Nishmat Celebrates 35 Years, Salutes Rabbanit Chana Henkin In “A Night For Nishmat,” June 18

By Yoetzet Halacha Lisa Septimus

I had great rabbis as teachers growing up, but almost no female Torah educators. I loved learning Torah, and yet—despite what anyone actually said—I was being told, quietly but clearly, that this was not really my world.

And then, when I was 13 years old, my mother hosted a shiur and parlor meeting with Rabbanit Chana Henkin, who had just established a brand-new institution: Nishmat, a place in Jerusalem dedicated to women’s Torah learning.

She appeared soft-spoken and traditional, but Rabbanit Henkin commanded the room. She spoke and taught Torah with a sense of urgency. She wasn’t just the first woman to teach me Torah—she was the first to teach me that Torah comes with a mission. And it wasn’t the mission you might expect.

People who don’t know Rabbanit Henkin might assume that her mission was to give women access to Torah—but that’s only half the story. Her mission, which she shared with her extraordinary husband, Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, zt’l, was to give the Jewish world access to women’s Torah.

In other words, she believes not just in the right of women to learn Torah, but the need for them to. That belief is why Nishmat is not only a place of high-level Torah study, but a midrasha that brings Torah to women—and brings women to Torah—from across every age, level, and community.

Rabbanit Henkin has always valued diversity, not just of students, but of Torah and teachers. During my summer at Nishmat, I learned from teachers from Alon Shvut, Shaalvim, and the chardal world. Nishmat was one of the first institutions to offer women both high-level Gemara and classes in Tanya.

For Rabbanit Henkin, there is no contradiction. It’s all Torah.

In anyone else, this mix of boldness and conservatism, revolution and respect, might seem confusing. In Rabbanit Henkin, it is deeply integrated and utterly authentic.

The Gemara in Bava Batra 119b describes the daughters of Tzelafchad as wise, expounders of text, and virtuous. Their wisdom, the Gemara says, was in their timing: they waited for the moment when Moshe was teaching the laws of yibbum to present their case.

“If a daughter is regarded as a son,” they said. “Let us inherit our father’s land. And if not, then let our mother perform yibbum.”

Their logic was indisputable. Their timing was perfect.

Rabbanit Henkin possesses the same three qualities: erudition, virtue, and the kind of wisdom that includes timing, clarity, and unshakable logic. She waited for the right moment—both in Israel and the U.S.—to introduce one of the great gifts she has given the Jewish people: yoatzot halacha. She waited for the support of rabbanim, for demand from women, and for a time when the world was beginning to understand the value of dignity, guidance, and empathy in the realm of taharat hamishpacha. 

Over the years, countless women have thanked me for being someone they could speak to about these intimate and important areas. Every yoetzet has heard the same. But none of it would exist without Rabbanit Henkin’s quiet courage, halachic integrity, and relentless vision. She has succeeded in her mission: she gave the world access to women’s Torah.

This year Rabbanit Henkin handed over the day-to-day reins of Nishmat to two new deans, Rabbanit Atara Eis and Rabbanit Ilana Hadad, and has assumed the role of Chancellor of Nishmat. At the same time, she will be heading Nishmat’s Research Institute (Machon Mechkar), with the specific focus of continuing the writing and publishing of further volumes of Nishmat Habayit, as well as Rabbanit Henkin’s own Torah legacy, and the writings of HaRav Henkin, zt’l, and of her son Rav Eitam Henkin, Hy’d.

Please join us for “A Night for Nishmat” on Wednesday, June 18, at 6 p.m. for a dinner at Lavan Midtown at 641 W. 42nd Street to honor Rabbanit Henkin. I’ve attended nearly every Nishmat dinner over the past 30 years. They are beautiful events—but always small. Perhaps many believe that a women’s Torah institution doesn’t affect them personally. But it does.

Please show your hakarat hatov to Rabbanit Henkin on this momentous occasion by sharing this inspiring evening with us. Please reserve your spot by visiting afnishmat.org/35years. Reservations can include a tribute to Rabbanit Henkin. Please RSVP and share your tribute by June 1. For more information, please e-mail [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you! n