Collaborative Seminar - Beit Midrash Har'el | Orthodox Rabbinic Ordination for Men and Women

Grappling with the challenges that modernity presents to Halacha and offering a new paradigm for religious Jewish life.

A key new initiative of Beit Midrash Har’el is our Collaborative Seminar for the Study of Jewish Interpretive Tradition. This Seminar brings together a select group of Jewish Scholars and educators to explore the hermeneutics of our interpretive tradition.

The Core Challenge

Most Orthodox Jews attribute literal truth to the narratives of the Torah as well as to Halachic categories and structures. For example, the distinctions that the Halacha makes between men and women or between gentiles and Jews are somehow believed to be embedded in objective reality. This, often unstated, assumption lies at the core of how modern Orthodoxy responds to – or doesn’t effectively respond to – the pressing issues of the day.

We intend to examine the historical, psychological, and anthropological issues that have influenced the genesis of our Torah narratives and Halacha, as well as mystical and Hasidic sources, to explore alternative approaches to Jewish religious life today. This effort is essential to providing the philosophical and intellectual grounding required to frame any fresh approach to Halacha.

Participants

Rabbi Herzl Hefter

Rabbi Herzl Hefter is the founder and Rosh Beit Midrash of Beit Midrash Har'el. He received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, זצ"ל , at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He taught Yoreh De’ah in the Gruss Kollel of Yeshiva University and served as head of the Bruriah Program at Midreshet Lindenbaum.

Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber

Prof. Daniel Sperber is the Milan Roven Professor of Talmudic Studies (emeritus) and former Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan. He is the author of over twenty five works on various aspects of Rabbinic research. Professor Sperber was awarded the ''Israel Prize'' in Jewish studies in 1992.

Rabbi David Bigman

Rav David Bigman has been the Rosh HaYeshiva at Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa since 1995. He was one of the founders of Yeshivat HaKibbutz HaDati laBanot (now Midreshet Ein Hanatz"iv). He is active in issues pertaining to society and halacha, including Mesuravei Get.

Dr. Tehila Elitzur

Dr. Tehilah Elitzur holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Hebrew University specializing in Talmud and Jewish thought. Her doctorate is from Ben Gurion University, specializing in the fields of halakhic and Responsa literature.

Dr. Ronit Irshai

Ronit Irshai is Assistant Professor in the gender studies program at Bar Ilan University and a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman institute in Jerusalem. She has been a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School. Irshai was educated in the fields of Jewish Philosophy, Philosophy of law and Gender Studies.

Prof. Vered Noam

Vered Noam is professor of Talmud at the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at Tel Aviv University. Her research interests include rabbinic and Second Temple period literature. Noam received her PhD in Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She was the recipient of the Israel Prize in Talmud in 2020.

Prof. Tamar Ross

Professor Tamar Ross is Professor Emerita of the Department of Jewish philosophy at Bar-Ilan University. She continues to teach at Midreshet Lindenbaum. She did her Ph.D. at the Hebrew University and served as a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard.

Dr. Shmuel Wygoda

Dr. Shmuel Wygoda is Chair of the Department of Jewish Philosophy at the Herzog College, He was the Dean of the Herzog College between 1995-2006.

Rabbanit Batya Hefter

Rabbanit Batya Hefter is the founder of Lev Nachon – Center for Transformative Torah, transmitting Hasidic teachings as a vital spiritual path for contemporary Jews. She is the author of Windows: Hasidic Readings into Life (Urim Publications, 2026). She founded and directed the Women’s Beit Midrash of Efrat and Gush Etzion.

Yonatan Nachshoni

Yonatan Nachshoni is a doctoral student at Ben-Gurion University, in Kabbalah researching the concept of the Self. Yonatan is also a talented musician and poet. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Otniel. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Tel Aviv University in Jewish Philosophy, emphasizing Religious, Indian, and Sanskrit studies.

Rabbi Dr. Ariel Picard

Dr. Ariel Picard is a Research Fellow at Shalom Hartman Institute. He previously served as the Director of the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought and the Educational Director of the Institute’s Be’eri program. He has a PhD in philosophy from Bar-Ilan University and received semicha from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.

Key Questions

Jewish tradition is characterized by continual interpretation and reinterpretation of sacred texts. Although much time and effort is spent interpreting texts, insufficient thought has been given to a number of critical questions:

How do our religious stories emerge and are transmitted?
What is the relationship between our stories and our rituals?
What are the underlying historical and psychological influences which create the context of the interpretation that is going on?
What are our core values? Values such as democracy, fairness, justice, duty, loyalty, self-sacrifice, family, Zionism, and continuity…from where are they derived?
Should we look at and be critical of our values? How do values influence the understanding of narratives and Halacha?
Is the relationship between Halacha and God’s will, or different versions of Torah min Hashamayim, relevant in determining Halacha?
Are there limits to Halachic interpretation? What might they look like?

These questions are vital when we seek to address, in a fundamental way, contemporary challenges facing traditional Jews.

Goals and Impact

The seminar brings together an exceptional group of scholars and thinkers to:

Rethink the foundations of Jewish interpretation
Develop new frameworks for understanding Halacha
Encourage greater responsiveness, compassion, and intellectual honesty in religious life

The project will culminate in a major publication that explores the nature of Jewish interpretation and its implications for Halacha, education, and communal life.

The Collaborative Seminar for the Study of the Jewish Interpretive Tradition is a unique effort to explore approaches to evolve Jewish tradition in an authentic way, bringing together a cadre of impressive Torah/Halachic scholars and thinkers. To enable the kind of paradigm shift in religious thinking we believe is required, we need to engage a broader audience in this process, specifically soliciting feedback and socializing ideas among a larger circle of thinkers, Rabbis, and educators. To do this requires more scaffolding in terms of managing and leveraging this “think tank” including focused facilitation and expanded communications capacity.

why it matters

This initiative represents an investment in the future of Jewish leadership, vitality and adaptability of Halacha, and strength and unity of Israeli society. By cultivating new ideas and thoughtful leadership, Beit Midrash Har’el seeks to ensure that Jewish tradition remains meaningful, dynamic, and responsive for generations to come.