Rabbi Dvora Weisberg, Ph.D.
Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics; HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director
Contact Information
school/program: Rabbinical School (US)
academic field: Rabbinics and Liturgy
campus: Los Angeles, National
Rabbi Dvora Weisberg is the Rabbi Aaron Panken Professor of Rabbinics and the Director of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Rabbi Weisberg was raised in San Francisco. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Brandeis University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Her undergraduate thesis, for which she was awarded highest honors in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, was entitled “Can the Demands of Jewish Feminists Be Met Within the Halakhic System?” She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Talmud and Rabbinic Literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was ordained at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. Before coming to HUC-JIR, Rabbi Weisberg taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Rabbi Weisberg is the author of Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism (2008), a study of the ancient rabbis’ vision of the family and its members, and Tractate Menahot: A Feminist Commentary (2020). Her book on levirate marriage and the family was a finalist for the 2009 National Jewish Book Awards in the category of Women’s Studies.
Rabbi Weisberg is married to Rabbi Neal Scheindlin and is the mother of Micah (& Elana) and Noah Scheindlin, and the savta of Orli Maya Scheindlin.
Rabbinic Judaism and Rabbinic Literature
The Origins and Aims of Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Visions of “The Good Life”
Rabbinic Reflections on Good and Evil
Who is Rich? Understandings of Wealth in Rabbinic Judaism
Conversion, Covenant, and Community in Rabbinic Judaism
Creating Holiness: An Introduction to the Mishnah
Levirate Marriage in Judaism
The Value and Limits of Dispute in Rabbinic Tradition
Rabbinic Literature as a Resource for Reform Jews
Abraham as a Religious Seeker
Rabbinic “Heroes”
Hillel
Yohanan ben Zakkai
Beruriah
Rabbi Akiba
Biblical Characters as Rabbinic Jews
Why Study Talmud?
The Study of Torah as a Jewish (Pre-)Occupation
Kedushah and Kehillah: Community and Holiness in the Talmud
What Does the Talmud Say About? (Astrology OR Dreams OR The Soul)
The Evolution of Jewish Law
Abortion
Capital Punishment
Children and Parents
Procreation
Social Justice and Rabbinic Judaism
Tzedek and Tzedakah in Rabbinic Tradition
The Origins of Tikkun Olam
Women and the Study of Torah
Mikveh and the Modern Woman
The Status of Women in Jewish Tradition
Images of Women in the Talmud
Women’s Prayers in the Midrash
Desirable But Dangerous: Rabbis’ Daughters in the Talmud
Gender Fluidity, Transitioning, and Judaism
Imagining God, Imagining Ourselves: God-Language as a Reflection of Values
Do We Speak a Common Language? Rethinking Jewish-Christian Dialogue
Rabbinic Reflections on Good and Evil
The Development of Prayer in Judaism
Reform Judaism and the Liturgy
Hannah as a Model of “Proper” Praying
Audacious Prayer: Prayer as a Challenge to God
Talmudic Aramaic
Talmud 1 & 2
Reform Responsa
Prayer and Pray-er in Rabbinic Literature
Learning and teaching Talmud
Ph.D. in Talmud and Rabbinics, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Dissertation: “Tradition and Transformation: The Appropriation of Festival Law in Bavli Betsa.”
M.A. in Talmud and Rabbinics, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
B.A. summa cum laude and highest honors in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University; Phi Beta Kappa
Senior Thesis: “Can the Demands of Jewish Feminists be Met Within the Halakhic System?”