Debra Reed Blank, Jewish Theological Seminary, Professor of Liturgy.
HBI Scholar-in-Residence: September-December 2009.
Debra Reed Blank is the Rabbi Philip R. Alstat Assistant Professor of Jewish Liturgy at The Jewish Theological Seminary where she teaches a variety of courses related to the topic of liturgy. Her portfolio includes classes on the liturgy of the High Holy Days and Shabbat, as well as the Passover Haggadah and Weekday Siddur. She also lectures widely and conducts adult education classes on the topic of liturgy. Debra graduated from Indiana University and earned her master's degree, rabbinical ordination, and a doctorate in Liturgy and Rabbinics at JTS. She was a member of the first class of women to enter the Rabbinical School at JTS in 1984. She also has a master's degree in Library Science from Columbia University and has worked as a Judaica librarian.
Debra has a long-standing interest in the role of ritual in Judaism. While in residence, she will devote her time to a systematic analysis of the ritual of /Simhat Bat/ for an upcoming book on the subject. The book's underlying theoretical considerations will be whether self-consciously crafted women's ritual (such as Simhat Bat) differs from men's ritual (e.g., the circumcision ceremony) and whether there are any implications for the general study of emergent ritual.
Renana Leviani,Novelist
HBI Scholar-in-Residence: September-December, 2009.
Renana Leviani is a student in the Department of Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University in the Doctoral Fellowship of Excellence program where she is working on her dissertation. Using a feminist perspective, Renana is examining the moral status of prostitution—particularly claims that would allow the practice on the basis of women's autonomy. Renana received her Masters in Educational Administration and Leadership from Tel Aviv University. An advocate for human rights, Renana produces, edits and hosts a radio program devoted to the topic for Kol HaShalom station in Jerusalem.
The HBI is thrilled to welcome Renana as our first Fulbright-HBI Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship scholar.
Tova Mirvis, Novelist
HBI Scholar-in-Residence: September-December, 2009.
The novelist Tova Mirvis received her MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University's School of the Arts. Delving into the confrontation between the obligations and limits of traditional, religious life and living in the modern world, Tova's first two novels, The Ladies Auxiliary and The Outside World, received glowing reviews and have been translated into many languages. Her upcoming third novel, Inside Voices, explores the contemporary landscape of motherhood and looks at the impact of social expectation on female identity. Tova's fiction has also been included in many anthologies an d publications including Who We Are: On Being and Not Being a Jewish American Writer, Longing: Psychoanalytical Musings on Desire, and The Modern Jewish Girls Guide to Guilt. She has written reviews and essays for publications such as The New York Times Book Review, The Forward and Poets and Writers. While in residence at the HBI, Tova will begin work on her next novel.
Past Scholars-in-Residence
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