Rabbanit Dr. Ayelet Segal, 45, is the school rabbi of Pelech Girls’ High School in Jerusalem, a lecturer at Bar Ilan University, and is active in the Beit Hillel rabbinical organization. Rabbanit Carmit Feintuch, 46, is the founding co-rabbi of a Jerusalem synagogue with her husband, Rabbi Yonatan “Tani” Feintuch. Dr. Sharon Galper Grossman, 54, a Harvard-trained oncologist, is a dedicated student at Matan HaSharon – the Mindy Greenberg Institute in Ra’anana and writes scholarly articles about the intersection of medicine, Jewish law and public policy. All three women have benefited from opportunities for study and leadership that Jewish women in previous generations never experienced.
Their stories reflect the evolution of Torah study for women and the advanced positions of Jewish communal leadership that Orthodox women are assuming in Israel today.
Sitting in the spacious, book-lined beit midrash (study hall) of Matan Women’s Torah Institute in Jerusalem, Ayelet Segal reflects on her childhood in Jerusalem and her attraction to Talmud.
“I grew up in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood, near Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s Yeshivat Mekor Haim,” recalls Segal. “As a child, I remember hearing the noise of students studying together coming from the beit midrash. I wanted to be inside, but there were no batei midrash for women.”
Segal attended the Yehuda Halevi religious public grammar school in her neighborhood and began studying Talmud in sixth grade, together with the other boys and girls in her class. It was considered revolutionary to teach Talmud to girls in elementary school. Looking back, she is glad she was able to attend such an innovative institution.
“I loved it from the first minute,” Segal smiles. “It spoke my language, my logic and my way of thinking. The success and enjoyment of studying the Talmud at such a young age was a formative experience for me.”
Talmud remained her favorite subject, and her passion for it increased during her high school years at Pelech.
“There was, and still is, an atmosphere of love of learning, of curiosity, and respect at Pelech.”
When Segal graduated from high school, there were very few midrashot (women’s seminaries). She joined the IDF as a Mashakit Tash – a service officer responsible for soldiers’ service conditions and well-being. After completing her two years of army service, she was unsure whether to study Talmud or social work. Segal enrolled in a three-year program at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem to become a toenet rabbanit (rabbinical court advocate).
“I wanted to study Talmud and Halacha on a high level, and I wanted to help people.”
In the intensive program, Segal studied the Jewish laws of divorce and property law pertaining to couples. Segal was one of the few students in her class who successfully passed the exams administered by the Chief Rabbinate.
Working as a toenet rabbanit was not an easy experience, says Segal.
“In contrast to the IDF, where I felt that I could accomplish some good and justice would be done, in the court system, I did not feel it to the same degree. Divorce proceedings don’t always end quickly, and some of the courts don’t act with enough determination and speed against get [divorce] refusers.”
After working in the courts for two years, Segal looked for something else to scratch her itch for Talmud study. Fortuitously, Matan had just opened Machon Talmudi Iyuni, its in-depth three-year Talmud study program for women, and Segal joined the program in its first year, in 2000.
“Those were magical years,” remembers Segal. “We sat and studied five days a week, from morning until afternoon.”
Many of the women were married and had children, and the stipends they received provided them with the opportunity for full-time study.
“Because we were the first class,” says Segal, “there were many who had waited a long time for the opportunity. There were special people in the group, and today they are among the leaders in women’s Torah studies. Everyone who was here had a burning desire to learn and progress.”
Segal credits Matan for not directing them or forcing them into specific roles when they completed the program. They were left to their own devices and developed naturally.
“The fact that women were sitting and learning changed the reality.”
Many graduates became heads of midrashot, assumed leadership positions and became ramiot (teachers) at various midrashot, while others went into the academic world. The group of women who studied together in the program became lifelong friends who still consult and support each other.
After completing the three-year program, Segal studied and taught at Midreshet Lindenbaum for an additional year before beginning her academic studies at Bar-Ilan University. Earning both a BA and Ph.D. in Talmud, she has been teaching Jewish family law at the university’s School of Basic Jewish Studies for the past 10 years. Segal’s doctorate is on prenuptial agreements and she advises couples and communities on this issue to prevent get refusal and agunot. In 2014, Segal returned to Matan, joining the first group in the school’s five-year Hilkhata program for the advanced study of Halacha. Participants study the laws of kashrut, Shabbat and Yom Tov, marital relations and aveilut (mourning). The program continued for a sixth year, in which participants studied niddah (laws of family purity).
An active member of the Beit Hillel rabbinic organization, Segal served on its board of directors for three years, is a member of its halachic beit midrash, and helped edit and write And Beit Hillel Says…, the organization’s book of halachic responsa.
