Institute for Women’s Torah Studies. She founded the Women’s Beit Midrash in Cleveland, and is currently the founding director of the Women’s Beit Midrash of Efrat and Gush Etzion where she teaches Rabbinic Literature and Jewish Thought.
י״ב
12Judy Klitsner has a B.A. in political science from Barnard College. She has taught Bible at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies for the past decade. She considers her formative educational experience to be the many years spent learning under the tutelage of Professor Nechama Leibowitz. She has lectured in a wide variety of adult educational forums, including Jewish Federations across the U.S., the London School of Jewish Studies, The Edah Conference, The Bat Kol Seminar and at numerous Hillel groups on university campuses in North America, such as Harvard, Brandeis and Yale.
י״ג
13Rella Kushelevsky received her Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from Bar-Ilan University. She currently lectures on Midrash, Literature and Jewish Literary Thematology at the Department of the Literature of the Jewish People at Bar-Ilan University. Her publications include Moses and the Angel of Death (Peter Lang, 1990) and various articles on Midrash and Thematology.
י״ד
14Bryna Levy has a teaching degree from Michlalah Jerusalem College for Women, an M.A. in Biblical Interpretation from McGill University, and a Ph.D. in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. She has taught Bible at McGill University, Yeshiva University High School for Girls, Michlalah Jerusalem College for Women and Touro College, where she served as Assistant Professor of Bible. She currently teaches Bible at Midreshet Moriah and serves as the Director of MaTaN’s Advanced Institute for Bible Studies and Graduate Program in Tanakh.
ט״ו
15Simi Peters has an M.A. in Linguistics from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. She has taught Tanakh and Midrash at Michlalah College, Nishmat Institute and Midreshet Rachel and is involved in teacher training. She is currently at work on a book dealing with methodology in the study of Midrash. Her publications include “Rereading Midrash” (Jewish Action) and “Thoughts on a Metaphor” (Wellsprings).
ט״ז
16Caroline Peyser holds a B.A. in Jewish Studies and a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University. She teaches Talmud at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Jerusalem and works in private practice as a clinical psychologist.
י״ז
17Joy Rochwarger has a B.A. in Comparative Religion from Barnard College and an M.A. in Jewish History and Biblical Exegesis from Touro College, Jerusalem. She was the Assistant Dean at Midreshet Moriah Yeshiva for Women in Jerusalem, served the Jewish community of Poland as Community Consultant, and was a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel School for two years. She is currently working for the Mandel Foundation for Jewish Education in New York.
י״ח
18Gilla Ratzersdorfer Rosen received her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.A. in Comparative Literary Studies from Manchester University. She has lectured at Jews’ College (London), Yakar, Pardes, Nishmat, and the Melton Center at the Hebrew University. She has recently become a Halakhic Consultant for Taharat Hamishpachah at Nishmat. At present, she is pursuing a doctorate and teaching Talmud and Midrash at Yakar, in Jerusalem.
י״ט
19Leah Rosenthal has a B.A. in Talmud and Jewish Thought from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem and a teaching degree from the Kerem Institute in Jerusalem. She teaches Talmud at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the Kerem Institute, and the graduate program at Pelech High School for Girls, all in Jerusalem.
כ׳
20Sara Idit (Susan) Schneider has a B.A. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado and worked as a laboratory researcher before immigrating to Israel. She is the founding director of A Still Small Voice (www.amyisrael.co.il/smallvoice), a correspondence school that provides weekly Jewish teachings to subscribers around the world. She has recently finished a book called MoonLore: Kabbalistic Writings on the Fall and Rise of the Shekhinah to be published by Jason Aronson. She has also published “Eating as Tikun,” and two articles in B’Or Ha’Torah, “Evolution, Form and Consciousness,” and “The Underside of Creative Expression.”
כ״א
21Esther Sha’anan has an Ll.B. from Sha’arei Mishpat College of Law and an M.A. in Criminology from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She has taught at She’arim College of Jewish Studies for Women and Midreshet Rachel, Jerusalem. She currently practices law in Jerusalem.
כ״ב
22Yael Unterman has a B.A. in Psychology from Bar-Ilan University, and is completing her M.A. in Jewish History at Touro College. She teaches at MaTaN Institute for Women’s Torah Studies, Michlelet Neve Daniel, and has lectured in a variety of frameworks, including the Rothberg School of the Hebrew University and the Limmud Conference in England. She also
כ״ג
23works for Shorashim as a facilitator in Jewish-Zionist identity seminars for the Israel Defense Forces. She is currently writing a biography of Nechama Leibowitz to be published by Urim Publications.
כ״ד
24Ora Wiskind Elper has an M.A. in Comparative Literature and Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She teaches Jewish thought at Michlalah College, MaTaN Institute for Women’s Torah Studies and Touro College, Jerusalem. Her publications include Tradition and Fantasy in the Tales of Reb Nahman of Bratslav (State University of New York Press, 1998). She has also translated works from Hebrew, French and German, including An Introduction to the Kabbalah by Moshe Hallamish (S.U.N.Y. Press, 1999) and Rav Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook: Between Rationalism and Mysticism by Benjamin Ish-Shalom (S.U.N.Y. Press, 1993).