JOFA: Full Schedule

Click here to register for the JOFA Conference!

Below is the current list of sessions scheduled at the JOFA Conference. Check back often for speaker updates, and for the full schedule.
The JOFA conference is being sponsored in part by the David Berg Foundation and many other private and corporate sponsors. A full list of sponsors will be available at the conference.

7:10am EST

Shacharit - Conventional Minyan

http://www.jofa.org/node/854

Sunday December 8, 2013 7:10am - 8:10am EST
Lincoln Square Synagogue 200 Amsterdam Avenue

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

8:10am EST

Shacharit-Partnership Minyan

The minyan will be composed of ten men and ten women.
A woman will lead P'sukei D'zimra and a man will lead Shacharit.

Sunday December 8, 2013 8:10am - 8:40am EST
L.61

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

8:10am EST

Shacharit-Women's Tefillah

This service is for women only. Women will lead all parts of the service. D'varim sh'bi'kdusha will be ommitted.

Sunday December 8, 2013 8:10am - 8:40am EST
L.76

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

10:35am EST

Leyn In: A Torah Reading Workshop

Sponsored by Erica and Robert Schwartz in memory of Nathalie Schacter Friedman and in honor of the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Gabby Schwartz.

What roles do the Ta'amim play in the Tanakh? How many kinds of trop (cantillation) are there? What does a Tikkun look like? How do we sing the trop? Learn about Torah reading and start singing Shma Yisrael the correct way! If you have always wanted to learn how to leyn but didn't know where to start, this is the workshop for you. Participants should be able to read and vocalize Hebrew text but no previous experience with trop is necessary.

Speakers

Bracha Jaffe

Student ('17), Yeshivat Maharat

Bracha Jaffe is in her final year at Yeshivat Maharat. She delights in learning with people of all ages, whether dressing in costume for Bat Mitzvah programs, leading discussion groups with empty nesters, facilitating 'Wise Aging' programs or simply teaching Torah and inspiring others... Read More →

Sunday December 8, 2013 10:35am - 11:30am EST
1.115

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer Workshop

11:45am EST

The Producers: Gabbai Training for Women and Men

Sponsored by Allie Alperovich and Dr. Jeremy Simon.

Are you interested in organizing a women’s tefillah service or a partnership minyan in your community? Learn what it takes to take on a more active role in the tefillah in your community. This interactive workshop will cover the basics--what is a gabbai, what does a gabbai do, what are the ritual and logistical responsibilities. Learn about a gabbai’s role in a women’s tefillah, partnership minyan, and megillah reading. No experience necessary. This workshop is open to women and men.

Speakers

Rachel Rosenthal

Rachel Rosenthal is a member of the faculty at the Drisha Institute and is a PhD Candidate in Rabbinic Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of the Drisha Scholars Circle and holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Rachel is... Read More →

Abigail Tambor

Abigail Tambor volunteered for JOFA for many years before joining the board, working on branding, Shabbat T'lamdeini, The JOFA Journal editorial committee and as co-chair of the 6th International Conference Program Committee in 2007. She currently serves on the boards of JOFA, Yeshivat... Read More →

Sunday December 8, 2013 11:45am - 12:40pm EST
1.100

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer Workshop

12:40pm EST

Trying to Start a Partnership Minyan in My Community

Sunday December 8, 2013 12:40pm - 2:00pm EST
Student Dining Room

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

12:40pm EST

We Have a Women's Tefillah/Megillah Reading, and We're Not Sure What's Next

Sunday December 8, 2013 12:40pm - 2:00pm EST
Student Dining Room

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

2:00pm EST

How is a Partnership Minyan Like Ikea Furniture? It's Do It Yourself But It’s Worth the Effort

Sponsored by Elena and Jay Lefkowitz

Creating a partnership minyan, and working to sustain it, can be daunting and time consuming, but, ultimately, tremendously gratifying. What does it take to start a minyan, and to ensure its continuity? What particular challenges are involved in fostering a minyan that is dedicated to traditional halakha and to creating a prayer space that belongs to both women and men? These questions will be addressed by our panel members, who have each been instrumental in founding a partnership minyan.

Moderators

Miriam Schacter

For the past 30 years, Ms. Schacter has been practicing psychoanalysis andpsychotherapy on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, seeing both individuals andcouples. At Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Ms. Schacter is a faculty member in the Department of Pastoral Counseling, is the Pastoral... Read More →

Speakers

Judy Abel

Judy Abel is a freelance writer based in Manhattan whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The New York Observer. She is a member of JOFA's executive board and serves as president of Yavneh, a partnership minyan on the Upper East Side, which she co-fou... Read More →

Evan Hochberg

Evan Hochberg was the founding chair of Minyan Tiferet of Englewood and Tenafly. Previously, he founded Minyan Shirat Miriam and co-founded and co-chaired Minyan Tehillah, both in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Evan is an attorney serving as Senior Restitution Policy Specialist at the... Read More →

Shari Kleiner

Shari Kleiner is a native New Yorker who has spent the last 13 years living in Brookline, Massachusetts. After leaving her job as an attorney at a large law firm for more focus on her personal and spiritual life, she helped found Minyan Kol Rinah, the partnership minyan in Brookline... Read More →

Sunday December 8, 2013 2:00pm - 2:55pm EST
1.105

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer Our Changing Communities

3:05pm EST

Mincha

Sunday December 8, 2013 3:05pm - 3:20pm EST
L.61

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

3:35pm EST

Kaddish, Women's Voices: Emotional and Personal Perspectives

Sponsored by friends from the Stamford, CT community.

Editors Michal Smart and Barbara Ashkenas discuss their groundbreaking new book, Kaddish, Women's Voices, sharing the reflections of 52 women from around the world. A panel discussion with contributing authors will be followed by Q and A and book signing. "This book will surely help make a practice that is just coming into its own become a fixed ritual for all time!"--Blu Greenberg

Moderators

Michal Smart

Michal Smart is the editor of Kaddish, Women’s Voices, a groundbreaking new book from Urim Publications. Michal serves as the Director of Judaic Studies at Bi-Cultural Day School in Stamford, CT. A Fulbright Scholar in Jewish Thought, Michal received her A.B. from Princeton University... Read More →

Speakers

Barbara Ashkenas

Barbara Ashkenas received her BA in early childhood education from the Ohio State University, and a Masters in Art Education from Manhattanville College. She has been professionally involved in the Arts for over thirty years. Earlier in her career, as a freelance calligrapher, she... Read More →

Shelley Cohen

Shelley Cohen, Founder and Director of the Jewish Inclusion Project, which develops and conducts Inclusion Training Programs for Rabbinic Students and is funded in part by a grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation. Shelley is a member of the Boards of Directors of RespectAbility... Read More →

Debbie Jonas

Sunday December 8, 2013 3:35pm - 4:40pm EST
1.115

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer

6:00pm EST

Ma'ariv

Sunday December 8, 2013 6:00pm - 6:30pm EST
L.61

Changing Our Relationship to Prayer