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NamePronounsUniversity affiliationEmail/other contact informationWhere are you located (2022-2023)Where will you be located next year (2023-2024)Title of talkSummary of talkDo you want to give a shabbat talk or be a scholar-in-residence? Do you want to speak during the week? Are you available during Repro Shabbat (February 17-18, 2023)Will you speak virtually? Will you visit in person? Link to video of you teachingLinks to related publications (academic books or popular publications)
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Rachel Kransonshe/herUniversity of PittsburghKranson@pitt.eduPittsburgh"Jews, Abortion, and the First Amendment"Offers a history of how American Jews have harnessed the first amendment's guarantees of religious freedom in their attempts to secure abortion accessMaybeYesMaybeYesYes
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Rachel Kransonshe/herUniversity of Pittsburghkranson@pitt.eduPittsburghResisting the Holocaust/Abortion ComparisonThis talk offers the history of a common tendency within the anti-abortion movement to compare legal abortion to the Holocaust, and it offers a history of Jewish leaders who have forcefully resisted that rhetoricMaybeYesMaybeYesYes
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Rachel Kransonshe/herUniversity of PittsburghKranson@pitt.eduPittsburghThe Women's League for Conservative Judaism and the Politics of Abortion"This talk relates how the Women's League for Conservative Judaism -- the first group within the Conservative movement to release a statement in support of abortion rights -- negotiated their commitments as a women's organization and a religious organizations in the years before the Rabbinical Assembly officially came out in favor of abortion accessMaybeYesMaybeYesYes
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Rachel KransonShe/herUniversity of PittsburghKranson@pitt.eduPittsburghAmerican Jews and the Religious Freedom Restoration ActWhat role did liberal, pro-choice American Jewish lawyers play in unwittingly promoting a law that -- in the end -- led to the curtailment of reproduction freedom? MaybeYesMaybeYesYes
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Sarah Zagershe/herKatz Center, University of Pennsylvaniasarah.zager@yale.eduPhiladelphiaA Counterweight to a Counterweight: Infertility in Jewish ThoughtWhen we think about infertility and Jewish texts, we often turn to biblical narratives of women who are described as "barren" and then who are miraculously given children. This narrative doesn't match the experience of many contemporary people who experience infertility, who often have much more winding and uncertain paths. In this talk, I explore how both modern and rabbinic Jewish texts can help theorize this more complex and uncertain experience, and how thinking about these experiences can enrich our understandings of care, obligation, and family. MaybeYesMaybeYesYesCaring for Others, the Torah, and Ourselves: Jewish Perspectives on the Ethics of Care, Part 1https://www.peeters-leuven.be/pdf/9789042946552.pdf
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/778194
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Gwynn KesslerShe/theySwarthmore CollegeKessler@swarthmore.eduSwarthmoreConceiving Israel: Rabbinic Fetuses and Jewish IdentityThis talk focuses on rabbinic sources that use the fetus in their mother’s womb to articulate central aspects of rabbinic Jewish identity. I discuss midrashic sources about embryology and fetal development and their implications for rabbinic ideas about the relationship between God and Israel. YesYesYesMaybeYeshttps://www.pennpress.org/9780812241754/conceiving-israel/
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Gwynn Kessler She/theySwarthmore CollegeKessler@swarthmore.eduSwarthmoreBeyond Abortion: Questions of Fetal Agency and Impact in Rabbinic SourcesThis talk urges us beyond asking rabbinic sources what they say about “pro-life” or “pro-choice” stances on abortion to consider how rabbinic sources engage with questions about fetal agency and impact as well as fetal viability or non-viability. We discuss the difficulties in asking of our sources questions they did not ask and try to gain better understanding of the questions they did ask about fetal existence and fetal worth.YesYesYesMaybeYeshttps://www.pennpress.org/9780812241754/conceiving-israel/
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Sara Ronisshe/herSt. Mary's University, San Antonio, TXsronis@stmarytx.edu BostonSan AntonioFetal Positions: The Talmud’s Shifting FetusModern religious communities, organizers, and courts often debate the question: Is the fetus a person? In this talk, we’ll explore how the rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud think about the different kinds of person that a fetus might be – in different legal and ritual contexts. Using the Talmud as our starting point, we’ll complicate the idea that we can offer a single answer to the question of fetal personhood, and add nuance to the ways that Jews thought and continue to think about who and what the fetus is. YesYesYesDuring the week, yes. On shabbat, no. Happy to do as many virtual things as folks want not on shabbat.Yeswww.youtube.com/watch?v=IGoD8aG1D7shttps://www.myjewishlearning.com/author/sara-ronis/ and you can hear me on podcasts at my website, sararonis.com
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Sara Ronisshe/herSt. Mary's University, San Antonio, TXsronis@stmarytx.edu BostonSan AntonioThe Fetus Between Law and StoryClassical Jewish texts contain both laws that relate to the fetus, and stories in which fetuses play a starring role (yes, actually!). In this talk, we'll look at some of these texts to explore the ways that different genres depict the fetus, and ask what these different depictions can teach us about the fetus, both in the ancient world and in our own. YesYesYesDuring the week, yes. On shabbat, no. Happy to do as many virtual things as folks want not on shabbat.Yeswww.youtube.com/watch?v=IGoD8aG1D7shttps://www.myjewishlearning.com/author/sara-ronis/ and you can hear me on podcasts at my website, sararonis.com
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Sara Ronisshe/herSt. Mary's University, San Antonio, TXsronis@stmarytx.edu BostonSan AntonioThe Thigh of Its Mother? Biology, Species, and the Fetus Discussions about Jewish approaches to abortion often invoke the idea that "the fetus is the thigh of its mother." In this talk, we'll look at the earliest appearances of this idea, and ask - what did it in mean in its original context? We'll explore what the rabbis thought the fetus actually was, and how it related (or didn't) to the pregnant person, and trace how the idea of the fetus as the thigh of its mother was intepreted and adapted in different Jewish times and places. YesYesYesDuring the week, yes. On shabbat, no. Happy to do as many virtual things as folks want not on shabbat.Yeswww.youtube.com/watch?v=IGoD8aG1D7shttps://www.myjewishlearning.com/author/sara-ronis/ and you can hear me on podcasts at my website, sararonis.com
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Sara Ronisshe/herSt. Mary's University, San Antonio, TXsronis@stmarytx.edu BostonSan AntonioBetween Jews and non-Jews: the Case of AbortionAs we see in current court cases, the religious right to have an abortion is often understood as a key differentiatior between religious groups. But this is not a new idea. In this talk, we'll look at how the rabbis of the ancient world also used the religious right to an abortion as a way to think through what makes Jews and non-Jews different, and explore how different approaches to reproductive justice take account of, or ignore, religious difference. YesYesYesDuring the week, yes. On shabbat, no. Happy to do as many virtual things as folks want not on shabbat.Yeswww.youtube.com/watch?v=IGoD8aG1D7shttps://www.myjewishlearning.com/author/sara-ronis/ and you can hear me on podcasts at my website, sararonis.com
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Samira Mehtashe/herUniversity of Colorado Bouldersamira.mehta@colorado.eduDenverDenver Contraception, Culture Wars, and Jewish Continuity
Jews were early advocates for contraception in the United States--as clergy, as doctors, and as activists. Their arguments were based in religious freedom, Jewish law, and at times, a desire to make Judaism seem both modern and American. That said, Jewish support for contraception had limits, or at least raised concerns for some American Jews (both clergy and scholars) when women started using contraception to advance their education and careers. Could contraception hurt Jewish continuity? This talk explores Jewish support for contraception over the 20th and 21st centuries, but also delves into moments of backlash against rising feminism in the Jewish community.		YesYesYesYesYes, provided that we can schedule it.“Anti-abortion laws are an attack on religious freedom” with Tisa J. Wenger. 360info.org.
https://360info.org/anti-abortion-laws-are-an-attack-on-religious-freedom/

