It is commonly assumed that Judaism, unlike Christianity, espouses a positive theological view of sexuality that does not see abstinence as a spiritual ideal. Only recently have new approaches in feminist criticism, gender studies and queer theory challenged Judaism’s position on hetero-normative sexual identities. Scholars are questioning the basic gender-related assumptions within the Jewish intellectual tradition, as well as in Jewish law and theology.

In her lecture, religious scholar Ronit Irshai traces the radical transformation of these principles, which not only influence romantic relationships and the family as a patriarchal institution, but also define the meaning of sexuality and its role in Judaism. This will be followed by a conversation with rabbi Avigail Ben Dor Niv.

Ronit Irshai is associate professor and head of gender studies at Bar-Ilan Univeristy in Israel, research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem (for pluralistic Judaism), member of the board of the Reckman Center of Bar-Ilan University (for women’s rights) and member of “Kolech,” a religious-feminist forum.ciaa Her book Holy Rebellion: Religious Feminism and the Transformation of Judaism and Women’s Rights in Israel (co-authored with Tanya Zion-Waldoks) will be published this year.

Avigail Ben Dor Niv has a diverse background in both academia and the arts. She studied cinema and worked in the television industry in Israel while earning her first degree with honors from the Department of Talmud at Tel Aviv University. Her master's thesis focused on femininity and disguises in Talmudic legends. Currently residing in Berlin, Avigail was ordained as a rabbi at the Abraham Geiger Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. She serves as the rabbi of the liberal community in Basel, Switzerland, and teaches religion at the Jewish high school Moses Mendelssohn in Berlin.