The shelves of the Beit Midrash are overwhelmingly dominated by books and articles written by men — we want to change that. The fellowship elevates Jewish women's scholarship by building a cohort of scholars and providing the skills, support, and resources necessary to produce new content. Previous cohorts have worked on a wide variety of pieces and have published with publishers like Religion Unplugged, Sefaria, Urim Publishers, The Forward and even self published.

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Va'tichtov is a groundbreaking fellowship of advanced level female scholars, united to make our scholarship more accessible. The 2025-2026 fellowship is specifically for women who plan to write teshuvot. All applicants must have proficient enough English to attend English language workshops, but participants can write their final piece in Hebrew or in English.

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The Fellowship Includes:

• Eight sessions with contemporary teshuva writers about the process of researching and writing teshuvot

• A chevruta for accountability and peer editing

• Coaching from halakhic experts

• An online final convening with the goal of inspiring other aspiring and accomplished female writers

• Publishing support for a final teshuva, teshuva outline, or a summary of the halakhic issues and answer (3,000 words or longer submitted by May 1, 2026.)

• $1,500 stipend to support your writing, upon completion of your project, submissions of all feedback forms, and attendance at all sessions
   

Applications will be accepted until May 5, 2025. While applications are accepted from all locations, this fellowship supports writing in English or Hebrew only. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by late June 2025. Once accepted, all accepted applicants have two weeks to confirm participation.

 

Qualifications:
This fellowship is open only to those who meet the following qualifications:

• Identifies as a woman

• Has semikha, an advanced degree in Jewish studies, or the equivalent

• Has proficiency in reading halakhic literature in its original language

• Intent to compose (in English or Hebrew) a completed teshuva intended for publication

• Past participants in Va'tichtov who meet the above qualifications are invited to apply to join a second cohort
   

for questions regarding va’tichtov: she writes contact, Rachel Zorbaron 

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