Benay Lappe

Benay Lappe
Born (1960-04-13) April 13, 1960 (age 64)
Alma materUniversity of Illinois (B.A., M.A.)
University of Judaism (M.A.)
Jewish Theological Seminary of America (M.A.)

Benay Lappe (Hebrew: בִּנֵיי לַפֶּה/בנאי לאפה) is a rabbi and a teacher of Talmud in the United States. In 2016, Lappe was awarded the Covenant Award for innovation in Jewish education by the Covenant Foundation.[1][2]

Biography

Lappe was born on April 13, 1960, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. She earned a BA in Italian literature and a MA in education from the University of Illinois, an MA in Hebrew letters from the University of Judaism, and an MA in rabbinic literature, as well as a semicha (rabbinic ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.[3][4]

Lappe is a professor at the University of Illinois, Temple University, American Jewish University, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and the Graduate Theological Union's Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley.[5] She is professor of Talmud at the Hebrew Seminary in Skokie, Illinois, and serves as the President and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA (Hebrew:סְבָרָא), a yeshiva she founded in Chicago in 2003.[6][7][8] SVARA emphasizes radical empathy and innovation within Talmudic study and aims to empower learners to actively engage with and contribute to Jewish tradition.[9]

Lappe was recognized on The Forward 50 2020 "list of American Jews who did remarkable things in this remarkable year".[10]

References

  1. ^ "Three Jewish Educators, Leaders of Innovation and Impact in the Field, Receive the 2016 Covenant Award". The Covenant Foundation. June 6, 2016.
  2. ^ Benay, Lappe. Encyclopedia of Great Women. Joshua Chechik and Mossad ha-Rav Kook. pp. 1043–1046.
  3. ^ Blackmer, C. E. (2001). Commonsensical Sanity. The Lesbian Review of Books, 8(1), 16.
  4. ^ Brettschneider, M. (2019). Jewish lesbians: New work in the field. Journal of lesbian studies, 23(1), 2-20.
  5. ^ "Rabbi Benay". ELI TALKS. May 20, 2014. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "Fellows". The Institute for the Next Jewish Future. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  7. ^ Cooke, R. M. (2018). Torah Lishma: A Comparative Study of Educational Vision at Coed Yeshivot (Doctoral dissertation, Brandeis University).
  8. ^ Dolsten, Josefin (April 23, 2019). "A Chicago Space for LGBTQ Jews Becomes a 'Queer Yeshiva for Everybody'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  9. ^ "Rabbi Benay Lappe and SVARA, Chicago's Traditionally Radical Yeshiva". Rabbinical Assembly. 2016.
  10. ^ Rudoren, Jodi (December 31, 2020). "Forward 50 2020: The people we (mostly) needed in the year we (definitely) didn't". The Forward.

Further reading

  • Derby, Arielle (Winter 2001). "Woman's History, Old and New". Lilith Magazine.
  • Lappe, Benay (Winter 2016–2017). "The Revolution Will Not Be Translated". Lilith Magazine.
  • Lappe, Benay (2001). "Saying No in the Name of a Higher Yes".Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation, pp. 197–216 (Rebecca Alpert et al. eds.).
  • Lappe, Benay (January/February 2003). "Educating Rabbis to be traditional radicals...once again".Shma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, 33, no. 597/598.
  • Lappe, Benay (December 28, 1990). "Does A Child Who Has Been Sexually Abused By A Parent Have The Obligation To Say Kaddish For That Parent?".Shma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, 21, no. 404.