About Us

"You peered through the glass ceiling and observed the heavens smiling and beckoning above. So, without fanfare, confrontation or acrimony, you gently lifted open a window in the ceiling and taught the rest of us that the sky is the limit if your heart is with Heaven."

Dr. Norman Lamm of Yeshiva University, upon conferring an honorary doctorate upon Nishmat Dean Rabbanit Chana Henkin

Programs of Study

Nishmat students are serious about their Judaism. They expect to delve deeply into Torah learning. They aim to grow intellectually and spiritually. Nishmat unites native Israelis and Americans, Ethiopians and Europeans in a cohesive learning community. We seek to develop leaders to contribute to Jewish life. Nishmat offers intensive programs of text-based Torah study for beginners to advanced scholars. Whether you are probing your heritage for the first time, or have been learning Torah your whole life, Nishmat has a program for you.

Creating Leaders

Nishmat Founder Rabbanit Chana Henkin's pioneering efforts to open the highest reaches of Jewish learning to women have produced the Yoatzot Halacha, Jewish history's first women trained to address women's halachic issues. The Yoatzot have won widespread rabbinic support and public acclaim and are spearheading an enhanced contribution of women to religious life and leadership.

Nishmat's Women's Halachic Hotline, staffed by the Yoatzot Halacha, has received thousands of calls from Israel and abroad, on issues in taharat hamishpacha, intimate personal and family matters, as well as fertility and women's health. Under the supervision of rabbinical authorities, the Yoatzot contribute a woman's perspective to halachic questions, and enable women to feel ownership of their religious lives. Click here for more details.

A Second Chance for Ethiopian Jews

As young children, many of Nishmat's Ethiopian students walked across the Sudanese desert from one century to another, to be airlifted to Israel in Operation Solomon. Sadly, many of their early dreams have given way to the deprivations of poverty. Nishmat's Ma'ayan program combines Torah learning and a second chance at high school matriculation and a better future. For more information, click here.

Donate

Nishmat depends on your contributions! Please donate to Nishmat directly, or through American, Canadian, or Swiss friends of Nishmat.