(11) Hadassah Shemtov: The modern-day Sarah Schnierer?
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This week we’re meeting Hadassah Shemtov. Hadassah lives in LA where she teaches
Gemara and Chumash to high school girls, particularly within the Chabad community.
Hadassah noticed amongst the women in her community an underlying ‘estrangement from
the source of our tradition’. She saw that many high school students were unfamiliar with the
evolutionary process of halacha and thought it to be arbitrary rules. She found a low
expectation for rigorous scholarship within Torah study that led peers to seek intellectual
satisfaction elsewhere. So she co-founded the Batsheva Learning Center in 2015, and has
spearheaded numerous innovative learning opportunities for women there, primarily in the
New York area but also across the US.
Hadassah and I discuss standing on the shoulders of giants such as Sarah Schnierer, what
Chabad schools teach that others don’t, and the leadership advantage that Chabad
‘shluchot’ have over other female leaders.
Women's Gallery Episode 10 with Dr. Erica Brown
Women's Gallery Episode 4 with Dr. Elana Stein Hain
Listen to Hadassah's podcast Real Women, Real Torah, and read her Substack.
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