Three years ago, the Pelech school administration approached Segal and offered her the position of rabbanit (school rabbi). She enjoys being the central halachic address for staff and students, answering questions of Jewish law, values and faith. Each Thursday, Pelech’s principal speaks to students about current events in Israel and around the world. Segal participates in this forum, talking with the students about religious and social issues and the duty to work for the betterment of the world.
“I very much value the dialogue and conversation with the students,” she notes.
Segal also advises teaching staff and the school’s leadership team on various issues and questions and leads the school’s advanced Beit Midrash program.
“It is a very significant age for young women who are forming a major part of their identities,” she says. “My job gives me a great deal of satisfaction.”
Rabbanit Ayelet Segal is delighted to see the progress that has been made in women’s Torah studies in the past 20 years.
“The reality of today is that there are many more midrashot and institutions. I am very happy that a girl finishing 12th grade has many different options of midrashot and more choices. This was not available in my time. There are also more advanced programs in Talmud and many halachic programs for women.”
Segal would like to see women take on additional rabbinic roles in the IDF rabbinate, the prison system, hospitals and college campuses.
“Women can enrich the discussion if these roles are occupied by both men and women. I would like to see more women acting as leaders in the community, either on their own or together with men.”
RABBANIT CARMIT Feintuch and Rabbi Tani Feintuch are examples of joint rabbinic leadership. The couple leads Ilana De-chaye (Tree of Life), a synagogue they founded in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood in September 2019. Sitting in their home on a quiet morning, they explain what led to the creation of the synagogue and what makes it unique.
Both Carmit and Tani have enjoyed distinguished educational careers. Carmit has been teaching Bible, midrash and hassidism at the Advanced Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz since 2009. She holds a BA in Jewish history and Hebrew literature from Hebrew University, a BA in psychology, and has a certificate in psychotherapy and counseling from Seminar Hakibutzim College. She also holds a teaching certificate in Bible from the Kerem Institute in Humanism and Judaism. Carmit studied for four years in the women’s seminaries of Matan and Beit Morasha in Jerusalem and studied for many years in various seminary programs across the denominational spectrum of Judaism.
Tani is an alumnus of Har Etzion; Beit Midrash Beit Morasha; and the Torah Institute of Higher Education at Bar-Ilan University. He holds a bachelor’s in medical sciences from Hebrew University and a master’s and Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan in Talmud, and is the author of two books in Hebrew on Halacha and Aggadah in Talmudic topics. Rav Tani teaches Gemara in the Women’s Beit Midrash at Migdal Oz and oral law at Herzog College and Bar-Ilan.
“Women are entering the world of Torah, and they have an important and significant voice that may be somewhat different,” he says. “I think that it enriches the Torah and the community. Women’s leadership does two things. One is for women, in that there is a rabbinic figure and leader on the women’s side, which is important for the women who are praying there. But it’s important for the entire congregation – also for the men. They hear words of Torah from both women and men. It is also reflected in the voice of the leadership of the congregation.”
In 2016, Carmit Feintuch was appointed spiritual leader of the Ramban Synagogue to work together with the congregation’s rabbi, Benny Lau. In 2019, after Lau departed from Ramban, the community members voted on extending Carmit’s tenure. While the majority of members voted to retain her, she did not receive the required two-thirds of the votes necessary.
She explains how she increased awareness of women at the Ramban Synagogue, who sit in a balcony.
“When people would speak,” she notes, “they didn’t look up toward the women. When I started to speak there, I directed my eyes to the women’s section as well, and this influenced the men who spoke subsequently. We saw who the public is. This changes the balance of the synagogue.”
While the Feintuchs have many friends at Ramban, she says that progress was slow, and some were opposed to having a female spiritual leader. After she left the congregation, her position was not filled, but friends began asking the couple if they were planning on continuing in some fashion.
“I thought to myself,” she recounts, “that we are not going backward. Something happened in the world, and we want to continue the model of couples and women’s leadership. We feel that the leadership provided by a couple is not a war between the sexes but rather is an equal partnership. It was a good fit for the two of us.”
Before Rosh Hashanah 2019, five people gathered at the Feintuch home, and they decided to hold High Holy Day services there.
“We found ourselves with 100 people in our home for Rosh Hashanah. We understood there was a need.”
Carmit says that many synagogues today lack ruach, loosely translated as spirit. At some synagogues, congregants sing and pray for four hours, which is fine, she says, “but that’s not for us. We want to be normal and do it in two hours, but within that time, to insert more spirit and novelty, not in the idea of changing things, but of spiritual renewal.”
