Women's Gallery: Showcasing Women in Jewish Leadership

What does it mean to hold pain that has no easy resolution? In this deeply moving conversation, Joanne Greenaway speaks with Dr. Aimee Baron about the quiet heartbreak of infertility, pregnancy loss, and unrealized expectations. Moving from working as a medical doctor to establishing an organisation in order to fill an important need in the global Jewish community, Dr. Baron brings both professional insight and profound personal experience to her work. Drawing on her own story and her work supporting others, Dr. Baron explores how individuals and communities can respond with greater sensitivity, awareness, and compassion. Together, they discuss the gap between medical care and emotional support, the unique challenges within Jewish communal life, and the power of simply being present for someone in pain. From the role of social media to the complexities of stigma and silence, this episode asks how we can better care for those whose lives have not unfolded as they had hoped. Honest, thoughtful, and profoundly human, this is a conversation about listening, understanding, and learning how to hold space when words are not enough. Visit iwassupposedtohaveababy.org and listen to Dr. Baron's podcast, Taking Away the Taboo. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

This week Joanne meets Danielle Abraham: Oxford-educated, Woodford-raised, and now one of the most driven women rebuilding Israel from the ground up. As founder and CEO of Regrow Israel, Danielle mobilised emergency support for farming communities devastated in the Western Negev and northern Israel in the wake of October 7th, raising over $30 million and supporting more than 110 farms. She is also co-founder of Volcani International Partnerships, an Israeli NGO tackling global food and nutrition insecurity through Israel's world-leading agricultural expertise. In this conversation, Danielle unpacks the systematic, premeditated agricultural terrorism of October 7th, in which 40 irrigation control boxes were targeted and destroyed on a single kibbutz alone. She explains why rebuilding the farms was the only possible foundation for rebuilding the communities, and why agriculture sits at the very heart of Israel's identity. Together they move from the pioneering spirit of Ben Gurion's Israel to today's border farmers, from tikkun olam and Israel's global agricultural leadership to whether the land can be a unifying force for a fractured nation. A conversation brimming with hard-won hope and a powerful case for a part of Israel's story that is still largely untold. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

What can I do to hold a fractured people together in a time of grief, disagreement, and uncertainty? Joanne Greenaway speaks with Jerusalem-based writer and educator Rachel Sharansky Danziger, exploring through her works how prayer, storytelling and leadership can create space for understanding and collaboration even amid deep disagreement. Rachel's upbringing as the daughter of former Soviet refusenik and Israeli activist leader Natan Sharansky and Avital Sharansky shaped her belief that individual voices can make a difference. Rachel reflects on the emotional complexity of Israeli society since October 7 and discusses prayer as a language of hope that allows people with opposing views to stand together in yearning. She reflects on what's unique in women's leadership and how that is needed today. Rachel's central conviction shines throughout the conversation: even in moments of profound uncertainty, one person can effect change. Az Nashir by Rachel Sharansky Danziger and Anne Gordon can be purchased from: Amazon US at https://www.amazon.com/Az-Nashir-Will-Sing-Again/dp/B0DHHDL99J/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MQ70EJVHTUAZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ait7AEINcIWDqfQahZEJEXWPp4sy_7cbSbvw8yGEZXfGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.Kq7JKxbhQVm-ZKNq_VrLIzAH07N2aE0hUkzfg8l5Ltw&dib_tag=se&keywords=az+nashir&qid=1773674024&sprefix=az+nashir%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-1 Amazon UK at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Az-Nashir-Will-Sing-Again/dp/B0DHHDL99J/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RLIBTL9M2ZAJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rs3g2GbI2m_pwC6u9LZXFzvLrVcd2s-BNaV6v40I0UvGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.PUZySc6nLM2S7Bu3PInwBfuFMp18C-bDBopCsxph_is&dib_tag=se&keywords=az+nashir&qid=1773674097&sprefix=az+nash%2Caps%2C262&sr=8-1 This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit us at lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. NEW! Talk to us at womensgallery@lsjs.ac.uk and tell us who you'd like to hear interviewed. Meet Rabbanit Yaffa Setton - Yoetzet Halacha, rebbetzen, educator and community leader serving the Syrian Sephardic communities of Brooklyn and Deal, New Jersey. Between teaching high school by day and answering halachic questions at all hours, Yaffa occupies a unique and trusted space in the lives of the women she supports. Follow her journey through advanced Torah learning — from Nishmat's Yoetzet Halacha training to the International Halacha Scholars Program and now Ematai's groundbreaking end-of-life care fellowship. We reflect on the kinds of sensitive, complex questions women bring her: mikvah, fertility, medical decisions, and moments of real vulnerability. We explore the delicate balance between guidance and psak, the importance of creating safe spaces to ask, and why sometimes simply having someone who understands makes all the difference. We also talk about the strength and warmth of the Syrian community she serves, teaching Torah across generations of the same families, and the models of leadership that inspire her most - particularly Sarah's insight and Miriam's courage to step forward without being asked. It's a thoughtful, grounded conversation about leading with both knowledge and heart. Hear from Chana Henkin, founder of the Yoetzet Halacha programme: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6NvpCAAjrpn1iL0mXgDb8k?si=w1082KvMQ0aQKNDSWxyBSQ Book the course: Women & Mitzvot, featuring Joanne Greenaway: https://lsjs.ac.uk/women-mitzvot-2768

Aliza Lavie moves seamlessly between public leadership, scholarship, culture and creativity. A former Member of Knesset, best-selling author and leading scholar of Jewish culture, Aliza has spent her career amplifying women's voices and strengthening connections across the Jewish world. From founding global initiatives that revive women's prayer and heritage, to shaping national conversations on religion, state and gender equality, her work bridges Jewish tradition and contemporary life. As a senior academic, cultural entrepreneur and visionary leader, Aliza offers a rare perspective on how women's leadership can transform Jewish communal and spiritual life across generations. We discuss working in the knesset, creating change at this difficult time, and the power of bringing together diverse groups of women. We talk about clarity of mission, giving a voice to those who don't have one, finding leadership in unexpected places and the vital aguna legislation Aliza passed that impacted my work at the Bet Din so much. It's a broad conversation that bounces from prayer to politics to chessed, united by Aliza's vision of bringing back our collective knowledge to create tools for the present. Aliza's website collecting women's prayers can be found at: tfilatnashim.com Her book, Iconic Jewish Women, can be purchased on Amazon. This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. NEW! Talk to us at womensgallery@lsjs.ac.uk and tell us who you'd like to hear interviewed.

In this episode we meet Rabbanit Shayna Goldberg, mashgicha ruchanit and teacher to Israeli and American post-high school students in Migdal Oz, an affiliate of Yeshivat Har Etzion. Shayna is also a yoetzet halacha, a contributing editor for Deracheha: Womenandmitzvot.org, co-host of the podcast "Women Talking Mitzvot" and the author of the book: What Do You Really Want? Trust and Fear in Decision Making at Life's Crossroads and in Everyday Living, and we found a great deal of common ground. We discuss her role in helping young women to grow while staying connected to their home and roots, how she empowers them to take responsibility for their own decisions, how she helps them hear themselves in this process, and her conscious aim for lasting rather than drastic change. We cover the changes she's seen in her career, a move towards questioning authority in her students' search for meaning, and the growing hunger to know how halachic decisions are made, as well as what motivates her to write and the surprising way in which that began. We also touch on the growing world of female leadership, contrasts between the secular and Jewish worlds in these areas, and our hopes for the future. Shayna's book, What Do You Really Want? can be purchased from Koren Publishers. This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. Who do you look after when you can't look after everyone? How does a leader react when she's the one in need of help? What do you do if you feel pidgeonholed by your education or career choices? Rebbetzen Yael Roodyn, much loved Rebbetzen of Finchley Federation Synagogue, gives us insights into caring for and inspiring her close-knit community, bringing out the leadership in others and ensuring that everyone feels part of the family. With a Master of Research in Computer Vision and Image Programming, Yael began her professional life at KPMG Tel Aviv as a trainee actuary. She later taught in several seminaries in Jerusalem, and now, as well as being Rebbetzen of her shul, handles Aish UK's Campus Follow Up for women. Yael and her husband are blessed with eight children. Our conversation reveals a deeply thought-through set of decisions which led Yael to where she is today, the theme of which is finding the right balance of caring for others, bringing up her family, and developing herself. Yael shares creative leadership guidance, self-care principles and wisdom that can help us all feel more balanced, productive and fulfilled.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. NEW! Talk to us at womensgallery@lsjs.ac.uk and tell us about amazing women who you'd like to hear interviewed. Joanne Greenaway is joined by Rabbanit Chana Henkin, founder of Nishmat: The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women in Jerusalem, and Head of its Research Institute. One of the great pioneers of women's Orthodox Torah scholarship, Rabbanit Henkin has transformed the landscape of women's halachic and spiritual leadership. Together with her late husband, Rav Yehuda Henkin ztz"l, she founded the Yoatzot Halacha programme, training women experts in Jewish law and women's health, whose work has changed the way halachic guidance is sought and given across the Orthodox world. A beloved teacher and visionary, Rabbanit Henkin has received honorary doctorates from both Bar-Ilan and Yeshiva Universities and was awarded Israel's prestigious Agrest Prize for innovative religious education. She reflects on resilience amid personal loss, explains the vacuum that prompted her to start the Yoatzot Halacha programme, discusses continuing her late husband's work on women in halacha and demonstrates how halacha has given agency to women. We discuss the difference between a yoetzet and a rabbi, and the changing relationships between women and rabbis in the information age, and she inspires us with a message about serving the community in the future. Responsa on Contemporary Jewish Women's Issues (New Expanded Edition) is available here. To access our full LSJS programme of learning, visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning. Our new women's gemara course, A Taste of Talmud starts on Wed 22nd October. Book it for free here.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. NEW! Talk to us at womensgallery@lsjs.ac.uk and tell us about amazing women who you'd like to hear interviewed. This week, I'm thrilled to welcome Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble to the podcast—turning the tables a bit, since Yosefa herself is an accomplished host of not one, but three podcasts in both Hebrew and English. Her mellifluous voice and natural storytelling draw you in, but it's her deep Torah insights and thoughtful reflections on personal growth that make this episode truly special. Yosefa teaches Tanach, Biblical Exegesis, and Jewish Thought at Migdal Oz Beit Midrash, lectures at Herzog College and Herzog Global, and serves as a Yoetzet Halacha and madrichat kallot. She's also a member of the second cohort of Sacks Scholars and hosts a widely acclaimed weekly Parsha podcast for Matan Women's Institute for Torah Study, alongside a new show on women and mitzvot with Shayna Goldberg. In our conversation, we dive into her journey from Albany, NY to Efrat, the mentors who shaped her, and how she balances spiritual growth, leadership, and daily life. We explore topics we're all thinking about as we approach Rosh Hashana including personal growth, very practical methods for teshuva, habits that foster growth, differences between Israel and the diaspora regarding women's roles and leadership, and where we have and haven't made progress in women's learning. To learn about the parasha in Yosefa's unique style, visit the Matan Parsha Podcast. Stretch your mind and soul through ideas based learning in free and paid classes, courses and events - visit the new LSJS website at www.lsjs.ac.uk.

