Deracheha’s name was inspired by a pasuk in Mishlei: “Deracheha darchei no’am, ve-chol netivoteha shalom.” “Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace.”
In this pasuk, the Torah’s ways are “her ways.” Deracheha.org is the meeting point of the Torah’s ways and a woman’s.
Purpose
Jewish women, and our communities as a whole, need greater understanding of halachot pertaining to women.
Understanding Halacha has a positive impact on halachic commitment and practice, and raises the level of our communal discussion.
Halacha is a guide for living, rich in nuance and alive to its adherents. It is responsive to religious intuitions and spiritual aspirations. It is much more than a black or white bottom line.
Deracheha presents Halacha accurately and respectfully, in a woman’s voice.
We explore a range of halachic voices as clearly and thoroughly as possible, leaving room for each reader to find a place within it.
We don’t advocate, we educate. We are passionate about informing you about Halacha, without telling you what to think.
Read more about why we think its important for women to engage directly with halachic texts in our Introduction.
Goals
To grant women access to halachic discourse.
To build a community of learners.
To raise the caliber of halachic discussion and mitzva observance.
This Site
Our content grows regularly, with topics organized in four sections:
For each topic, the IN BRIEF tab provides a summary.
The IN DEPTH tab presents guided source study and textual analysis to help readers understand the issues on a deeper level. By clicking on highlighted questions, readers access discussion of different perspectives on the issues, to help relate the sources under discussion to real life practice.
The SOURCES tab provides a source sheet to further facilitate learning.
Q&A contains common questions and answers.
The PODCAST tab provides an audio shiur and related episodes from our Kol Deracheha Podcast.
Our Ask and Q&A pages provide opportunities for visitors to the site to add to this discussion and learn from each other. Stay tuned for more interactive features to come…
Unless otherwise noted, site content has been drafted by Site Director and Head Writer Laurie Novick, and reviewed by at least one member of our editorial team and by Halacha Editor-In-Chief Rav Ezra Bick.
To learn even more about the thinking behind Deracheha, check out this video podcast with Aish Uk!
Deracheha Team
Laurie Novick, SITE DIRECTOR and HEAD WRITER
Laurie Novick, Director and Head Writer of Deracheha, has taught at Nishmat and worked as a Yoetzet Halacha since Fall 5763. Laurie is also a Yoetzet Halacha Fertility Counsellor, a member of a pilot cohort of Yoatzot Halacha who have received advanced training in fertility issues and Halacha. She has degrees in Bible, Jewish Education, and Talmud and has also done graduate work in Counseling.
Ilana Elzufon is a graduate of Yale University and was among the first Yoatzot Halacha. She spent several years in Toronto, where she was a popular teacher and lecturer. She has taught at Nishmat and other midrashot and is the editor of Nishmat’s English Yoatzot Halacha websites. Ilana and her family live in Jerusalem.
Shayna Goldberg (née Lerner) teaches Halacha to Israeli and American post-high school students and serves as mashgicha ruchanit in Migdal Oz. She is a Nishmat Yoetzet Halacha, a frequent blogger for Times of Israel and the author of What Do You Really Want? Trust and Fear in Decision Making at Life’s Crossroads and in Everyday Living (Maggid, 2021). Prior to making aliya in 2011, she worked as a Yoetzet Halacha for several New Jersey synagogues and taught Halacha at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls. She lives in Alon Shevut, Israel, with her husband, Judah, and their five children.
Rachel Weber Leshaw is the Director of Digital Content at Deracheha and a Gemara Ram at Midreshet Lindenbaum. She is a graduate of Nishmat’s Keren Ariel yoetzet halacha training program, as well as Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies. She has taught Torah throughout the US and Israel, and online through WebYeshiva. She lives in Efrat with her husband and three children.
Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah’s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org.
Debbie Zimmerman, STAFF WRITER
Debbie Zimmerman graduated from the first cohort of Hilkhata – Matan’s Advanced Halakhic Institute and writes for Matan’s Shayla. She is a multi-disciplinary Jewish educator, with over a decade of experience in adolescent and adult education. After completing a BA in Social Work, Debbie studied Tanach in the Master’s Program for Bible in Matan and Talmud in Beit Morasha.
