Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, pioneer of women’s leadership in Orthodoxy, dies December 24, 2020 5:49 pm Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin and his wife, Chana, started a groundbreaking program for Orthodox women to answer questions of Jewish law. (Courtesy of Nishmat)
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(JTA) Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, a pioneer in the world of Orthodox Jewish feminism who experienced personal tragedy later in life, died Wednesday in Israel.
Henkin and his wife, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, founded a program for women to study the laws of family purity and answer Jewish legal questions on the subject breaking new ground for women’s leadership roles in Orthodox communities. In 2018, Henkin was the recipient of the Katz Prize in recognition of his work on women’s place in Orthodoxy as well as his numerous published works of Jewish legal opinions.