Women's Gallery: Showcasing Women in Jewish Leadership

Joanne Greenaway
  • 4.0 (1)
  • Judaism
  • Updated Biweekly

"I've seen the difference it makes when women's voices and talents are included at all levels," says Joanne Greenaway, CEO at the London School of Jewish Studies, who as well as being a communal leader and educator is also an international lawyer who spent 10 years developing expertise in resolving Jewish divorce cases individually and systemically. For this reason, Women's Gallery Podcast will spotlight incredible female leaders making a mark in the Jewish community. Interviewing a different woman leader in each episode, Women's Gallery will explore different models of leadership in the context of schools, shuls, universities, batei din and every place where we can find incredible female leaders, showcasing the women defining Jewish leadership today. This LSJS podcast is powered by the Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit www.lsjs.ac.uk to continue learning with Joanne Greenaway and other LSJS educators.

  1. 1d ago

    (49) Leading with Laughter: Rachel Creeger on Comedy, Courage, and Jewish Visibility

    For most Orthodox women, leadership does not begin with a microphone in a comedy club. But for award-winning comedian Rachel Creeger, humor has become a powerful way to represent Jewish life, challenge stereotypes, and create connection across communities. In this episode of Women's Gallery, Joanne Greenaway speaks with Rachel about forging a path where no roadmap existed, navigating life as an Orthodox woman in the performing arts, confronting antisemitism after October 7, and discovering that comedy can be a form of leadership. Rachel also reflects on being targeted and effectively canceled by venues because she is openly Jewish, and on her determination to respond not by retreating, but by speaking more boldly. Their conversation explores authenticity, resilience, public voice, and what happens when Jewish women refuse to be defined by other people's expectations.

    52 min

  2. Jun 2

    (48) Strengthening Women Who Sustain Communities, with Aliza Bulow

    What does it take to support the women who quietly sustain Jewish life? In this inspiring conversation, Joanne Greenaway speaks with Aliza Bulow, founder of Core, a global organization that equips and connects women who serve as spiritual guides, community builders, educators, rebbetzins, mentors, and caregivers. From a handful of participants to a worldwide network spanning more than 100 cities across six continents, Core has become a movement dedicated to strengthening the women who strengthen everyone else. Aliza shares her remarkable personal journey: from converting to Judaism as a teenager in Portland, Oregon, to studying in Israel, serving in the IDF, and ultimately creating an innovative model of leadership development rooted in connection, wisdom, and spiritual resilience. Along the way, she reflects on faith, loss, marriage, community responsibility, and why women's often-unseen leadership is indispensable to the future of Jewish life. Together, Joanne and Aliza explore what it means to be a community pillar, how leaders can avoid burnout, why women need stronger support networks, and how trust, hope, and faith are transmitted from one generation to the next. This is a conversation about leadership, purpose, and the extraordinary impact of women whose influence ripples far beyond what most people ever see. If you've ever wondered who supports the people everyone else turns to, this episode is for you. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    46 min

  3. May 19

    (47) Talmud for Everyone? Dr. Ayelet Hoffmann-Libson on Women, Learning, and Jewish Leadership

    On this episode of Women's Gallery, Dr. Ayelet Hoffmann-Libson joins Joanne Greenaway for a wide-ranging conversation about women, Talmud, academia, and the future of Jewish learning. A senior lecturer in Talmud at Bar-Ilan University and a leading public-facing Torah scholar, Dr. Hoffmann-Libson reflects on her journey from studying at Pelech and Midreshet Lindenbaum to teaching at Harvard, Penn, and Yale. Together, she and Joanne explore how women entering the world of advanced Torah study are reshaping both the Beit Midrash and academia, why Talmud should not remain the domain of an elite few, and how learning Torah can become a profound framework for thinking about human existence, authority, individuality, and religious life. The conversation also examines the tensions between traditional and academic approaches to Talmud, the challenge of imposter syndrome for women in leadership, and why Dr. Hoffmann-Libson believes the next generation of Jewish women will fundamentally transform religious communities. This is a thoughtful and deeply personal discussion about Torah, truth, intellectual courage, and what it means to make the Talmud accessible to everyone. What does an observant life look like for spiritually aspirational women? Join the Women and Mitzvot course at LSJS with Joanne Greenaway, Dr. Lindsay Simmonds, and Rabbanit Rachel Weber Leshaw by signing up here. For full information about Hadran's #SukkahChallenge starting June 1st, click here: https://bit.ly/42LdZzK To register for the masechet #SukkahChallenge, click here: https://bit.ly/4drIXli Read Law and Self-Knowledge in the Talmud by Dr. Ayelet Hoffmann-Libson. Order your copy today. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    47 min

