Haviva Ner-David (formerly Haviva Krasner-Davidson) is an Israeli feminist activist and rabbi.

Biography

She received her BA from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and her PhD from

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

and wrote her thesis concerning the nature of the relationship between

Tumah In Jewish law, ''ṭumah'' (, ) and ''ṭaharah'' (, ) are the state of being ritually "impure" and "pure", respectively. The Hebrew noun ''ṭum'ah'', meaning "impurity", describes a state of ritual impurity. A person or object which contracts ...

(ritual impurity) and

Niddah Niddah (or nidah; he, נִדָּה), in traditional Judaism, describes a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirem ...

(a menstruant woman). In 1993 she applied to

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

’s rabbinical program,

RIETS Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after Yitzchak Elchanan ...

and never received an official response. Despite this early rejection, she went on to become one of the first women known to have controversially been granted the equivalent of

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Semicha Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...

(rabbinic ordination), which she received from Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Strikovsky of Tel-Aviv in 2006. In 2000 she wrote a book documenting her journey and aspirations as a female rabbi entitled, ''Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Toward Traditional Rabbinic Ordination''. She subsequently left Orthodoxy and now identifies as a “post-denominational rabbi.” She advocates arguably non-Orthodox practices such as egalitarian

Tefilah Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...

and unmarried women practicing

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

before engaging in pre-marital sex. She is the founding director of Reut: The Center for Modern Jewish Marriage, a marriage center in Jerusalem that helps couples plan a more woman-friendly ceremony and

ketubah A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...

, and provides legal and financial advice, couples counseling, and a

open to couples. Ner-David is currently the Director of "Shmaya": A Ritual and Educational Mikveh, and the founding director of Reut: The Center for Modern Jewish Marriage. She has also written ''Chanah’s Voice: A Rabbi Wrestles with Gender, Commandment, and the Women’s Rituals of Baking, Bathing, and Brightening'' (2013, Ben Yehudah Press). She lives on Kibbutz Hannaton in northern Israel with her husband and seven children. Haviva Ner-David was among the few Orthodox

women rabbis Women rabbis are individual Jewish women who have studied Jewish Law and received rabbinical ordination. Women rabbis are prominent in Progressive Jewish denominations, however, the subject of women rabbis in Orthodox Judaism is more complex. Al ...

to have received private ordination in the Orthodox Jewish context before the institutional change that resulted in the founding of

Yeshivat Maharat Yeshivat Maharat is a Jewish educational institution in The Bronx, New York, which was the first Open Orthodox yeshiva in North America to ordain women. The word ''Maharat'' () is a Hebrew acronym for phrase ''manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toran ...

. Other women in her position include

Mimi Feigelson Mimi Feigelson is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar and spiritual leader. Born in the United States, she moved to Israel at age eight and began studying with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at age fifteen. She says that in 1994, he granted her religious o ...

(ordained in 1994) and

Dina Najman Dina Najman is the rabbi of the Kehilah of Riverdale, a synagogue in Bronx, New York city, founded in 2014, which describes itself as "an Orthodox Jewish Congregation dedicated to creating a serious and meaningful tefilah for our kehilah, committe ...

(ordained in 2006).

Notes and references

External links

*
Jerusalem Post: For the Sake of Righteous Women by Peggy Cidor

Reut: The Center for Modern Jewish Marriage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ner-David, Haviva 1969 births Living people Bar-Ilan University alumni Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli feminists Israeli women activists Orthodox Jewish feminists Orthodox women rabbis Columbia College (New York) alumni

Biography

See also

Notes and references

External links