Va'tichtov: She Writes
Va'tichtov: She Writes elevates Jewish women's voices through a year-long writing fellowship. Va'Tichtov offers scholarship by building a diverse cohort and providing the skills, support, and resources necessary to produce new content.
The Va'tichtov Fellowship operates on a three year cycle, with each year's cohort focusing on a particular area of writing. The 2025-26 fellowship will focus on teshuva writing, the 2026-27 fellowship will be for op-ed and popular writing, and the 2027-28 fellowship will focus on essay and long form pieces.
Meet the 2025 Fellowship Director: Dr. Rachel Rosenthal
Dr. Rachel Rosenthal is Gemara faculty and Director of Learning Initiatives at Maharat. She was an adjunct assistant professor of Rabbinic Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary and served as a Research Fellow and faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She received her PhD in Rabbinic Literature from JTS, where her dissertation focused on how rabbinic analysis of the case of the stubborn and rebellious son provides models for moral education and development. During her time in graduate school, she was a Graduate Fellow in the Center for Law and Jewish Civilization at Cardozo Law School, a David Hartman Center Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and a Wabash Teaching Fellow, and she was the first graduate student ever to be voted List College Professor of the Year. Her writing has been published by Tablet, the Forward, and eJewishPhilanthropy.
Meet the 2025 Fellows
Rabbi Jill Cozen-Harel is a San Francisco-based community rabbi and technologist. Until recently, she worked in IT at the University of California, San Francisco, where she also led efforts to organize the Jewish community. Jill grew up in the Reform movement and was propelled toward deeper religious observance and an emerging connection to halakha that began in her youth and continued to grow over the years. She was ordained at HUC-JIR, where she worked closely with Dr. Eugene Borowitz and wrote her thesis on a maximalist approach to liberal halakhic decision making. She has also studied at JTS, the Conservative Yeshiva, the Shalom Hartman Institute, and the Graduate Theological Union. Jill previously taught at Brandeis Hillel Day School and spent several years as a hospital chaplain at California Pacific Medical Center. She is raising a daughter who loves Shabbat and Torah.
Rabbanit Chana Even-Chen is a passionate Torah educator dedicated to fostering meaningful connections through teaching. A graduate of Bar Ilan University with a degree in special education and Tanakh, Chana has been involved in both formal and informal education in Israel over the past 30 years, working with children and adults across the religious spectrum. She currently teaches pre-marriage classes, is involved in mikvah education, leads a weekly parsha discussion group, and teaches in a midrasha. She is dedicated to promoting Torah learning and women’s involvement in her community through shiurim, Megillah reading, Tefila groups, and Bat Mitzvah education. Chana made Aliya from Silver Spring, Maryland in 1993 and lives with her husband, Josh, and their six children in the beautiful city of Maaleh Adumim.
Rabbanit Tanya Farber is the Co-Spiritual leader of The Beis Community, a Jewish spiritual home in New York City that reflects her values of inclusivity, meaning-making, and intentional Judaism. Ordained by Yeshivat Maharat in 2021, Rabbanit Tanya has taught and teaches Torah in a range of settings from post-college to yeshiva high schools and elementary grades. As a coach for Pedagogy of Partnership, she also trains and supports teachers to facilitate dynamic learning experiences that decentralize the teacher and uplift the learners. Her teaching integrates text study with improv and other creative modalities, and prayer with mindfulness, movement and writing. Rabbanit Tanya also worked for a decade with adults with developmental disabilities, and remains committed to accessibility and inclusion in religious communities. Her teaching fuses Torah, spiritual relevance, and the ethical call to action and service.
Rabbanit Rachael Gelfman Schultz is a teacher and writer. She has taught in a variety of formal and informal Jewish educational frameworks in Israel and in the US, including high school, Hebrew school, adult education, and one-on-one tutoring. She specializes in teaching students in the process of conversion. Rachael writes, edits, and translates for Jewish non-profit organizations and publishers, as well as writing Jewish educational curricula. Rachael has a BA from Harvard University in Religion and an MA from Hebrew University in Jewish Thought. She graduated from Maharat in 2025, and studied in both the Bruriah Scholars program at Midreshet Lindenbaum and the Advanced Kollel at Pardes Institute. Originally from Sharon, MA, Rachael now lives in Mitzpe Netofa in the Galilee with her family.
