HUC Connect Presents Judaism & Women's Studies

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2021 AT 1:00 PM ET

Gender and Liturgy

Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy, HUC/Jerusalem
Shani Ben-Or, Cantorial Student, HUC Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music

How has gender played a role in Jewish liturgy and worship throughout the ages? In this survey of Jewish history examining women as worshippers, the presence of women in the synagogue, and gender-related aspects of liturgical law and lore, discover how contemporary understandings of gender may affect our liturgical language.

TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021 AT 6:00 PM ET

Infertility in the Ancient World

Kristine Henriksen Garroway, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, HUC/Los Angeles

Through biblical and ancient texts and archaeological finds, explore the reality of infertility as experienced in antiquity by many women and the ways in which they faced this difficult hurdle. While the methods employed to undo infertility might be surprising to the contemporary audience, the pain and struggles faced by ancient women still find resonance today.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021 AT 1:00 PM ET

If Flame Falls on Cedars, Women Leaders Will Put Out the Fire: The Biblical Deborah Reimagined

Wendy Zierler, Ph.D., Sigmund Falk Professor of Feminist Studies and Modern Jewish Literature, HUC/New York

The Biblical Deborah has been adduced as a feminist model for women's leadership as far back as the earliest agitations for women's ordination at the end of the 19th century. But well before then, in Trieste, Italy, the first modern Hebrew woman poet, Rachel Luzatto Morpurgo (1790-1871) placed herself in the shoes of the biblical Deborah as well as those of the erudite rabbis of the Talmud, subtly suggesting that women poets, pastors, and leaders might be able to do the job better than their erstwhile male counterparts. Discover the story of the biblical Deborah through the unique lens of Morpurgo's 1859 poem "Look: This is New," and learn how modern Hebrew women's poetry can serve as a vital source of new interpretation for our classical sources.

Can't join us live? All sessions will be recorded and posted on our online learning archive.

Questions? Contact us at onlinelearning@huc.edu.