Understanding the strength of the communal Beit Midrash style of learning, SHI offers thought-provoking, text-based study programs aimed at expanding the intellectual horizons of the participants and providing them with the tools to respond more meaningfully to the contemporary issues and challenges facing Jews and Jewish life Israel and around the world.
The Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought Beit Midrash programs focus on compelling issues of Judaism and gender. As women’s role and status continue to evolve, Israel and Judaism must keep pace by examining the gender definitions and distinctions that they perpetuate, opening these up for greater possibilities.
Through the two year Seder Nashim Beit Midrash programs, Center Fellows explore intersections of Judaic and women’s studies, creating new possibilities for the place of women in Israeli and Jewish life. The program brings together a cohort comprised of 1/3 masters students, 1/3 doctoral students, and 1/3 post doctoral students for 12 weekly of study two days a week. Each participant receives a fellowship based on his or her level of academic seniority.
The Beit Midrash is supervised by distinguished academics and researchers from Israel's distinguished universities. The 2010-11 cycle of the program focused on Jewish literature from a feminist perspective. Participants make the program’s original thinking and scholarship available to the general public by producing a collection of academic writings for publication.
Beit Midrash Programs 
