"A religion rooted in God cannot be a place where everything is a zero-sum game. Do people really think God is that small? That He—or She—can love only a few people? This is a very deep way that I live. I believe every person is created in the image of God—which, for me, means there’s room for everybody in this world."
Tova Hartman is a pioneering scholar, author, and activist whose work bridges religious tradition, gender theory, and community leadership. A professor of gender studies and education, Hartman currently serves as the Dean of Humanities at Ono Academic College in Israel.
She is best known internationally as the founder of Shira Hadasha, a groundbreaking Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem that challenges conventional gender roles in Jewish prayer by creating a halakhically committed space for women’s voices in ritual life.
Hartman earned her Ph.D. in psychology of religion from Harvard University and has taught at institutions including Hebrew University and Bar-Ilan University. Her academic work explores the intersections of feminism, theology, and Jewish identity, often grappling with how inherited religious practices can be reimagined without being abandoned. She is the daughter of the influential Jewish philosopher Rabbi Professor David Hartman, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and her work both extends and complicates her father’s legacy by foregrounding the lived experiences of women within traditional Judaism.
Beyond academia, Hartman is a widely sought public intellectual and interfaith speaker, regularly participating in dialogues on religion, gender, and ethics in both Israeli and international forums.
Tova Hartman is a pioneering scholar, author, and activist whose work bridges religious tradition, gender theory, and community leadership. A professor of gender studies and education, Hartman currently serves as the Dean of Humanities at Ono Academic College in Israel.
She is best known internationally as the founder of Shira Hadasha, a groundbreaking Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem that challenges conventional gender roles in Jewish prayer by creating a halakhically committed space for women’s voices in ritual life.
Hartman earned her Ph.D. in psychology of religion from Harvard University and has taught at institutions including Hebrew University and Bar-Ilan University. Her academic work explores the intersections of feminism, theology, and Jewish identity, often grappling with how inherited religious practices can be reimagined without being abandoned. She is the daughter of the influential Jewish philosopher Rabbi Professor David Hartman, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and her work both extends and complicates her father’s legacy by foregrounding the lived experiences of women within traditional Judaism.
Beyond academia, Hartman is a widely sought public intellectual and interfaith speaker, regularly participating in dialogues on religion, gender, and ethics in both Israeli and international forums.
