The Arev Fund has announced its grantees for the 2018 cycle. The grants support projects in the areas of spiritual leadership, communal life, social justice and education.

The Arev Fund launched on January 15, 2016 as a giving circle of observant Jewish women with the mission of promoting impactful female Jewish philanthropy to spur change in the areas of spiritual leadership, communal life, social justice, and education in the United States and Israel, with a particular focus on the advancement of women. With this second round of grants, Arev continues to move its unique mission forward.

This year, the area of Spiritual Leadership again received the largest allocation of Arev funding, as our members choose to continue to advance this issue both in the United States and in Israel with an additional year of funding. We are proud to endorse the promising developments in this burgeoning area, and are excited by the range and depth of the efforts to address women’s leadership in the Modern Orthodox community. Arev members chose to divide this grant among five different projects, each with a different approach to this issue. The projects are:

Beit Hillel: Meshivat Nefesh – Women’s Spiritual Leadership Initiative

Beit Hillel is an Orthodox leadership forum in Israel that includes rabbis, community scholars and leaders. Arev is again partnering with Beit Hillel on the Meshivat Nefesh project, which works to arm women scholars with professional tools to expand the number of women serving as halakhic decision-makers and to support women’s authorship of high-level Torah scholarship.

Matan Morot Halakha

Matan is a center for women’s Torah scholarship in several locations in Israel. Arev funding helps support the Morot Halakha program, which seeks to create a pool of female leaders and teachers who are deeply learned and versed in broad areas of halakha. These women plan to serve in communities in both the geographic center and periphery of Israel to positively impact women’s lives, well-being, and commitment to Torah and halakha.

Ohr Torah Stone Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute of Halakhic Leadership

Ohr Torah Stone is a multi-faceted organization dedicated to highlighting the relevance of Torah Judaism in the modern world. Arev’s grant helps support the Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute of Halakhic Leadership, which aims to close the educational and professional gap in women’s spiritual leadership in the Orthodox community. This program features a five year full-time Talmud and halakha curriculum, practical and communal training, and partnerships with external organizations to create and fund professional opportunities for its graduates.

Yeshivat Maharat Pastoral Torah curriculum

Yeshivat Maharat provides a path for women in the United States to gain the skills, training, and certification to become spiritual leaders within the Modern Orthodox community. Arev funding helps support the Pastoral Torah Curriculum, a uniquely integrated pastoral, spiritual, and leadership-training program that employs Torah texts along with those of contemporary social sciences to grapple with key issues of human life and development.

Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Yoetzet Halakha Program

Nishmat is a Jerusalem-based center for women’s scholarship, leadership, and social responsibility. The Miriam Glaubach Yoetzet Halacha Program is the American platform for the training of Yoatzot Halacha – female halakhic advisors – a role created by Nishmat. Arev helps fund the leadership training component of this curriculum, which will include mentoring programs and workshops to develop and expand professional development.

In the area of Social Justice, Arev continues to fund the initiative of Mavoi Satum. Mavoi Satum provides legal and emotional support to women in Israel who have been refused a Jewish divorce, and works to find a solution to the problem of get refusal in Israel. Mavoi Satum is developing social media campaigns around the issue of get-refusal.

The Arev Fund is committed to partnering with these organizations. As we move forward and announce our next round of grant applications, we are invigorated by the depth and breadth of innovative entrepreneurial activity taking place in the areas of communal life, social justice, education and spiritual leadership.

Our new application process is now open and will close on March 15, 2018. Please visit Arev’s website at www.arevfund.org to view the one-page statement of interest. Applicants whose work is in the areas of our mission statement may complete this short statement of interest prior to March 15th. After March 15th, selected applicants will be invited to submit complete proposals. Arev will make our next round of grants in summer 2018.

The For further information about the Arev Fund and its grantees, please visit Arev’s website at www.arevfund.org.