“The Supreme Court’s abortion decision is based on a myth. Here’s why,” with Lauren MacIvor Thompson. The Washington Post. June 24, 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/06/24/supreme-courts-abortion-decision-is-based-myth-heres-why/

“There is no one ‘religious view’ on abortion: A scholar of religion, gender and sexuality explains,” The Conversation, June 13, 2022.
https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-one-religious-view-on-abortion-a-scholar-of-religion-gender-and-sexuality-explains-184532
republished in “America’s religious communities are divided over the issue of abortion: 5 essential reads,” The Conversation, June 24, 2022
https://theconversation.com/americas-religious-communities-are-divided-over-the-issue-of-abortion-5-essential-reads-185755

“Protestants and the pill: How US Christians helped make birth control mainstream,” The Conversation, May 24, 2022.
https://theconversation.com/protestants-and-the-pill-how-us-christians-helped-make-birth-control-mainstream-179536
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Samira Mehtashe/herUniversity of Colorado Bouldersamira.mehta@colorado.eduDenverReligious Freedom and Reproductive RightsSince the fall of Roe, we have seen several challenges to abortion restrictions that are based in the concept of religious freedom--many of these challenges led by Jews. This talk thinks about the history of religious freedom--how its meaning has changed and shifted over time, and how Jews have and could influence that conversation.yesyesyesyesyes, provided that we can schedule it.“Anti-abortion laws are an attack on religious freedom” with Tisa J. Wenger. 360info.org.
https://360info.org/anti-abortion-laws-are-an-attack-on-religious-freedom/

