The London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS)’s Chief Executive Joanne Greenaway is launching Women’s Gallery, an exciting podcast which strives to amplify women’s voices and Jewish leadership journeys. The series will feature conversations with a range of women including Dr. Yardaena Osband, founding member of the Orthodox Leadership Project, Rabbanit Surale Rosen, founder of Matan’s Women’s Online Halachic Responsa Project, Dr. Elana Stein Hain, Rosh Beit Midrash and Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, Keshet Starr Esq., CEO of the Organisation for the Resolution of Agunot and Tal Bassali, founder of the Zehud Jewish online school operating across Europe, with the first episode seeing Joanne speaking to Dr. Mijal Bitton, the Rosh Kehilla of the Downtown Minyan in New York City.
Women’s Gallery will address issues such as agunot activism, community building both digitally and in-person, religious roles for women in schools and universities, and in interfaith work and peace building. The podcast demonstrates how there are multiple ways to be a Jewish leader and gives women doing great things, and often carving their own paths, the opportunity to tell their stories and share their experiences.
Joanne is passionate about Jewish education and the rights of women to have access to Jewish texts to be part of the ongoing conversation about our tradition. She was inspired to develop this series as there is a lack of role models and clarity around leadership roles for women, with this being among the issues explored in the podcast.
“Women’s voices have been largely absent in a recorded way over the last 2,000 years of Jewish history, and the podcast highlights women in positions of Torah leadership in different settings,” said Joanne. LSJS has been at the forefront of developing learning opportunities for women, from the most accessible to the highest levels. They empowered women to share Torah through the Susi Bradfield educational leadership progamme and through high-level learning opportunities such as the Iyun Halacha programme, high-level Tanach and the Maale programme in partnership with the US and Mizrachi.”
Joanne’s background as an international lawyer and as a Get (Jewish divorce) Case Director at the Beit Din have led to her to see the difference it makes when women’s voices and perspectives are included at all levels. She believes that there are so many areas where women’s voices are increasingly included and where new roles can be established; including religious leadership in schools and overseeing kashrut, where women are quietly and effectively performing important roles, as well as in communities.
As the first female CEO of LSJS, she is using the platform to promote women’s learning and leadership as well as empowering and supporting women to grow and develop as teachers and educators.
When it came to choosing guests for the podcast, Joanne tried to ensure that they included a varied cross section from different countries and sectors. Women’s Gallery will explore different models of leadership in the context of schools, shuls, universities, batei din and more, showcasing the women defining Jewish leadership today.
“I am blessed to know many incredible women making their mark, in different ways, on the Jewish world to a wider audience, and I am looking forward to discussing a wide range of issues with them,” said Joanne Greenaway, Chief Executive of LSJS. “When it comes to women’s learning, women scholars have proven themselves at the highest levels and I think we are increasingly seeing acceptance across more and more of the community that there are no areas of learning that are out of bounds for women.”
