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Brook Pollak ‘27

Brooke Pollak has co-chaired her synagogue’s Women’s Tefillah group and has been a frequent Gaba’it for their services. She has also worked with families to plan for, practice, and facilitate meaningful s’machot for numerous B’not Mitzvah. Brooke has also been active in her community’s partnership minyan. Brooke earned her bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies from Yale and her law degree from NYU School of Law. During and after her undergraduate years, Brooke studied at Drisha and Pardes.

Overview

Maharat Everywhere

Our students and graduates teach, give divrei Torah, officiate at life-cycle events, counsel couples, and visit patients and families. More than 50 communities, including shuls, schools, Hillels, and communal organizations, have benefited from our leadership.

Global Community

Semikha

Maharat grants women semikha to serve as fully credentialed spiritual and halakhic leaders. Ordination follows a rigorous program of study and proven mastery of Jewish law, Talmud, Torah, Jewish thought, leadership, and pastoral counseling.

Program Details

Our Graduates

Graduates of Maharat are conferred with “toreh toreh”—a decisor of Jewish law, giving psak halakha. We encourage our graduates to use the professional title most appropriate to them, in consultation with the communities they serve.

Alumnae Spotlight

2012

Maharat was founded as the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy, after the ordination of Rabba Sara Hurwitz by Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.

2013

Maharat was founded as the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy, after the ordination of Rabba Sara Hurwitz by Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.

2014

Maharat was founded as the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy, after the ordination of Rabba Sara Hurwitz by Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.

2015

Maharat was founded as the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy, after the ordination of Rabba Sara Hurwitz by Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.

Maharat is a Hebrew acronym represening the
core values of our school and our graduates.

Manhigut / Leadership
Halakha / Jewish Law
Ruchaniyut / Spirituality
Torah / Jewish Text​

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Beit Midrash

Our Torah

Meet our Community

Leadership

Faculty

Students

Alumnae

Maharat faculty, students and alumnae publish 
weekly on timely topics of great interest.

Hear from Our Alumnae

Kol Ha Kavod

Rabba Amy Newman lands new job in Israel

Rabba Amy Newman teaches middle school Jewish Studies at Schechter Boston in Newton, Massachusetts, where she also coaches teachers and coordinates the Jewish Studies curriculum. Previously, Rabba Amy taught at Gann Academy: The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston, and at The Ramaz School. During her 16 years teaching in Jewish day schools, Rabba Amy has taught every grade from kindergarten

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Spotlight on the Our Torah Blog

Yom Hashoah and the Shofar: The Sound That Remembers

April 14, 2026

Yom Hashoah evokes traumatic and heartbreaking sounds of the darkest chapter in our people's history. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear the broken windows of storefronts on Kristallnacht. The shattering of glass in synagogues and in homes. I can hear the crackling of paper, the reams of holy words burning in shuls,...

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Seeing Hashem; Seeing People

April 6, 2026

On the third day of Pesach, we read that Moshe asks Hashem to be allowed to see Hashem’s Presence. Hashem responds that Hashem will “make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name Hashem, and the grace that I grant and the compassion that I show, but you cannot...

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When “official” does not equal simplicity

March 30, 2026

In the modern online space, the word “official” sounds quite convincing. It creates a feeling of reliability, stability and as if guarantees that you are dealing with a proven service. But in practice, everything is a little more complicated. Users are increasingly realizing that even an official website is just the beginning, not a complete...

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From Slavery to Revelation: How Life’s Egypts Shape the Heart for Torah and Ultimate Redemption

March 25, 2026

Why did the Jewish people, chosen to receive the Torah, first descend into centuries of exile and slavery in Egypt? Why could the Torah not have been given earlier to the seventy souls who entered Egypt, or even to the Patriarchs in Eretz Yisrael? The Haggadah teaches that “in every generation a person must see...

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Vivamus in lacus lacus. Donec ultrices, augue ut lobortis lobortis, purus massa sodales lorem, nec ultricies urna metus a est. Duis rutrum scelerisque orci, accumsan efficitur ligula. Fusce efficitur congue purus, at aliquet tortor feugiat at. Nam feugiat et enim eu finibus. Quisque quis justo vitae lectus porttitor maximus sed id ex. Integer ligula sem, tristique et sem ac, congue cursus ipsum. Morbi in ullamcorper felis. Phasellus ut imperdiet ipsum. Etiam elementum lectus urna, sed euismod mauris tempus a. Aliquam eleifend fermentum dolor dignissim eleifend. Phasellus facilisis id ligula vitae pretium. Praesent sit amet euismod neque. Nam eget ornare nunc. Sed porta quam nisl, ut mattis urna porttitor sed.

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