The Teaneck Yoetzet Initiative will be running its annual event on August 7 at 7:45 p.m. at Congregation Rinat Yisrael. The program will feature the two Teaneck Yoatzot, Dr. Nechama Price and Mrs. Rivka Alter, alongside the primary posek of the Yoetzet Halacha program in the United States, Rabbi Kenneth Auman.
Rabbi Auman is an adjunct professor of Jewish studies at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University and spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Flatbush, as well as a dayan on the Beit Din of America.
Price is the director of Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmud and Tanakh Studies (GPATS) and teaches Tanakh and Halacha at Stern College. Alter teaches Tanakh and Women in Halacha and coordinates senior programming at Ma’ayanot High School. The two women have partnered together to fill the growing need for yoatzot halacha in Teaneck. In addition, this summer both are completing a two-year training course in fertility counseling, offered to a small cohort of yoatzot halacha through a partnership with Keren Gefen.
The Teaneck Yoetzet Initiative, celebrating its 13th year, has become the premier yoetzet halacha program in the USA. Price and Alter, who are concluding their second year in this position, respond to over one thousand calls every year from women in the community. “We receive calls from an incredibly diverse group of women. Some women are at the beginning of a journey, and may be asking very basic questions. For these women, observance of taharat hamishpacha, and having someone that they feel comfortable speaking to, often serves as a gateway to further observance in other areas of Halacha.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have women who are very knowledgeable and have very specific and nuanced questions that will reach out to us,” said Alter. “We are happy to help any woman who needs guidance and support, regardless of what shul they daven at, or how observant they are,” said Price. “We also receive calls from many neighboring communities in the Bergen County and Passaic area where there is no yoetzet. Our only interests are educating the community and enhancing halachic practice.”
Sheindy Brothman and Donna Hoenig, co-chairs of the Yoetzet Initiative note, “The women in our community are fortunate to have access to both of our yoatzot. The feedback has been extremely positive and many have commented on both Nechama and Rivka’s excellent rapport. Their intensive halachic training as well as their sensitivity to delicate marital issues have positively impacted the lives of the callers.”
Price and Alter’s title for the upcoming program is “Ancient Roots, Modern Practice: The continuing relevance of the laws of Taharat Hamishpacha.” They will be illustrating how discussions from Chazal thousands of years ago have come back to life and now form important precedents in modern implications of these halachot.
Rabbi Kenneth Auman will open the program. Rabbi Auman is the “rabbi behind the curtain.” He is the dean of Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center and the main posek for the U.S. yoetzet program. The Teaneck yoatzot consult regularly with Rabbi Auman, as do yoatzot halacha around the country. As such, some have argued that Rabbi Auman has had more of an impact on the observance of taharat hamishpacha than any rabbi in the United States.
Rabbi Auman will discuss his personal journey and why he has taken on the mission of enhancing spirituality for modern women by spending much of his career teaching Gemara and Halacha at Yeshiva University’s Stern College, as well as training future generations of yoatzot and being a resource and posek for them on a regular basis.
“We are in regular contact with Rabbi Auman, who often guides us through many of the more challenging questions that require a psak halacha. We are excited and honored to be presenting alongside our rebbe, and introducing him to our community,” said Price. “In addition to our own poskim whom we work with regularly, we will often consult with local rabbis or other poskim. When a woman calls us, she will often give us information about her community rabbi and/or posek, and we will be in touch with them to ensure that the woman is following the appropriate halachic guidance for her community and her rav,” said Alter.
The annual event serves as the primary fundraiser for the Teaneck Yoetzet Initiative and is structured as an educational event, in line with the organization’s mission.
“We strongly encourage all women who gain from the Yoetzet Initiative or who support having this service in our community to please come to the event so that we can continue to expand halachic awareness and educational opportunities and to serve the growing community of women who find this resource invaluable,” said Price.
To contribute to this important program please visit https://www.rinat.org/yoetzet-2024.html#.
