Press
“I never set out to find feminism in the Talmud…. Yes, feminism did motivate me to read this particular set of stories, but it never dictated how I read them. Who you are is fine as a starting point, but it should never govern where you end up. Where you end up should always be where the text takes you.” (The Tradition podcast) >>
Press
“We reached out to Gila and asked her to discuss her new, much-acclaimed book with us. This is a conversation about Gila and about her book, of course, but it is also a conversation about Israel – and the ways in which some forms of Jewish flourishing are possible only here.” (Daniel Gordis) >>
Press
“So dramatic and cathartic… Gila Fine’s work is what you get when women study and teach Talmud: unbelievable, incandescent, astonishing teachings that bring us closer to the text, and to understanding ourselves, our people, our history, and how to be better human beings in this very unpleasant world. On a scale of six named women with storylines, I give this book a perfect 10.” (Miriam Anzovin) >>
Press
Three days before her 12th birthday, Gila Fine found herself alone in her grandparents’ London home with a pile of books and a directive to write her bat mitzvah speech. Unsure where to start, she opened the “Book of Legends” to the section titled “Women.” A few stories in, she burst into tears. The women in the stories were weak, irrational, greedy and vain…. However, instead of writing off Jewish academia forever, Fine dug deeper and, with her new book, invites others to do the same. (The Times of Israel) >>
Online Lecture
How does the Talmud portray its heroines? Why are they never as they first seem? And what does this tell us about the rabbis’ views of marriage, sex, childbirth, and what it means to be a woman in the world? Gila Fine sits down with Rabbi Dr. Shai Cherry to discuss her new book on the six named heroines of the Talmud. (Community Scholars Program) >>
Article
Why does every culture have a story of a hero who sleeps for years and wakes up to a utopian world? How does the Talmud rewrite this legend? And what does this subversion tell us of the rabbinic view of redemption? Exploring the legend of Honi the supersleeper through the Mishna and Talmud, Epimenides and the Seven Sleepers, King Arthur and Frederick Barbarossa, Rip Van Winkle and William Guest. (Tradition) >>
Press
Fine is fast becoming one of the most fascinating teachers in the field. “These narratives are often deliberately misleading,” Fine says. “We need to be incredibly sensitive to each word so we can unpack the meaning.” The reason for this, she believes, is to teach readers to be careful when they dissect “reality.” The very act of reading Talmudic stories makes us into better individuals: more humble, more moral, more understanding. (The Jerusalem Report) >>
Press
Not everyone believes the test is a good idea. “It’ll create an impression that a woman who finds her way onto a source sheet hasn’t done so because she is brilliant and erudite and profound but because of positive discrimination,” said Gila Fine. “Women have earned their place fair and square in the world of aggadah. They’re two steps behind in the world of halacha, and they’ll get there, but this shortcut will hurt them in the long run.” (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) >>
Online Lecture
Why are women divided into saintly and seductive? How does a married couple go for years without intimacy? And why must the wife dress up as a prostitute to show her husband who she really is? The tragedy of Heruta, read through the Bible and Midrash, Homer and Dante, Kant and Wilde, Freud and Hitchcock. (National Library of Israel) >>
Article
To understand the significance of Sukkot – the holiday and the habitat – we must explore the development of biblical architecture. (The Jerusalem Post) >>
Online Lecture
What’s the difference between the God of the Bible and the God of the Talmud? Who was the last man to see God? And how do we balance love and fear in our relationship with the Divine? Exploring the omnipotence and vulnerability of God, through the talmudic tale of Rabbi Yishmael and King Lear. (Community Scholar Program) >>
Press
“Behind the majesty and grander, the profound philosophy and inspiring Torah, the booming voice and yellow ties, there was a man.” (The Jerusalem Report) >>
Article
The moral trajectory of Moses, his development as a man and leader, can be traced in the ongoing struggle between his mighty hand and his slow tongue. (The Jerusalem Post) >>
Press
“Rabbi Sacks knew what it meant to be human. I think we sometimes forget that he was, underneath it all.” (Jewish News) >>
Article
And so, as we enter the two holiest points of the Jewish year, with the last of our strength, we stand and declare: “Kol nidre.” “Kol hamira.” All the promises I haven’t kept. All the hametz I haven’t burned. May they be null and void. Like the dust of the earth. (The Jerusalem Post) >>
Press
“God was, for RS, first and foremost a relationship. Not an abstract philosophical concept or theological article of faith or biblical character or remote diety; but a very real, very personal, very intimate relationship we each of us have in our lives.” (The SA Jewish Report) >>
Press
A young woman who is on her way to becoming one of the more outstanding Jewish thinkers of the next generation. Fine, who makes it look chic to be frum, can give over a shiur – as they say in these parts, referring to a talk interpreting religious texts – which sends heads scrambling to keep up. One to watch in the years to come.
