Online Course Teachers

RABBI DR. MEESH HAMMER-KOSSOY

Rabbi Dr Meesh Hammer KossoyRabbi Dr. Meesh is the second author of ICJW’s Bea Zucker Calendar Study Series, entitled “Feminist Inspiration for Living on the Jewish Cycle” and the first Social Justice series on “A Women’s Response to the Refugee Crisis”. She currently teaches Talmud and the Social Justice Track at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem .

Originally from Washington, D.C., Meesh has a B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, and a M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. Her dissertation explored the courageous manner in which the rabbis of the Talmud created a new criminal punishment system.

Meesh is also a graduate of NATIV , Pardes, Midreshet Lindenbaum MaTaN Drisha , and ATID. She has received many fellowships including Lady Davis, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, Memorial Foundation and ATID. She has also taught at NYU, Drisha and Midreshet Lindenbaum. In 2015, Meesh completed her studies at Beit Midrash Har’el and received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Herzl Hefter and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.

Click here to access Rabbi Meesh’s units for the ICJW Bea Zucker Calendar Study Series  and her Social Justice Courses on Refugees, Prostitution, Sexual Harassment, Marriage and Democracy.

DR. BONNA DEVORA HABERMAN z”l

Dr Bonna Devora HabermanDr. Bonna Devora Haberman wrote the  ICJW Bea Zucker Online Bible Study Program  and our course on Biblical Women. She  was the first author of the  ICJW Bea Zucker Calendar Study Series but she passed away before the course was completed.

Dr. Haberman earned her doctorate in Ethics and Education at the University of London. Having grown up in Canada, studied in the USA, Israel, and England, her work in and out of the academy fuses critical interpretation of texts and culture with passion for social betterment. She has published widely and taught at the Hebrew University, at the Harvard University Divinity School and at Brandeis University where she founded and directed the “Mistabra Institute for Jewish Textual Activism” addressing difficult texts and social problems together using performance arts. With Mistabra, she created and performed two full-length theater pieces: Unmasking Esther—about gender-based oppression, from beauty standards to sex trafficking, and Inner Fire—about Jewish peoplehood, Israel, and territoriality. Bonna returned to Israel in 2004 with her spouse and five children.

In Jerusalem, Bonna initiated the Israeli movement for women’s public participation and leadership called “Women of the Wall”. She has co-directed an activist community theater project, “YTheater” together with a Palestinian partner, and mobilized a national social change initiative led by Israeli young people. Two books, “Blood and Ink: Feminism Liberating Judaism, a Jewish feminist liberation theology“, and “Israel Spirit Matters: Refreshing Zionism from Jewish Sources” were published in 2012.  Dr. Haberman passed away in 2015.

RINA COHEN

Rina Cohen Dr Rina Cohen is ICJW’s Chair of Jewish Education and she has organized three Herczeg Jerusalem Seminars for Jewish Education. She was born and educated in Israel   , and throughout her adult life she has been an educational and social activist. Rina has a BA in Psychology and Sociology, and a MA in Education. She has lectured widely on education and has written two books and over 30 articles on the topics of parenting, family and adult education, and lifelong learning.

Until her retirement in 2012, Rina served as director of the Department of Parents, Family and Community in the Adult Education Division of the Ministry of Education, working to empower parents and families. She instituted and established the Public Commission for Parents in Israel and today she is its Director, working closely with members of Knesset to further its goals.  Rina was recently elected chairperson of the Association of Adult Education in Israel. Click here to read her course on  Food for Jewish Thought – Exploring the Jewish Sources  Underlying ICJW’s Policy Priorities.