Victorianist, literary theorist, feminist scholar, proud daughter of Holocaust survivors… all of these describe, but fail to capture, Lori Hope Lefkovitz, Ph.D. She arrived at RRC in 1996, as the impact of feminism on Jewish scholarship was asserting itself. David Teutsch, Ph.D., then president of the college, wanted RRC to create a center dedicated to women’s and gender studies in a Jewish context. Lefkovitz—on leave from the department of English at Kenyon College—accepted the challenge.
Ultimately, Lefkovitz became the founding director of Kolot: the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies based at RRC, as well as the Sadie Gottesman and Arlene Gottesman Reff Professor of Gender and Judaism. Courses she has taught include A Feminst Approach to the Bible; Writing for the Rabbinate; Bible and the Feminist Imagination; and Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature. In 2003, Lefkovitz taught the Literature of American Jewish Feminism as a senior Fulbright Professor at the Hebrew University.
Lefkovitz believes that the discipline of gender studies belongs at RRC because it embraces Judaism in all its dimensions and teaches people to be spiritual leaders “for our own time.” “RRC is ahead of the pack with both an academic and an activist mission in this area,” says Lefkovitz. “The pleasure of doing this at a rabbinical school is that I am seriously engaging with Judaism and influencing people who will take that work out into the world through Hillels, congregations, schools and many other areas of Jewish life.”
As Kolot blossomed, Lefkovitz noticed that she received many phone calls asking for resources for baby naming celebrations for girls, life cycle ceremonies for miscarriage or menopause, and a host of other “missing” liturgy for women. Her peers at Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project and other Jewish feminist organizations received similar requests. In 2000, Kolot joined forces with Ma’yan to create Ritualwell.org, for which Lefkovitz serves as executive editor. From the modest idea of a Web-based library, Ritualwell has grown into the most frequently cited feminist resource for contemporary Jewish ceremonies.
Lefkovitz continues to be a prolific writer, lecturer, teacher and organizer. In 1998 she co-chaired a groundbreaking conference on “Food, Body Image and Judaism.” Now, she envisions a conference on the subject of the Jewish father. She also plans to develop programs that will bring new meaning to Ta’anit Esther (the traditional Fast of Esther before Purim). Lefkovitz wants Ta’anit Esther to become a catalyst drawing attention to women’s heroism and the plight of oppressed women around the world. She is currently writing a book entitled In Scriptures: Hebrew Bible and the Making of Jewish and Sexual Identities (Rowman and Littlefield Press).
|
