Jewish Sages of Today

Judith Hauptman

It's as though the voices in the stories in the Talmud pulled me in. I could not have chosen any other job, because I am just addicted (to the study of Talmud).

Articles by Hauptman

  1. “Shedding New Light On Chanukah,” The Jewish Week, December 13, 2011

    Rabbi Judith Hauptman delves into the Talmudic text to explain the story of Chanukah and adds a new perspective that is extremely relevant to modern day Jewish life.

  2. “Teaching Talmud in Moscow,” The Jewish Week, July 27, 2010

    This is an account of a month Hauptman spent teaching Talmud in Moscow.

  3. “The View from 60,” The Jewish Week, December 29, 2009

    Hauptman’s personal account of aging while maintaining a youthful viewpoint. In this opinion piece, she discusses honoring one’s parents, respecting the elderly, and Jewish laws surrounding these concepts.

  4. “Free Services Are the Ticket to Continuity,” Forward, October 3, 2007

    In this opinion piece, Hauptman discusses the reasoning behind her founding Ohel Ayalah to offer free High Holiday services: “What sense does it make to create programs all year long to reach out to disaffected Jews, but then bar them from entering at High Holy Day time? It is precisely at this time that we should open our doors as wide as possible.”

  5. “The Tosefta as a Commentary on an Early Mishnah,” Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal 3 (2004)

    Hauptman presents her theory of the urMishanh, a forerunner of the Mishnah, solving the problem of the Tosefta’s dual character of being both a source of the Mishnah and a commentary on it. This concept is expanded in her book, Rereading the Mishnah: A New Approach to Ancient Jewish Texts.

  6. “Women and Prayer: An Attempt to Dispel Some Fallacies,” Judaism (Winter 1993)

    Hauptman “sets the record straight” regarding the obligation of women to pray daily.

Books by Hauptman

  1. Rereading the Mishnah: A New Approach to Ancient Jewish Text

    (Mohr Siebeck, 2005)

  2. Rereading The Rabbis: A Woman's Voice

    (Westview Press, 1998)
    Read the chapter on marriage from the book here (PDF)

  3. Development of the Talmudic Sugya: Relationship Between Tannaitic and Amoraic Sources

    (University Press of America, 1987)

Related to Hauptman's work

  1. Ohel Ayalah

    In 2004, Hauptman founded Ohel Ayalah, an organization that offers free walk-in High Holiday services and low-cost Passover seders to young Jewish adults. She leads the Manhattan services and seders and trains rabbis who lead services and seders at other Ohel Ayalah venues.

  2. Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)

    Hauptman is the E. Billi Ivry Professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at JTS, where she has taught since 1973. Read about her research and academic profile through here.

  3. Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Lower Manhattan

    Hauptman serves as volunteer chaplain for the Jewish residents at the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

  4. The Academy for Jewish Religion

    This is Hauptman’s alumni page from the Academy for Jewish Religion, where she was ordained as a rabbi in 2003.

Several commentaries written by Hauptman and more

  1. Parshat No-ah (Genesis 6:9-11:32), October 29, 2011

  2. Parshat Ki Tetzei (Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19), September 10, 2011

  3. Parshat Pinhas (Numbers 25:10-30:1), July 16, 2011

  4. Parshat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27), April 30, 2011

  5. Kol Ishah: The Rabbi is a Woman, a documentary by Hannah Heer (USA, 2010, 38 min)

    Hautpman is one of four women rabbis profiled in this documentary (the others are Laura Geller of Los Angeles, Elisa Klapheck of Frankfurt and Amsterdam, and Chava Koster of New York). The film provides rare insight into the workings of the rabbinical world and these rabbis’ communities.

  6. Ezrat Nashim

    Hauptman was an original member of Ezrat Nashim, a group of women who lobbied in the 1970s for egalitarianism in Jewish life.

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