Tradition and Revolution: Female Spiritual Leaders

An Interview with Rabba Sara Hurwitz

Portrait of Sara Hurwitz

Rabba Sara Hurwitz; photo: Poppy Studio

In 2009 Rabba Sara Hurwitz became the first Orthodox woman to be ordained at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. In the same year, together with Rabbi Avi Weiss, she founded Yeshivat Maharat, the first Orthodox seminary to ordain women as clergy—full spiritual and halakhic leaders. Today, Yeshivat Maharat offers a dynamic group of women the opportunity to become ordained clergy within the bounds of halakha. It is not surprising that, when asked about which revolution she admires, Rabba Hurwitz’s answer is: “The women’s liberation movement, especially in the 1960s and 70s, which helped the world come to terms with the notion that 50 percent of the population‒‒women‒‒have equal abilities, talents, and passion to contribute to society.”

We asked her about female spiritual leaders, the #metoo movement, and the digital revolution:  continue reading


Jewish Places goes live today!

Starting now, you can fill this new website with content and life

Map with four historical photos cropped into circles

Landing page for the website Jewish Places

Jewish Places posts information about the local history of Jewish life in Germany on an interactive map, and invites users to contribute their own content. This sort of participation explores and permits a new kind of collecting, preserving, and sharing of knowledge about Jewish life.  continue reading


Jewrovision 2018

Saturday, 10th of February, in Dresden, with livestream!

The motto of this year’s Jewrovision is THE CIRCLE OF LIFE. More than 60 groups with a total of 1200 members from all over Germany will participate. The jury consists of Daniel Donskoy, Susan Sideropolous, Ben Salomo, and Aaron Altaras.

 Logo: Jewrovision Dresden 2018: The Circle of LifeImportant information about the event at Messe Dresden (Hall 1) – including information on ticket reservations and directions – can be found on the Jewrovision website (in German).

In case you cannot be there in person (unlike our program director): The livestream starts at 8.30 pm.

About Jewrovision

Based on the idea of the Eurovision Song Contest, Jewrovision is not only the largest Jewish singing and dancing competition in Germany, but also in Europe. The first Jewrovision took place in 2002 in Bad Sobernheim. This year, for the first time, the competition takes place in one of the new federal states of Germany. All Jewish children and young people aged ten to nineteen from Germany can participate. Their local Jewish community’s youth center registers them.