Today’s conversation continues our tefilla series with a zoom in on the morning blessings that are gender specific: a man blessing God for not making him a woman, and a woman blessing God for making her according to His will. This episode also connects to a broader thread of Women Talking Mitzvot, how to navigate Jewish texts and liturgy that can be uncomfortable when viewed in a modern light.Deracheha article: https://www.deracheha.org/prayer-5-she-lo-asani-isha-she-asani-kirtzono/Links to content referenced:Ilana Kurshan, “If All the Seas Were Ink”: https://www.amazon.com/If-All-Seas-Were-Ink/dp/1250121264
Article on Yeshivat Har Etzion learning Ketubot: https://forward.com/opinion/208361/its-time-for-yeshivas-to-fight-rape-culture/
Esti Rosenberg, The World of Women’s Torah Learning: Developments, Directions, and Objectives: https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/777845/The-World-of-Women%E2%80%99s-Torah-Learning:-Developments,-Directions,-and-ObjectivesSara Wolkenfeld on imagining ourselves into the Beit Midrash at the Women's Shas completion: https://thelehrhaus.com/commentary/imagining-ourselves-into-the-beit-midrash/
This conversation discusses meaningful ways to experience the Aseret Yemei Teshuva and Yom Kippur, drawing on an exploration of their halachot and customs. While Yom Kippur is the most intense day of the Jewish year, it also has the potential to be the most joyous.
Links to relevant pages on Deracheha:
https://www.deracheha.org/fast-days/
https://www.deracheha.org/exemption-from-major-fasts/
With Rosh Hashana approaching, we sat down to speak about the power of its central mitzva: hearing the shofar. We discuss how the shofar is presented in the Torah and the halachic requirements of the mitzva, and we share some of our own formative memories and experiences of Rosh Hashana.
Episodes are available for sponsorship for any of your meaningful occasions. Be in touch with us at womentalkingmitzvot@gmail.com
Check out the relevant article on the Deracheha website:
https://www.deracheha.org/the-mitzva-of-shofar/
We're excited to share a special episode with you!
Avodat Hashem and the Month of Elul (LIVE Bonus Episode)
In this conversation, we share tips for authentic work on our avodat Hashem during the month of Elul and throughout life.
We recorded this episode LIVE in Beit Midrash Migdal Oz, at an event in honor of Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg's 60th birthday. Though our conversation was geared toward a younger audience, the core ideas should resonate at different stages of life.
This is a second episode in our running address of prayer. As we explained in an earlier episode, this series contains conversations directly relevant to chagim/special times alongside episodes dealing with constant elements in our religious lives, like prayer. Today’s conversation addresses the recitation of Morning Blessings (birkot hashachar).
The blessings recited each morning provide an opportunity to reflect on the daily gifts in our lives, yet they are often overlooked. Today’s conversation explores the meaning behind these blessings and how they can deepen our perspectives on ourselves and on God as we begin a new day.
This episode has been sponsored in memory of Thelma Peskin Halpern,on her 10th yartzheit by her daughters Dina Kornblau and Sharon Kleinerman, In appreciation of her dedication to the empowerment of women and deep love of the land of Israel.
Episodes are available for sponsorship for any of your meaningful occasions. Be in touch with us at womentalkingmitzvot@gmail.com
Tefilla is a multifaceted topic that is hard to speak about clearly and candidly, because at its essence, it's a daily, spoken ritual intended to transcend its ritualized words. Today’s conversation begins what will be a series of interspersed episodes about Tefilla, to try and probe what ideas sit at its core and what role it plays in our worship of God as individuals and as a community.
Check out the relevant Deracheha article:
After two episodes that were primarily focused on broad conceptual ideas about women’s relationships to their Judaism and to their status in halacha, we are shifting to discuss a timely topic: the nine days and the upcoming fast of Tisha Bav. These days are an invitation to understand what has been lost and what potential for redemption exists among us.
This episode discusses the application of the halachic restrictions to the lives of men and women alongside conversation about halachic impact more specific to women's lives. Shayna and Yosefa also take time to reflect on the endless mourning the people of Israel have been experiencing over the last two years.
How can we utilize the halakhic restrictions to maximize the potential significance of these days?
For further reading on these topics, see the relevant Deracheha articles:
https://www.deracheha.org/3-weeks-9-days/ https://www.deracheha.org/fast-days/ https://www.deracheha.org/exemption-from-major-fasts/
In this episode, we discuss the status of women in Halacha and how each of us thinks about the differences between men and women's halachic obligations.
We raise the discomfort women might feel given the Torah's gendered language, and discuss possible reasons why women are exempt from certain mitzvot.
What is the difference between being equal in the eyes of God and having identical halachic obligations? How can an 'exemption mindset' impact women's mitzva observance?
This is a first dive into a complex topic that we will circle back to in the future.
See the Deracheha website for articles that inspired this conversation and for further study:
https://www.deracheha.org/status/
https://www.deracheha.org/halachic-status/
https://www.deracheha.org/positive-time-bound-mitzvot/
This first episode explores why we think it’s important for women to learn about mitzvot and invest energy into building religious identity and experiences. Before delving into conversations about specific mitzvot, we wanted to take some time to speak more broadly about current trends in women’s religious lives and how we would like to see them develop.Check out sources and discussion that inspired this conversation on the Deracheha site: https://www.deracheha.org/concepts-introduction/Women Talking Mitzvot is a podcast series produced by Deracheha: womenandmitzvot.org and the Stella K. Abraham Migdal Oz Women’s Bet Midrash as part of their joint commitment to bringing women's spiritual worlds into halachic discourse.This podcast explores both the texts and the lived experiences of women keeping mitzvot. Each episode features a conversation co-hosted by Rabbanit Shayna Goldberg and Rabbanit Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble. This podcast series has been graciously sponsored by Sigal & Zach in honor of Women’s Talmud Torah, Women’s Halacha study and in the merit of Am Yisrael