Over the next few months, the Feintuchs looked for a permanent location in the Katamon area that would be accessible and friendly for both men and women and families and their children.
“Many times, we say that it is difficult to concentrate when adults are talking and making noise during services,” says Tani, “but the noise of children is not bothersome because it shows there is life. We want families with children.”
Carmit and Tani add that it was also crucial to set up a congregation that would be welcoming for singles.
“Singles need to feel at home, and it’s not so easy for singles within communities,” says Carmit.
In early 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, the synagogue members located a large tent that seats 150 in the courtyard of a home in Katamon. Each week, between 40 and 50 people attend Friday-night and Shabbat services in the tent. Carmit explains that the synagogue is based on three principles: sincere prayer filled with song and melody; participation of women in the services, as much as is possible according to Jewish law; and complete adherence to Jewish tradition.
At Ilana De-chaye, women present divrei Torah and carry the Torah on the women’s side of the synagogue when it is taken from the Ark and returned.
“The bimah (platform) is in the middle,” says Tani, “so they have the feeling that they are part of things.”
More than the specific rituals, though, notes Carmit, women play an active role in the operation of the synagogue.
“Although the prayers are led by men,” asserts Tani, “women should be involved in discussions about the prayers themselves. For example, before the High Holy Days, we have a discussion with the men and women of the congregation as to the tunes we will sing.”
Carmit and Tani are the joint leaders of the congregation.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” she laughs, “even on synagogue matters.”
To whom do members of the community turn when they have a question?
“In general,” explains Carmit, “people turn to those with whom they feel comfortable. Sometimes people ask me, and sometimes they ask Tani, and we consult jointly.”
She adds that generally, women ask her questions about issues specifically pertaining to women.
Tani stresses that their joint leadership is much more than providing answers to questions of Jewish law: “It is also spiritual leadership.”
“Rabbinic work,” says Carmit, “is primarily accompanying and helping people, providing support and help, throughout the life cycle.”
Tani adds that even in spiritual matters, it is essential to bring two voices to the discussion.
“Together, we bring different perspectives.”
What are the goals of Rav Tani and Rabbanit Carmit as the joint leaders of Congregation Ilana De-chaye? Carmit says she wants to increase Torah, ruach and prayer in their synagogue.
Tani shares, “To help ourselves and our congregation make prayer an important part.”
Carmit adds, “And to bring more men and women into this space, to take the idea of prayer and widen the circle.”
Tani says it is hard to predict what the role of women will be in Jewish leadership in 20 years.
“I hope it will spread to many communities who will see the advantages of different voices, so that we don’t ignore 50% of the population in the synagogue.”
In 2003, she and her husband, Dr. Shamai Grossman, made aliyah together with their children and settled in Ra’anana. Several years ago, Sharon was asked to deliver a lecture about Judaism’s approach to prophylactic surgery for BRCA carriers. Women who have inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have substantially elevated risks of breast and ovarian cancer, and prophylactic surgery, bilateral mastectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy or a combination of procedures can dramatically reduce their risk of cancer.
“I found the interface of Jewish law, public health and medicine fascinating,” she recounts. “From that, I started my journey into the world of Halacha and medicine. I had the public health tools, but I didn’t have formal halachic training.”
In 2016, Matan’s Matan HaSharon – the Mindy Greenberg Institute in Ra’anana opened its two-year Morot L’Halakha Beit Midrash program. Graduates become certified as community leaders and halachic advisers related to family purity and the full range of life-cycle events, from childbirth through mourning. In parallel with their halachic studies, participants study the psychological and medical aspects of these life-cycle events, enabling them to strengthen their understanding and elevate the quality of the advice that they give.
“The program was exactly what I was interested in,” says Grossman. “It was a blessing from Heaven. Here I was, almost 50-years-old, taking tests again, shlepping my books everywhere.”
After she completed the two-year study cycle, she continued the program for another two years, studying the laws of Shabbat, and is now learning the laws of issur v’heter (kashrut). She has written extensively on medicine and Jewish law and has published articles in prestigious journals such as Tradition and Hakirah on a variety of subjects, including “Resolving the debate over human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for cancer prevention in the religious world,” and “BRCA Testing for All Ashkenazi Women: A Halachic Inquiry,” as well as a number of articles on halachic issues regarding COVID. She teaches for Matan, Machon Puah and the Eden Center, where she is the director of community health programming.
“I feel fortunate to be in this time,” says Dr. Galper Grossman, “where women can learn, and where there are programs where women have already forged a path and where I don’t have to go very far to reach out.”
Three women – a communal rabbi, a school rabbi and a lecturer in medicine and Jewish law – all part of the next generation of women leaders of the Jewish community in Israel.