(Haaretz) >>
Press
Gila Fine is part of a growing stream of Orthodox women who are not only studying, but embracing and teaching, the Talmud. “I first discovered Talmud as a forbidden text. I grew up in a conservative religious environment, where it was strongly believed that women cannot study Talmud. At 17, I pulled a volume of Talmud off my father’s bookshelf, and just stood there, waiting for the lightning bolt to strike me down.” (BBC Radio4) >>
Article
Like a Dream: Honi the Supersleeper and the Utopian Fantasy
Why does every culture have a story of a hero who sleeps for years and wakes up to a utopian world? How does the Talmud rewrite this legend? And what does this subversion tell us of the rabbinic view of redemption? Exploring the legend of Honi the supersleeper through the Mishna and Talmud, Epimenides and the Seven Sleepers, King Arthur and Frederick Barbarossa, Rip Van Winkle and William Guest. (Tradition Journal)
Why does every culture have a story of a hero who sleeps for years and wakes up to a utopian world? How does the Talmud rewrite this legend? And what does this subversion tell us of the rabbinic view of redemption? Exploring the legend of Honi the supersleeper through the Mishna and Talmud, Epimenides and the Seven Sleepers, King Arthur and Frederick Barbarossa, Rip Van Winkle and William Guest. (Tradition Journal)
Fine is fast becoming one of the most fascinating teachers in the field. “These narratives are often deliberately misleading,” Fine says. “We need to be incredibly sensitive to each word so we can unpack the meaning.” The reason for this, she believes, is to teach readers to be careful when they dissect “reality.” The very act of reading Talmudic stories makes us into better individuals: more humble, more moral, more understanding. (The Jerusalem Report) >>
Article
Like a Dream: Honi the Supersleeper and the Utopian Fantasy
Why does every culture have a story of a hero who sleeps for years and wakes up to a utopian world? How does the Talmud rewrite this legend? And what does this subversion tell us of the rabbinic view of redemption? Exploring the legend of Honi the supersleeper through the Mishna and Talmud, Epimenides and the Seven Sleepers, King Arthur and Frederick Barbarossa, Rip Van Winkle and William Guest. (Tradition Journal) >>
Press
Gila Fine: Teaching Talmud with a Twist
Fine is fast becoming one of the most fascinating teachers in the field. “These narratives are often deliberately misleading,” Fine says. “We need to be incredibly sensitive to each word so we can unpack the meaning.” The reason for this, she believes, is to teach readers to be careful when they dissect “reality.” The very act of reading Talmudic stories makes us into better individuals: more humble, more moral, more understanding. (The Jerusalem Report) >>
Press
How a Bechdel Test for Jewish Texts Is Shaking Up the Beit Midrash
Not everyone believes the test is a good idea. “It’ll create an impression that a woman who finds her way onto a source sheet hasn’t done so because she is brilliant and erudite and profound but because of positive discrimination,” said Gila Fine. “Women have earned their place fair and square in the world of aggadah. They’re two steps behind in the world of halacha, and they’ll get there, but this shortcut will hurt them in the long run.” (JTA) >>
Online Lecture
Unmasking the Women of the Talmud: The Tragedy of Heruta Why are women divided into saintly and seductive? How does a married couple go for years without intimacy? And why must the wife dress up as a prostitute to show her husband who she really is? The tragedy of Heruta, read through the Bible and Midrash, Homer and Dante, Kant and Wilde, Freud and Hitchcock. (National Library of Israel) >>
Article
A Sukkah of One’s Own To understand the significance of Sukkot – the holiday and the habitat – we must explore the development of biblical architecture. (The Jerusalem Post) >>
Online Lecture
“Heavens Give Me Patience”: Rabbi Yishmael, King Lear, and the Divine Tragedy What’s the difference between the God of the Bible and the God of the Talmud? Who was the last man to see God? And how do we balance love and fear in our relationship with the Divine? Exploring the omnipotence and vulnerability of God, through the talmudic tale of Rabbi Yishmael and King Lear. (Community Scholar Program) >>
Press
Rabbi Sacks: Top Educators Reflect on His First Yahrzeit “Behind the majesty and grander, the profound philosophy and inspiring Torah, the booming voice and yellow ties, there was a man.” (The Jerusalem Report) >>
Article
Moses’s Hand-to-Mouth Life The moral trajectory of Moses, his development as a man and leader, can be traced in the ongoing struggle between his mighty hand and his slow tongue. (The Jerusalem Post) >>
Press
Launch: The life-changing ideas of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l “Rabbi Sacks knew what it meant to be human. I think we sometimes forget that he was, underneath it all.” (Jewish News) >>
Article
The Poor Man’s Passover Prayer And so, as we enter the two holiest points of the Jewish year, with the last of our strength, we stand and declare: “Kol nidre.” “Kol hamira.” All the promises I haven’t kept. All the hametz I haven’t burned. May they be null and void. Like the dust of the earth. (The Jerusalem Post) >>
Press
Ideas that Change the World: Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks “God was, for RS, first and foremost a relationship. Not an abstract philosophical concept or theological article of faith or biblical character or remote diety; but a very real, very personal, very intimate relationship we each of us have in our lives.” (The SA Jewish Report) >>
Press
A Radical Book Is Born in Jerusalem
A young woman who is on her way to becoming one of the more outstanding Jewish thinkers of the next generation. Fine, who makes it look chic to be frum, can give over a shiur – as they say in these parts, referring to a talk interpreting religious texts – which sends heads scrambling to keep up. One to watch in the years to come.
(Haaretz) >>
Press
The Story of the Talmud
Gila Fine is part of a growing stream of Orthodox women who are not only studying, but embracing and teaching, the Talmud. “I first discovered Talmud as a forbidden text. I grew up in a conservative religious environment, where it was strongly believed that women cannot study Talmud. At 17, I pulled a volume of Talmud off my father’s bookshelf, and just stood there, waiting for the lightning bolt to strike me down.” (BBC Radio4) >>
