Speaking & Events
Her most-frequently-requested topics are:
- Raising Spiritually Fulfilled Children
- Finding (More) Meaning in Jewish Ritual and Practice
- Modern Slavery and the Jewish Problem
- The Mentsch Generation
- The Entire Torah While Standing on One Foot
- Unfolding Adventures in Lifecycle, Spirituality, and Gender
- Ways in to Jewish Spirituality
- Gratitude as a Spiritual Practice (a.k.a. Kvetching and
Kvelling: Two Essential Components of Jewish Spiritual
"DNA")
- Personal Encounters with God
- "You Shall Be Holy": Defining and Living Kedushah
- Deconstructing Dena: Discerning Women's Voices and God's
Voice in the Bible
- Reading the Bible with New Eyes: Feminist Interpretation
- Spiritual Jumpstart: A Workshop
- Finding “Bashert” and Making It Work
- A Do-It-Yourself Midrash Seminar
- Your Lifecycle and the Torah’s Lifecycle
- The Covenant of Circumcision: Ground Zero for the Jewish
Past and Future
- The Commandment to Be Happy
- A Jewish Meditation Workshop
- Positive Religion: What Ancient Judaism and Modern Science
Teach About Human Flourishing
- Leaving a Legacy: Ethical Wills and Living Right Now
- Spiritual (Auto)biography: Understanding Jewish Journeys
Backwards and Forwards
- Jewish Time Management: Befriending Time, Mastering
Timing, and Using Time Well.
- If I Could Only Tell You One Thing, This Would Be It
Non-Jewish audiences often request the subjects “Morality and Justice in the Hebrew Bible” and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Judaism, But Were Afraid to Ask.”
A favorite topic for college and graduate students is: “Jewish Sexual Ethics.”
Rabbi Orenstein also enjoys creating talks based on the Torah portion, the Jewish calendar, and the interests and needs of the communities she visits. She involves her audiences with q & a, text study, experiential learning, group participation, and her unique, engaging speaking style.
Please use the form below to contact us about bringing Rabbi Debra to your community. ShareWonder Media will send you a complimentary CD when we receive your inquiry. Rabbi Debra will be in touch with you to follow up about your needs and goals, as well as any questions about scheduling and logistics. Thank you for your interest!
Podcast Coming Soon
An award-winning author, she has spoken at more than 200 synagogues, and at the national conventions of Hadassah, Women’s League, The Rabbinical Assembly, The Central Conference of American Rabbis, Jewish Educators Assembly, and Professional Leadership Project, among others. Rabbi Orenstein is available for individual lectures, multi-part series, retreats, seminars, and scholar-in-residence weekends.
Fill out an Inquiry Form now and receive a complimentary audio CD.
Rabbi Debra Orenstein is sought-after as a speaker
to synagogues, schools, and conventions.
Speaker Inquiry Form
Please use the form below to let us know of your interest in bringing Rabbi Debra to your community. We will send you a complimentary CD when we receive your complete inquiry. Rabbi Debra will be in touch with you to discuss your needs and goals, along with scheduling and logistical concerns. Thank you for your interest.
Over 200 Synagogues and Federations, including:
Six-week residency as a visiting scholar for the Detroit Jewish community, sponsored by The Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
One-month residency as a visiting scholar for the West Palm Beach Jewish community, sponsored by the the West Palm Beach Federation.
B'nai Jeshurn, New York, NY
Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid, Milwaukee, WI
Congregation Ohev Shalom, Wallingford, PA - Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven (CT)
Federation of Northern New Jersey
Kehillah Synagogue, Chapel Hill, NC
Marlboro Jewish Center/Congregation Ohev Shalom, Marlboro, NJ
Institutions of Higher Learning, including:
Academy for Jewish Religion (New York)
Academy for Jewish Religion (Los Angeles)
American Jewish University
Arizona State University
Cal State Northridge
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (Los Angeles)
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America
UCLA
Rabbi Debra taught taught at the American Jewish University (then University of Judaism) for the 20 years that she lived in Los Angeles. She was a Finkelstein Fellow full-time instructor for two years, and then taught at the university part-time for 18 years afterwards. She had the joy of teaching every age group, from Hebrew High School through Elderhostel, and every Jewish background, from prospective converts to rabbinical students. Currently, she is an instructor at The Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, where she teaches rabbinical and cantorial students.
Conventions and Retreats, including:
Hadassah
Koach
The Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Chautauqua Institution
Chicago Board of Rabbis
New York Board of Rabbis
The Jewish Theological Seminary's Rabbinic Training Institute
The Rabbinical Assembly
Women's League/Sisterhood
Massachusetts Board of Rabbis
Los Angeles Board of Rabbis