Rabbi Avigayil Halpern is a writer and educator who is passionate about the Torah that emerges in the conversation between our own lives and traditional texts. Avigayil’s work focuses on queer and feminist Torah, and she is currently at work on a book about queer niddah. You can read her writing at avigayil.substack.com. Avigayil currently lives in Washington, DC, where she teaches Torah to Jews of all ages in person and online.
Rabbi Sara Levy-Stevenson will be ordained by Beit Midrash Harel in September 2025 and has also studied at Hadar, Pardes, and Midreshet Lindenbaum. She holds a BSN from Ben Gurion University and is a registered nurse at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, specializing in internal medicine and geriatric care. She lives in Jerusalem, where she is active in several communities and is particularly interested in the intersection of halakha and medicine, especially around end-of-life care.
Rabba Amy Newman received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Maharat in 2022. Amy teaches middle school Jewish Studies at Schechter Boston and she is part of the rabbinic team at Camp Yavneh in Northwood, New Hampshire. Previously, Amy taught at Gann Academy: The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston, and at The Ramaz School. During her 18 years teaching in Jewish day schools, Amy has taught every grade from kindergarten through 12th. A native of Toronto, Amy has a BA in Jewish Studies from McGill University, an EdM in Learning and Teaching from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is a graduate of the Drisha Scholars Circle.
Rabbanit Dr. Tamar Ron Marvin is a scholar, writer, and Jewish educator. She graduated from Yeshivat Maharat in 2024 and holds a PhD in medieval and early modern Jewish studies. She lives in Modiin, Israel with her family and is currently at work on her first book, an intellectual history of medieval Jewish culture.
Rabbanit Shira Sapir, lives in Gush Etzion and Cyprus. With over 15 years of experience teaching and coordinating Giyur programs, she currently works with Nativ and is developing a new Giyur initiative in Cyprus. Shira also teaches gemara to women around the world in small groups and one-on-one. Her approach combines a structured program with personal attention and mentoring.
She is an alumna of the Halakhic Leadership Program at Kollel Deah (Midreshet Lindenbaum, Ohr Torah Stone) and is a contributor of halakhic responsa on the Meshivat Nefesh platform. Shira holds a BA from the Hebrew University in Hebrew Language, English Linguistics, and Midrashic Literature, and is pursuing an MA in Talmud at Bar Ilan University. She is also a graduate of the Rikmah program.
Originally from London, Michelle Shelemay Dvir has lived in Israel for 18 years and is passionate about advancing women’s leadership in both professional and religious spheres. She teaches post–high school students at Midreshet Lindenbaum’s “Midrashit” program and gives a weekly shiur in her hometown of Tzur Hadassah. Michelle leads initiatives to expand women’s access to meaningful tefilla, including Rosh Chodesh services, women’s megillah readings, and serving as a gabait in her synagogue. Her Torah learning has spanned Midreshet HaRova, the London School of Jewish Studies, Matan, and currently, Ohr Torah Stone’s Halakhic Leadership Program (Kolel Deah), where she is a fellow. Michelle holds a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Management with a focus on Organizational Development. With over 17 years of experience in Israel’s nonprofit sector, she is a committed advocate for social justice, focusing particularly on women’s rights in matters of religion and state.
Chachama Ya’ara Wiedman Samuel holds a Bachelor’s from Tel Aviv University in Jewish history and Jewish philosophy and a Masters from Tel Aviv University in Jewish history. She is a Ramit at Midreshet Ein Hanatziv, teaches Talmud and Jewish thought, and works as a group facilitator. She lives in Ein Hanatziv with her husband and four children.
Rabbi Amelia Wolf serves as the rabbi of Congregation Etz Hayim in Arlington, Virginia. She was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary where she focused her studies in Rabbinic Literature. Dedicated to the Torah that resides within every human being, she is passionate about the interplay between the rich textual heritage of the Jewish people and lives and needs of contemporary people and the societies we live in. Amelia has worked in hospice chaplaincy, Jewish climate advocacy, and in children’s, teen, college, and adult education. Whatever the setting, Amelia focuses on drawing out the texts and traditions that speak to the lives of her students and congregants - spiritually, ethically, and emotionally.
Amelia is the recipient of the Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership, the Gender in Torah and Tradition Fellowship, the Rabbi Ben Zion Bergman Prize for Scholastic Achievements in Talmudic Studies, and the International Jewish Community on Interreligious Communications Fellowship in Interreligious Leadership.