Susan Suna, DEVELOPER AND SITE MANAGER
Susan Suna of David’s Consultants (R.G.A) has over 20 years of experience in web design and development for small to large organizations. Susan created this site in WordPress, including custom coding and xml. She starts her day with Daf Yomi, studies in the Advanced Halacha Program at Migdal Oz, and truly believes in the importance of Deracheha.
Thank you to everyone whose insights or support have helped bring this project to fruition.
Special thanks to Colin Mackenzie of Mackenzie Solutions and Adena Fraser for XML consulting.
Leadership
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Rav Baruch Gigi, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion POSEK
Rav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion POSEK
Rav Yaakov Medan, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion POSEK
The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
Rav Ezra Bick, Ram Yeshivat Har Etzion, VBM Director HALACHA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Rav Reuven Ziegler, VBM Editor-In-Chief SERIES EDITOR
The Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women – Migdal Oz
Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg, Rosh Beit Midrash Migdal Oz ADVISOR
Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg established the Migdal Oz Beit Midrash for Women in 1997 and has served as the Rosh Beit Midrash since its establishment. Prior to Migdal Oz, she served as Rosh Beit Midrash of the Midreshet Lindenbaum Israeli Program. She holds a B.A. from Hebrew University in Hebrew Literature, and is a graduate of Michlalah Jerusalem in Tanach Studies. She is an active member on the board of Bnei Akiva, a mother of seven, and lives in Alon Shvut.
Supporters
Deracheha is supported by a grant from the Arev Fund.
FOUNDERS
Anonymous
The Adlerstein Family
Drs. Isaac and Etta Novick, in memory of Maria Siegelstein and Miriam Novick
Lynn Sykes, in memory of Gene Sykes
The Silverman Family, in memory of Mrs Anita Hirsch Silverman ob”m
PILLARS
Anonymous
Daniel Adlerstein
David Adlerstein
Elise Peter-Apelbaum, in memory of Tserl bat Menachem veFradel
Lee Berlman
Betzalel Ganot
Shayna and Judah Goldberg
Karen Kadish
Stacy and Eli Lansey
Rachel and David Leshaw
Ilana Vichness, in memory of Yehuda & Zehava Boudrehem
Elka and Eli Weber
BUILDERS
Anonymous
Lucie Chaix
Atara and Rafi Eis
Sonya M. Davis
Micki Lavin-Pell
Devora Pister
Albert and Batsheva Ruback In Honor of our dear friend Laurie Novick
James Schwartz
Tikva Shore, in honor of Rachel Weber Leshaw
Nancy Weissman
CHARTER SUBSCRIBERS
Anonymous
Sarina Aarenau
Rachel Abrahams
Ilana Bauman
Adam Breiterman
Zahava Bogner
Esther Caroline
Leah Caroline
Regina Comins
Joanne Doades
Shoshana Drimer
Daniel Ehrenreich
Ilana Elzufon
Amira Felsenthal
Tammi Forman
Sarah and Haim Garfinkel
Linda Gradstein
Claudia Graff
Debby Graneviz
Barbara Greenberg
Sarah and Noam Greenberg
Frank Gruno
Kenneth Kleinerman
Jessica Kupferberg
Ruth Kutnicki
Zoe Lang
Sandra Leshaw
Dina Mann
Harriet Mark
Sylvia Orenstein
Chani Rabinowitz
Rachel Schwarz
Barbara Shaw
Shira and Avi Shmidman
Yael and Eric Sunshine
Lior Toledano
Renee Wallace
Miriam Weed
Support Deracheha
Help Deracheha make a difference!
Our ability to maintain and develop this site depends on you!
Please support us by making a donation.
For tax-deductible donations in the United States, click here.
For tax-deductible donations in Israel, click here.
Laurie Novick, SITE DIRECTOR and HEAD WRITER
Ilana Elzufon, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Shayna Goldberg, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Rachel Weber Leshaw, DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT