Innovations in Ritual and Halakhah (Law) Around Jewish Divorce
Part of the series JTS Alumni in the World: Scholarship and Impact
With Rabbi Pamela Barmash, PhD (Rabbinical School ’90), Chair of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, The Rabbinical Assembly, and Professor of Hebrew Bible and Biblical Hebrew, Washington University, and Rabbi Karen Reiss Medwed, PhD (Rabbinical School ’95 and List College ’91), Member of the Joint Bet Din of the Conservative Movement and Senior Assistant Dean of Faculty Affairs and Network Engagement, Northeastern University College of Professional Studies
What are the essential components of an egalitarian marriage ceremony and divorce? How can we ensure that the Conservative/Masorti movement’s ways of Jewish marriage and divorce reflect our spiritual values and ethical ideals? Rabbi Pamela Barmash, PhD and Rabbi Karen Weiss Medwed, PhD discussed the progress that has been achieved in this area and the challenges that remain.
Rabbi Pamela Barmash, PhD, is the co-chair of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) of the Rabbinical Assembly and a member of the Joint Beit Din of the Conservative Movement. She is a professor of Hebrew Bible at Washington University in St. Louis. Her scholarly research is in the areas of law and justice and of history and memory. Rabbi Barmash authored the 2022 teshuvah (legal responsum) that presented an egalitarian method for divorce and was approved by the CJLS.
Rabbi Karen Reiss Medwed, PhD, is a member of the Joint Bet Din of the Conservative Movement, a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Executive Committee, and a member of the Rabbinical Assembly CJLS. She is Teaching Professor Emerita at Northeastern University. She is the only certified female-identifying mesadderet gittin (officiator of divorce) currently practicing in the Conservative movement.
About the Series
Our esteemed JTS alumni are making important contributions through their work as scholars and thought leaders in their fields. Join them this summer for nine outstanding learning sessions. Through their engagement with Jewish text, history, and thought, they are enhancing the spiritual and personal lives of individuals, building more inclusive communities, and preparing the leaders of tomorrow, ensuring a stronger Jewish future.