“The Supreme Court’s abortion decision is based on a myth. Here’s why,” with Lauren MacIvor Thompson. The Washington Post. June 24, 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/06/24/supreme-courts-abortion-decision-is-based-myth-heres-why/

“There is no one ‘religious view’ on abortion: A scholar of religion, gender and sexuality explains,” The Conversation, June 13, 2022.
https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-one-religious-view-on-abortion-a-scholar-of-religion-gender-and-sexuality-explains-184532
republished in “America’s religious communities are divided over the issue of abortion: 5 essential reads,” The Conversation, June 24, 2022
https://theconversation.com/americas-religious-communities-are-divided-over-the-issue-of-abortion-5-essential-reads-185755

“Protestants and the pill: How US Christians helped make birth control mainstream,” The Conversation, May 24, 2022.
https://theconversation.com/protestants-and-the-pill-how-us-christians-helped-make-birth-control-mainstream-179536
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Rafael Rachel Neisthey/themUniversity of Michiganrneis@umich.eduDid the Ancient Rabbis Abolish the Family?This talk counters modern anti-choice ideologies, particular those that invoke "family values," and the "Judeo-Christian tradition," with the surprisingly equivocal positions of the ancient rabbis. It argues that while the rabbis were certainly no radical family abolitionists, they nonetheless conceive of a range of reproductive mechanics and kinship models, well beyond the model of two cisgender heterosexual humans having intercourse in the context of marriage.maybemaybenoyesmaybe https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520391192/when-a-human-gives-birth-to-a-raven https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sense-of-sight-in-rabbinic-culture/7697AFCC515CC9CA6B425D83CEECBBEA# and COVID safety protocols, ideally including masking with N95s, adequate ventilation and seating, so as to enable full participation and access for people with disabilities/chronically ill/ immunocompromised people who cannot participate without such measures.
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Michal Rauchershe/herRutgers Universitymichal.raucher@rutgers.eduTeaneck, NJJews for Choice: Abortion Advocacy among JewsThe dominant cultural discourse in the US is that religion is anti-abortion. Yet, the majority of religious people support the legalization of abortion, and 62% of abortion patients are affiliated with a religious tradition. This talk explores abortion advocacy among Jews and Jewish groups in the US todayYes, but not until Fall 2023yes--over zoomnoyesYes, provided that we can schedule it.https://youtu.be/W1F93ADmEvA"Jewish Tradition 'Permits' Abortion" https://www.jta.org/2022/05/10/opinion/jewish-tradition-permits-abortion-if-you-believe-in-bodily-autonomy-thats-not-enough
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Michal Rauchershe/herRutgers Universitymichal.raucher@rutgers.eduTeaneck, NJJustification to Justice: Jewish Sources on AbortionIn the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, many Jewish institutions are speaking out in support of greater abortion access. These statements rely upon a canon of biblical and rabbinic sources. While Jewish perspectives offer an alternative to Christian anti-choice beliefs, these texts ultimately support a justification framework for abortion. This framework assumes that abortion is generally prohibited but permitted in certain circumstances. In this session we will look briefly at some of those canonical sources and then move beyond justification to justice. We will examine abortion narratives belonging to Jewish women who have terminated pregnancies and consider how these texts offer an important correction to the canon of Jewish sources on abortion. Yes, but not until Fall 2023yes--over zoomnoyesyeshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Fb-1wbW3U"Religous Women have abortions, too" https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/religious-women-have-abortions-too-many-faiths-affirm-abortion-rights-ncna1287846
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Michal Rauchershe/herRutgers Universitymichal.raucher@rutgers.eduTeaneck, NJBooks to Babies: Reproducing Ethics among Haredi Women in JerusalemIn this talk, Dr. Raucher analyzes the ways Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish women in Israel make ethical decisions about their reproductive lives. Although doctors and rabbis cooperate with each other as authorities over reproduction, Haredi women insist on their autonomy from these authorities when they make decisions regarding the use of contraceptives, prenatal testing, fetal ultrasounds, and other reproductive practices. Together we will explore how, after several pregnancies, Haredi women express agency to make reproductive decisions without rabbinic involvement. Haredi women instead draw on their embodied experiences of pregnancy, cultural norms of reproduction, and theological beliefs regarding their relationship to God during pregnancy. They make decisions that they know are contrary to rabbinic expectations, or they make decisions independent of rabbinic consultation, and they base those decisions on their prior reproductive experiences.Yes, but not until Fall 2023yes--over zoomnoyesyeshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2VleWK2NkConceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women https://iupress.org/9780253050021/conceiving-agency/
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