Ritualwell is a project of Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC). The site is supported, maintained, and edited by Kolot. Ritualwell was created by Kolot and Ma’yan: the Jewish Women’s Project, a program of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan.
Kolot brings insights and innovative practices from the study of gender and Judaism to the Jewish community. Kolot trains RRC rabbinical students and other leaders, advances scholarship, develops resources, and provides programs in the field of Jewish women’s and gender studies for Jews across the denominational spectrum.
The center offers courses, pastoral education, faculty education and certification in gender and Judaism and Jewish women’s studies at RRC. Kolot's educational programs and materials make the time-honored traditions of Judaism meaningful and relevant for contemporary Jews by supporting innovation in Jewish living and thought.
RRC trains leaders for a changing world. If your interest in Jewish ritual extends to an interest in considering rabbinical school, click here for RRC application information.
Lori Hope Lefkovitz, PhD
Executive Editor, Ritualwell.org
Director, Kolot
Lori Hope Lefkovitz is the Sadie Gottesman and Arlene Gottesman Reff Professor of Gender and Judaism at RRC and founding director of Kolot. She has been a Fulbright Professor at Hebrew University, a fellow at the Philadelphia Association of Psychoanalysis, and a Woodrow Wilson fellow in the Women’s Studies Division. Her board service includes the JWA Academic Advisory Council, the Philadelphia Schechter Day School, and Sh’ma Magazine. She holds a PhD in literature from Brown University and is the author of books and articles in the fields of literature, theory, and gender and Judaism. She lives in Philadelphia with her partner, Rabbi Leonard Gordon, and their two daughters.
Contact Lori Lefkovitz: (215) 576-0800 x147, lefkovitz@rrc.edu.
Ruth Heiges
Web Site Administrator, Ritualwell.org
Kolot Administrator
Ruth Heiges came to Kolot after 27 years in Israel, bringing with her a longstanding professional and personal commitment to the causes of Jewish pluralism and the advancement of women. She had worked for Beit Daniel, the Center for Progressive Judaism in Tel Aviv, in the areas of public affairs and resource development. Ruth is an experienced journalist and has been a monthly contributor to the Jewish Exponent since October 2002. She holds a degree in Speech (Communications) from Penn State and lives in Elkins Park, Pa.
Contact Ruth Heiges: (215) 576-0800 x149, rheiges@rrc.edu.
Roni Handler
Editor, Ritualwell.org
Roni Handler is a third-year rabbinical student at RRC. A native Philadelphian, she received her BA from The George Washington University in international affairs, with a concentration in middle-eastern studies and a minor in anthropology. Roni earned a master's degree in Jewish Communal Service from the Hornstein program at Brandeis University.
She has interned in such settings as Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center, The Rashi School (Boston's Reform day school) and for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. Roni also has extensive experience teaching Hebrew/Religious School and conducting family education programs.
Contact Roni Handler: rhandler@rrc.edu
Rabbi Rona Shapiro
Founding Editor and Consultant, Ritualwell.org
Rona Shapiro is rabbi of Congregation Bethaynu, a Conservative synagogue, in Cleveland, OH. From 2000-2007 she served as a Senior Associate at Ma’yan: the Jewish Women’s Project, a program of the JCC in Manhattan. Prior to that, she served for 10 years as the executive director of Berkeley Hillel. Rona was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1990. She holds a BA from Harvard University and also studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem and the Drisha Institute in New York. The author of numerous articles, Rona served as ritualwell’s first content manager and editor, and she played an instrumental role in redesigning and re-launching this version of the site, writing, editing, organizing content, and managing ritualwell submissions and correspondence. Rona resides with her husband, David Franklin, and their two daughters, in Shaker Heights, OH
Contact Rona Shapiro 216-292-2931, rabbi@bethaynu.org.
Rabbi Susan P. Fendrick, Writer and Consultant
Susan Fendrick is a Senior Research Associate at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University. She was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1995, and is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program. An editor, writer, teacher, and consultant, Sue was founding editor of SocialAction.com and Managing Editor of MyJewishLearning.com. She consulted with Kolot on the redesign and relaunch of ritualwell and wrote content for the site. She lives with her husband and children in Newton, Mass.
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