***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 https://www.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. I'm delighted to be joined by Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash, one of the most refreshing and challenging voices in contemporary Jewish learning. Based in Jerusalem, Nechama teaches Talmud and halachah at the Pardes Institute and Matan, where she's known for tackling some of the most complex questions around gender and relationships with honesty, warmth and depth. Her recently published book, Uncovered: Women's Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law, offers a fearless, richly sourced exploration of women's ritual obligations, religious identity and sexuality in Jewish law. Nechama's teaching combines rigorous text study with a rare sensitivity to lived experience. Link to the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncovered-Womens-Mitzvot-Sexuality-Jewish/dp/9655243753

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 [email protected] 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. 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 [email protected] and tell us about amazing women who you’d like to hear interviewed. Joanna Benarroch joined Rabbi Sacks’ Office of the Chief Rabbi in 1997 and worked for Rabbi Sacks for the next 24 years, first as his Executive Director and then running his private office. Since his passing, Joanna has played a key role in establishing the Rabbi Sacks Legacy to perpetuate his values and teachings. We discuss what drove Rabbi Sacks to keep seeking and writing, the far-reaching plans he made and high standards he held himself to, as well as his relationship-first approach and genuine interest in people and what made them tick.  Joanna Benarroch talks about her own trajectory as a behind-the-scenes leader and the privileged position she found herself in, as well the explosion in popularity of Rabbi Sacks right across Israeli society since his death and her mission now, post-aliyah The Rabbi Sacks & the Scholars LSJS course begins this November with a free taster class, Judaism at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. Discover the beauty and clarity of his teachings. More info and book at: www.lsjs.ac.uk/sacksandscholars.

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 [email protected] 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.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. In this special episode Big Questions of Jewish Belief, I collaborated with Rabbi Scott Kahn of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast to produce a conversation that’s great for both of our podcasts at this time. Scott quizzes me on whether we can, and should, be angry with God. Can we argue with Him, and is there any point, if He’s ‘all knowing’? Recorded in the leadup to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and at a very difficult time for the State of Israel and the Jewish people, we crack open the issue of how to relate to a God with whom we may feel many reasons to be upset, annoyed or angry. You can listen to the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast here or read the Orthodox Conundrum Substack here.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. I’m delighted to be joined by Jo Grose, the first ever female CEO of the United Synagogue. Jo stepped into the position in 2023, after many years of senior leadership within the organisation, as well as leadership roles at PaJeS and PJ Library and an earlier career in educational publishing. She is also an active member of her local community, where her passion for community-building began, and serves as a trustee of her local Jewish school trust. For those unfamiliar, the United Synagogue (US) is the main umbrella body of centrist Orthodoxy in the UK, an influential organisation with over 60 synagogues and responsibility for Jewish life “from cradle to grave.” We discuss how a CEO can find honest feedback and people who will stretch them, the value of developing skills outside the Jewish community, rapidly responding to October 7th, the male-female dynamic at the US including the more challenging informal moments, successfully professionalising the role of rebbetzens, allowing for innovation in a traditional framework, and so much more. Having had the privilege of working alongside Jo both at the US and in my role at LSJS, I know Jo as a consummate professional, an inspiring leader, and a wonderful person. It’s been eye opening to explore her journey, her vision for Jewish communal life, and her reflections on leadership.

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/connect to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. Today I’m honoured to welcome Sharon Rosen, a leader in interfaith peace building in Israel and around the world. Sharon served as Search for Common Ground’s Global Director of Religious Engagement from 2017 until recently. She also co-founded and directed Education for Life, an NGO that provides tools for the development and wellbeing of children within state educational systems. She was also a faculty member at the Jerusalem Center for Near East Studies, teaching courses on Bible, gender, and contemporary relevance. From her father’s survival as a prisoner of war and how that projected the family into Israel as some of the first olim, to the challenge of seeking female leaders to connect and build bridges with in the Muslim world, this conversation is really wide-ranging. Sharon is an expert on designing and implementing interreligious programming that builds collaboration across religions and promotes peace. She is also an experienced facilitator in conflict resolution and strategic planning. Her advice for women and for the world, to amplify feminine traits of caring, compassion, mediation and dialogue over dominance, strength, assertiveness and competition, demonstrates the decades of experience it comes from.

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

This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/connect to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. I’m delighted to welcome Rabbanit Chamutal Shoval, Director of the Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute of Halachic Leadership at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and a graduate of its rigorous five‑year program as a Morat Hora’a and Manhiga Ruchanit - empowering women with halachic authority and spiritual leadership and enabling female halachic leaders to claim their place in discourse, advisory roles, synagogues, schools, and more, both in Israel and abroad. She spent two transformative years, alongside her husband and five daughters, at Ohr Torah Stone in Springfield, NJ teaching Talmud and Jewish law at Rae Kushner Hebrew Academy. A WIHL alumna, Chamutal follows in the footsteps of trailblazer Rabbanit Devora Evron. I also reflect on my own journey through the IHSP flagship program and the privilege of learning under Chamutal’s emerging mission. We explore role models and trailblazing pathways, titles and recognition; how we create meaningful roles for women in the synagogue setting; and encouraging more women to write halacha, publish books, build communities and shape the next 20 years of Jewish life. Gain rare insight into the mindset and mission of this influential female halachic leader today - her vision for the future, her personal journey, and her impact on Jewish leadership globally.