  4. May 6

    (46) Holding their pain with Dr. Aimee Baron of I Was Supposed To Have A Baby

    What does it mean to hold pain that has no easy resolution? In this deeply moving conversation, Joanne Greenaway speaks with Dr. Aimee Baron about the quiet heartbreak of infertility, pregnancy loss, and unrealized expectations. Moving from working as a medical doctor to establishing an organisation in order to fill an important need in the global Jewish community, Dr. Baron brings both professional insight and profound personal experience to her work. Drawing on her own story and her work supporting others, Dr. Baron explores how individuals and communities can respond with greater sensitivity, awareness, and compassion. Together, they discuss the gap between medical care and emotional support, the unique challenges within Jewish communal life, and the power of simply being present for someone in pain. From the role of social media to the complexities of stigma and silence, this episode asks how we can better care for those whose lives have not unfolded as they had hoped. Honest, thoughtful, and profoundly human, this is a conversation about listening, understanding, and learning how to hold space when words are not enough. Visit iwassupposedtohaveababy.org and listen to Dr. Baron's podcast, Taking Away the Taboo. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    53 min

  5. Apr 21

    (45) Hormonal Health the Jewish Way with Jacqueline Rose

    This week Joanne meets Jacqueline Rose, an award-winning integrative menopause educator, coach and hormonal health specialist based in Israel. A mother of five with a background in environmental science and yoga, Jacqueline has built a second career helping women understand the full hormonal arc of their lives, with a particular focus on perimenopause, menopause and the too-rarely-discussed post-menopause. Her approach draws on functional medicine, yoga, and a deeply Jewish lens on what it means to thrive at every life stage. They cover an enormous amount of ground: why HRT alone is never the whole answer, the five pillars Jacqueline uses to restore hormonal balance (stress, nutrition, sleep, movement and connection), and why "being symptomatic is not a prerequisite for being a menopausal woman." Jacqueline introduces a fourth, often invisible category of symptoms: spiritual ones. The identity shifts, the changing relationship to giving, to self, that so many women experience but have no language for. They also discuss what Jewish women specifically need to hear about their hormonal life cycle, the silence around post-menopause, and the quietly radical idea that menopause is not a decline but a bridge to a woman's most purposeful stage. It's a wide-ranging, practically grounded and genuinely moving conversation about reclaiming the language of women's health from the inside out. Find Jacqueline's podcast Things I Want My Daughters to Know at https://open.spotify.com/show/6mNNjO9khVStgtwkBqhxDw?si=586aa327e9e14c59. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    43 min

  6. Apr 6

    (44) Unifying a fractured nation by regrowing the land, with Danielle Abraham

    This week Joanne meets Danielle Abraham: Oxford-educated, Woodford-raised, and now one of the most driven women rebuilding Israel from the ground up. As founder and CEO of Regrow Israel, Danielle mobilised emergency support for farming communities devastated in the Western Negev and northern Israel in the wake of October 7th, raising over $30 million and supporting more than 110 farms. She is also co-founder of Volcani International Partnerships, an Israeli NGO tackling global food and nutrition insecurity through Israel's world-leading agricultural expertise. In this conversation, Danielle unpacks the systematic, premeditated agricultural terrorism of October 7th, in which 40 irrigation control boxes were targeted and destroyed on a single kibbutz alone. She explains why rebuilding the farms was the only possible foundation for rebuilding the communities, and why agriculture sits at the very heart of Israel's identity. Together they move from the pioneering spirit of Ben Gurion's Israel to today's border farmers, from tikkun olam and Israel's global agricultural leadership to whether the land can be a unifying force for a fractured nation. A conversation brimming with hard-won hope and a powerful case for a part of Israel's story that is still largely untold. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    43 min