***1st Anniversary Edition!*** It's our birthday! For this special anniversary edition the tables have been turned on me! Joanne Greenaway is Chief Executive of LSJS. Experienced International Arbitration lawyer and formerly Director of Get cases for the London Beth Din, she is part of Ohr Torah Stone's International Halakha Scholars Program and a Sacks Scholar. One year ago, she launched THIS podcast to inspire women to find what they uniquely bring to the world and create roles for themselves to do so - by showcasing other women in Jewish leadership who've done just that. Dr. Erica Brown does a fantastic job of probing me and we discuss humanity, finding your north star, what it means to be role model, creating sisterhoods, career pivots, holding internal tensions and so much more. Many, many thanks to Erica for agreeing to interview me. Erica is Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and Founding Director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership, as well as a prior guest on the podcast, friend and mentor. Erica's book, Morning has Broken: Faith after October 7th is available at amazon.co.uk/Morning-Has-Broken-Faith-October/dp/1592646832. This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. This week I am delighted to be joined by Shana Aaronson, Executive Director of Magen, where she first began as Social Services Coordinator, supporting families where children had been physically and sexually abused. Magen is dedicated to creating safer Jewish communities in Israel and around the world by developing and implementing programs that foster transparency, prioritizing the well-being of victims, holding perpetrators accountable, and eliminating the stigma surrounding sexual abuse. Their work spans advocacy, education, and direct support for survivors. Shana also volunteers as a Jewish marital law coach and birth assistant for women with histories of sexual and physical abuse. She lives with her family in Mateh Yehuda, Israel. We speak about the difficult but essential work of confronting abuse in religious communities, the role of communal silence, how to shift shame from victim to perpetrator, and what change could look like when survivors are believed and supported. This is a wide-ranging and powerful conversation about truth telling, accountability, and building safer futures. If you're affected by the issues discussed, please reach out for help. Some community resources are: Jewish Women's Aid – Supporting Jewish women affected by domestic or sexual abuse Magen – Child protection and abuse prevention in religious communities

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/connect to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. Gila Pfeffer is an award winning author, breast cancer prevention advocate and mum of four. Her recent book, Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences, was the 2024 winner of the Gilda Women's Book award and had me laughing hysterically and sobbing in equal measure. She describes it as "about losing both my parents to cancer, trying not to get cancer myself, then getting it anyway". We answer questions like: why would you choose humour as a vessel for discussing breast cancer and loss? How do you navigate the publishing world as Jew in the current climate? What do you say at a shivah? And, why are there so many photos online of you holding up two large, round objects? To find out more about breast cancer awareness, take a look at the resources below: Cancer Research UK: cancerresearchuk.org The Breast Cancer Research Foundation: bcrf.org Jnetics - Improving the prevention and diagnosis of Jewish genetic disorders: jnetics.org Sharsheret - the Jewish breast and ovarian cancer community: sharsheret.org #FeelItOnTheFirst