I would like to express my gratitude to Cong. Rinat Yisrael for their Shev Shmatsah lecture series.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to hear many wonderful shiurim by many of the brilliant men and women of our community and beyond. However, the subject matters of the shiurim were usually identifiable as either male-oriented or female-oriented. The male-oriented shiurim were based on more traditional and theoretical learning principles. The female-oriented shiurim were usually character studies of personalities in the Tanach. Although most of the shiurim were masterfully presented, I always wondered why the women presenters limited their subjects to the less “lomdish” analyses.

Four of the six lectures in the Shev Shmatsah series so far were given by women. Each one gave a clear and well-organized analysis of the Shev Shmatsah’s opinion on different Halachic principles. At the end of each shiur, I felt I had gained a deeper understanding of each subject. These shiurim opened my eyes to the equal capability of women to understand and transmit difficult and “lomdish” concepts to the public. I would like to hear more women give shiurim on a varied number of subjects. Kudos to the Rinat committee for bringing this wonderful program to our attention.