![]() ![]() Ohev Sholom is one of a handful of Modern Orthodox synagogues where bat mitzvah girls read Torah… and we’ll touch on that, too. Some of you might also be wondering how a girl could read Torah in an Orthodox synagogue in the first place. And we’ll talk to Batya about her love of Torah, her commitment to Jewish law, and her desire to be recognized for who she is, rather than defined by a disability. We’ll talk about a new braille notation system that was created for Batya. Nahanni: In this episode of Can We Talk?, we’ll hear from Batya’s mother, Aliza Sperling, about her pioneering scholarship on blind people reading Torah. Batya is blind, and in order for her to read Torah for an Orthodox Jewish congregation, a few unprecedented things had to happen. Nahanni: But Batya’s bat mitzvah was exceptional for other reasons, too. She also gave an insightful and entertaining D’var Torah, or sermon. She chanted her Haftarah and led Shacharit, the morning prayers. ![]() Batya leyned, or chanted, the entire Torah portion. Nahanni: The morning of Batya’s bat mitzvah, the shul was packed with three hundred and fifty people. They’ve been in school together since Kindergarten, and we go to the same synagogue: Ohev Sholom in Washington, DC. Batya is one of my daughter’s closest friends. And it felt really special cause I couldn’t see anything but that fabric of the case of the Torah… so it was really cool. Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echad.īatya: I couldn’t see anything, I could just see the fabric of the Torah, and I felt like my words kind of bounced off of it and around. She’s with her dad Josh Milner and some friends.īatya, singing: Sh’ma Yisrael… Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echad.Ĭhorus: Sh’ma yisrael. But I did record Batya rehearsing a couple of days before. It was on Shabbat in an Orthodox Synagogue. Nahanni: I couldn’t record the bat mitzvah itself. the groundbreaking bat mitzvah of Batya Sperling Milner.īatya: One of the highlights of my bat mitzvah was when I got up there with the Torah and I was like Sh’ma Yisrael! And that was great because I was super loud and it was very dramatic. Nahanni Rous: Welcome to Can We Talk?, the podcast of the Jewish Women’s Archive. I like to read and I sometimes like to write and I also like to tandem bike. ![]() Batya Sperling Milner: Hi, I’m Batya Sperling Milner and I live in Washington, DC and it was recently my bat mitzvah, so now I’m 12. ![]()
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