The Hadassah-Brandeis InstituteFresh ways of thinking about Jews and gender worldwide  
From exploring Jewish women's writing and hearing first-hand from prominent authors through HBI Conversations, our National Book and Author Program to advancing gender equality by working through conflicts between women's rights and religious law, we invite you to explore our website and experience the impact of the HBI.


Jewish women artists, scholars, writers, and communal professionals across the world are supported and transformed through the work of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.



Markowicz Memorial Lecture 2011/2012

Pnina Lahav - The Woes of WOW:
The Women of the Wall as a Metaphor for Israel-Diaspora Relations




This video was created through the generous support of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA)

For more information, visit the Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and Law (GCRL) page.



Upcoming Events

HBI Artist-in Residence Announced - Spring 2012

Sarah Zell Young: Occupy Sanhedrin



Date: Thursday, March 29th - Friday, May 18th, 2012
Time: Gallery is open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Location: Kniznick Gallery, WSRC, Epstein Building, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA (click here for map)

The HBI welcomes the fourth annual Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) Artist-in-Residence, Sarah Zell Young. Her exhibition for the WSRC/HBI, Occupy Sanhedrin, will examine roles—both religious and secular—for Jewish women from the Second Temple to the present and will explore how bodies can become hazarded in the pursuit of justice. In addition to photographs, the exhibition will feature a large, site-specific installation—an interactive and participatory rendition of a Sanhedrin (rabbinic court). By granting access to an historical space of justice—making it physical—Young invites viewers to engage with traditional ideas and received wisdom of judicatory in a new way and to achieve personal agency over their own relationship to history. Sarah Young received her BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and is studying toward her MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College, New York.

Artist’s Slide Talk:Tues., March 13, 3 p.m.

Opening Reception:Thurs., March 29, 5-7:30 p.m.

Symposium on Judaism, Justice, and the Body:Date and time TBA

All events will take place at the HBI and are free and open to the public.

For more information on the Artist-in-Residence program, click here.

2011 Research Award Recipients Announced!

Click here for a downloadable PDF of the 2011 recipients and their projects.

Each year, the HBI gives out between 20 and 30 Research Award grants to support academic and artistic projects about Jews and gender. Scholars, activists, writers and artists who are pursuing research on questions of significance to the field of Jewish women's studies may apply.

For more information on the HBI Research Awards, click here.

Upcoming Deadlines

HBI Scholars-in-Residence, Fall 2012 and Summer 2013

Application deadline: Thursday, February 2, 2012

Scholars are invited to apply for residency at the HBI to carry out significant research and artistic projects in the field of Jewish women’s and gender studies.  Papers written while at the HBI are included in the Donna Sudarsky Memorial Working Paper Series.

Residencies range from one month to the full academic semester.

Click here for the Fall 2012 Scholar-in-Residence Application Guidelines

Click here for the Summer 2013 Scholar-in-Residence-Guidelines

HBI Seminar Series - Gender Culture, Religion and the Law
Spring Semester 2013

Application deadline: Wednesday, March 15, 2012

Up to three scholars will be chosen to be in residence while carrying out research projects related to the area of gender, culture, religion and the law. Scholars working on exploring conflicts between women's claims to gender equality and legal norms justified in terms of religious and cultural traditions, and those examining the status of women under religious law, either within a single tradition, or using cross-cultural or interdisciplinary approaches are invited to apply.

Senior and junior scholars, and activists, in the fields of law, social science, and religious studies are eligible for this semester long residency.

Click here for the HBI Seminar Series Guidelines.


Check out the current issue of 614 the HBI E-Zine!




Is Marriage Becoming Obsolete?
I was not surprised when I read in Kate Bolick's The Atlantic magazine cover story, "What, Me Marry?" that a smaller proportion of American women in their early 30s are married than at any other point since the 1950s, if not earlier. I recently created a feature-length documentary about single women in their 30s and knew this to be the case. However, I was surprised to read that a whopping 44 percent of Millennials and 43 percent of Gen Xers think marriage is becoming obsolete (Pew Research Center). That got us wondering here at 614: what does this mean for Jewish women? We decided to find out.
Read on.




Established at Brandeis University in 1997 with major funding from Hadassah, our work
is further made possible through the generous support of individuals and foundations.
Your contributions make it possible for HBI to continue our innovative programs impacting
scholars, artists, and the community.


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