Delphine Horvilleur (born 8 November 1974) is France's third female

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

, and (as of 2012) editorial director of the quarterly Jewish magazine ''Revue de pensée(s) juive(s) Tenou'a''. She leads a congregation in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and is currently co-leading the

Liberal Jewish Movement of France The Liberal Jewish Movement of France or MJLF is a Jewish liberal cultural and religious association affiliated with the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Founded in 1977, the movement promotes Jewish religious and cultural life through its two ...

, a Jewish liberal cultural and religious association affiliated to the

World Union for Progressive Judaism The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries ...

, which she joined in 2008. In 2013 her book ''En tenue d’Eve. Féminin, Pudeur et Judaïsme'' (''In a Birthday Suit: Feminism, Modesty and Judaism''), which discusses the representation of nudity and modesty in the Bible, was published.

Life

Horvilleur was born and raised in Nancy, but moved to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

at the age of 17 and studied life sciences at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. Five years later, she came back to Paris and worked as a journalist. She studied with well-known Jewish scholars, such as French philosopher Marc-Alain Ouaknin and ex- Chief Rabbi

Gilles Bernheim Gilles Uriel Bernheim (; born 30 May 1952) is a French-Israeli rabbi who was formerly the Chief Rabbi of France. Born in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, in 1952, he was elected by the general assembly of the Central Consistory chief rabbi of France o ...

, and eventually moved to New York and studied at Drisha

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

. She was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2008, and later returned to France. In 2016,

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (; ar, link=no, نجاة فالو بلقاسم; Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⵊⴰⵜ ⴱⵍⵇⴰⵙⵎ; born 4 October 1977) is a former Moroccan-French jurist and politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who was the first Fre ...

awarded her a special commendation. In 2009, Horvilleur became editor-in-chief of Tenou'a a quarterly journal published by the Tenou'a association from the

. It makes it a reference magazine of liberal Jewish thought in France, where various religious sensibilities are found around societal issues (feminism, environment, sexuality, migration policy, etc.). In 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Horvilleur became known for her weekly online

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

talks on Jewish texts. Her popular lectures were attended by a variety people outside of the Jewish community. Horvilleur is married to Ariel Weil, mayor of the

Paris Centre Paris Centre is an administrative division of Paris encompassing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th arrondissements of the city. In August 2016, ministers Jean-Michel Baylet, Bernard Cazeneuve and Estelle Grelier proposed reforms to the territorial di ...

arrondissement. They have three children.

Publications

* * * * * with Rachid Benzine, * in English released as * * *

References

External links

''Tenou’a'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horvilleur, Delphine 1974 births Living people French Reform rabbis Reform women rabbis French expatriates in Israel 21st-century French rabbis French people of Israeli descent Writers from Nancy, France Writers from Paris Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Clergy from Nancy, France