SVIVAH – To formalize the organization’s educational and pastoral-educator training models that will enable educators to enrich and expand Jewish learning in the HerTorah and HerSpirit programs.

How will this project help you respond to the needs of your community in a post-October 7th world?

This project directly responds to the post–October 7th reality by equipping Jewish educators to address the profound emotional, spiritual, and psychological needs now present in their communities. At a time when learners are carrying grief, anxiety, trauma, and moral confusion, educators must do more than teach texts—they must “hold hearts.” By integrating Torah learning with pastoral and psychoeducational tools, the project enables teachers to create spaces that are not only intellectually meaningful but also emotionally supportive and healing. In doing so, it meets a growing demand for connection, resilience, and Jewish meaning in a time of crisis.

What element of this project are you most excited to see come to fruition?

Too often, Jewish text teachers work alone, teaching in one place or another without having the privilege of being in conversation with other practitioners about the material they are teaching, and how it will be received by the class participants. Our project brings together educators, mental health professionals, and SVIVAH staff to plan – together! – what spiritual care Jewish women need now, and how text study and pastoral presence can respond appropriately to those needs.

If you could choose one Jewish woman from history to have coffee with, who would it be and why?

Is it too “on brand” to answer Sara Schenirer? Born in 1883 in Krakow, Poland, she saw that the Jewish women of her time were becoming estranged from Jewish life because they lacked a Jewish education. She became a pioneer of Jewish education by establishing the Bais Yaakov schools. She persisted in her quest to teach Torah to girls, despite scorn and ridicule, and some initial failures. Sarah Schenirer believed that Torah was important for girls and women, and she believed in her students. We are here teaching and learning because of her.