  7. Mar 24

    (43) Teaching Israel with Courage and Complexity, with Sarah Gordon, VP of Unpacked for Educators

    This LSJS podcast is powered by the Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous sponsor. Visit www.lsjs.ac.uk/learning to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you. Talk to us at womensgallery@lsjs.ac.uk and tell us who you'd like to hear interviewed. Joanne Greenaway sits down with Sarah Gordon, Vice President of Unpacked for Educators, to explore one of the most urgent challenges facing Jewish education today: how to teach Israel in a time of war, polarization, and digital misinformation. Drawing on years in the classroom and her current work supporting thousands of educators worldwide, Sarah explains why traditional advocacy models are no longer enough, and why today's students need not just connection, but literacy and the courage to engage complexity. Together they discuss how Israel education has evolved, the impact of social media on young Jews, and the delicate balance teachers must strike between nurturing love for Israel and encouraging honest questions. They also explore practical strategies: teaching students how to navigate difficult conversations, helping schools define their values, and building resilience so that young people leave school not just with passion but with understanding. The conversation touches on the emotional realities of teaching Israel during wartime, the power of culture and personal relationships in building connection, and what Jewish educators can learn from the Passover Seder about curiosity, storytelling, and shared journey. This is a thoughtful and hopeful conversation about what it means to educate the next generation of Jewish leaders in complicated times. This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit us at lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    52 min

  8. Mar 10

    (42) Writing prayers for our times with Rachel Sharansky Danziger

    What can I do to hold a fractured people together in a time of grief, disagreement, and uncertainty? Joanne Greenaway speaks with Jerusalem-based writer and educator Rachel Sharansky Danziger, exploring through her works how prayer, storytelling and leadership can create space for understanding and collaboration even amid deep disagreement. Rachel's upbringing as the daughter of former Soviet refusenik and Israeli activist leader Natan Sharansky and Avital Sharansky shaped her belief that individual voices can make a difference. Rachel reflects on the emotional complexity of Israeli society since October 7 and discusses prayer as a language of hope that allows people with opposing views to stand together in yearning. She reflects on what's unique in women's leadership and how that is needed today. Rachel's central conviction shines throughout the conversation: even in moments of profound uncertainty, one person can effect change. Az Nashir by Rachel Sharansky Danziger and Anne Gordon can be purchased from: Amazon US at https://www.amazon.com/Az-Nashir-Will-Sing-Again/dp/B0DHHDL99J/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MQ70EJVHTUAZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ait7AEINcIWDqfQahZEJEXWPp4sy_7cbSbvw8yGEZXfGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.Kq7JKxbhQVm-ZKNq_VrLIzAH07N2aE0hUkzfg8l5Ltw&dib_tag=se&keywords=az+nashir&qid=1773674024&sprefix=az+nashir%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-1 Amazon UK at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Az-Nashir-Will-Sing-Again/dp/B0DHHDL99J/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RLIBTL9M2ZAJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rs3g2GbI2m_pwC6u9LZXFzvLrVcd2s-BNaV6v40I0UvGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.PUZySc6nLM2S7Bu3PInwBfuFMp18C-bDBopCsxph_is&dib_tag=se&keywords=az+nashir&qid=1773674097&sprefix=az+nash%2Caps%2C262&sr=8-1  This LSJS podcast is powered by The Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit us at lsjs.ac.uk/learning if you're looking to explore and strengthen your Jewish identity.

    57 min
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"I've seen the difference it makes when women's voices and talents are included at all levels," says Joanne Greenaway, CEO at the London School of Jewish Studies, who as well as being a communal leader and educator is also an international lawyer who spent 10 years developing expertise in resolving Jewish divorce cases individually and systemically. For this reason, Women's Gallery Podcast will spotlight incredible female leaders making a mark in the Jewish community. Interviewing a different woman leader in each episode, Women's Gallery will explore different models of leadership in the context of schools, shuls, universities, batei din and every place where we can find incredible female leaders, showcasing the women defining Jewish leadership today. This LSJS podcast is powered by the Walder Foundation and a generous anonymous donor. Visit www.lsjs.ac.uk to continue learning with Joanne Greenaway and other LSJS educators.

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