Rabbi Avigayil Halpern has taught Torah, built community and written for more than a decade, viewing traditional Jewish texts through feminist and LGBTQ+ lenses. Originally from Connecticut, Halpern, 27, now lives in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
In July, Halpern will start as the founding rabbi of Based-In Washington, D.C., which is an offshoot of Base — a network of home-centered Jewish communities for young adults. Halpern, who was ordained in June 2023, will host events both at her home and at local bars, parks and other locations.
What inspired you to take the path of becoming a rabbi?
I grew up Modern Orthodox. When I was in high school, I discovered that I really loved studying Talmud, and that evolved into really wanting a Jewish life that was not just about studying, but that was also about action and involvement in ritual and prayer. So I shifted to a more gender-egalitarian practice. I went into my undergrad degree, which I did in Jewish studies, with the intention of pursuing a Ph.D. in Talmud and, through my involvement in the undergrad Jewish community, I realized that I wanted to be involved in Torah study in a way that was really embedded in community and relationships, and I pursued the rabbinate.
What’s the importance to you of teaching Torah?
Torah is the collective well of thousands of years of Jewish wisdom that’s been building on itself, that people have been building on and I just love it — I just think it’s beautiful and interesting and exciting. I want as many people as possible to have access to Torah because I think it’s beautiful and wonderful and exciting and can be enriching for people’s lives, no matter where they’re coming from Jewishly.
How do you incorporate feminism and LGBTQ+ identity into your work?
A core belief that I have about Torah is that Torah isn’t just what’s on the page. It’s about the experiences that each of us brings to Torah when we learn it and the conversation between every person learning Torah and the text. And one of the ways that Torah has historically not been able to grow is that it’s been limited to a certain kind of person who’s been able to study and teach Torah, and we’re now in this amazing time of access and flowering of access. I think that not only do humans of all genders and all sexualities need Torah, but the Torah also really needs us to grow and thrive.
I think Judaism is incomplete without [feminism and LGBTQ+ study]. I think Judaism needs it; I think the world needs it. And I think there’s so much beauty and depth to be found at those intersections.
I’m really lucky to have come of age in a world as that kind of Torah learning context, where I’m secondary-, almost third-generation of women who grew up in Orthodox context with access to Talmud study, for example.
It’s not nearly as hard to be queer and observant as it was 10 years ago, 20 years ago, certainly 30 years ago and, at the same time, we’re at the beginning of a stage in Jewish life and relationship to Torah study where people’s experiences of gender and sexuality are moving from being problems to be solved — like what do I do about all the sexism in the text? Oh no, this text says XYZ bad thing about queer people — to thinking about how can our experiences, writings and art about our gender and our sexuality be things that actually enrich and inform Torah as well? This is not just a set of problems to be solved, but a set of really generative opportunities.
Tell me about your recent trip to Germany.
I was working for Hillel Deutschland, where I was doing actually a lot of similar work to what I’ll be doing with Based-In [Washington, D.C.]: education, especially for folks who didn’t have a lot of access to Torah study or to Jewish ritual before for reasons of gender or sexuality or background.
Berlin is, for obvious reasons, a very complicated place to be Jewish. The population I was working with is a really diverse, interesting population of folks who grew up in Berlin, folks from around the EU who decided to live there, some American ex-pats and there’s people coming from all different backgrounds who are really looking to deepen their engagement with Jewish texts and Jewish ritual, which is their heritage that they might not have had access to before.
How do you plan to get the word out about Based-In D.C.?
I need to figure out the best way to be online. I’m hoping to start out with a lot of coffee dates with both potential folks for whom Based-In could be a community and people who are my colleagues in that Jewish young adult space.
What are you looking forward to most about Based-In D.C.?
I’m excited to see where the needs are and figure out how I can best collaborate with all of the amazing other organizations that are already doing fantastic work. I’m excited to see how we can become part of this already thriving ecosystem. I’m just really excited to start to build community … in Jewish D.C.
Based-In Washington, D.C. is primarily geared toward Jewish adults ages 18 to 35; participation is welcome to anyone regardless of denomination.
