Dr. Dina Ripsman Eylon

Website: http://www.women-in-judaism.com
Residence : Toronto, Canada

Biographical information

Author and publisher, Dina Ripsman Eylon has a Ph.D. in Post-biblical Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Toronto. She has taught various undergraduate courses at Carleton University and at the University of Toronto. For the past eight years, she has served as the publisher and editor of Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal and the more recent Golda Magazine. These gender-related publications have engaged and promoted new feminist scholarship in Jewish Studies.

In her book Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnostism (2003), Ripsman Eylon examines the development of the concept of reincarnation, gilgul, in the first kabbalistic work that deals with the topic, the late-12th-century Sefer ha-Bahir (The Book of Clarity). She discusses background historical information on the theory of reincarnation in eastern and western thought, the soul and afterlife in Talmudic and Midrashic literature and in the Nag Hammadi library, and the doctrine of reincarnation in the Bahir itself. Her articles and poems appeared in The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, American Writers Classics, Encyclopedia of Rape, Convergence: Poets for Peace, Kinesis, American National Biography, Reader's Guide to Judaism, and in the anthology Stress(full) Sister(hood).

• Reincarnation in Early Jewish Mysticism - The theory of reincarnation emerged rather late in Judaism. This lecture traces elements of reincarnation in early sources, such as the talmudic and aggadic literature. It establishes a new perspective on the role rabbinic literature played in shaping and nurturing the Jewish notion of reincarnation as it appears for the first time in the Bahir and subsequently in the Zohar.
• Reincarnation in Sefer Ha-Bahir - The Jewish belief in reincarnation first appeared in Sefer ha-Bahir, one of the earliest and oldest Kabbalistic works, and until the publication of the Zohar, probably the most influential. This lecture delves into the enigmatic nature of the Bahir's systematic belief in transmigration.
• Jewish Women in the Yishuv (Pre-state Israel) - For decades the role of women in pre-state Israel was marginalized and often overlooked. This lecture brings to the forefront the lives of these women pioneers, particularly Manya Shochat, Rachel Yanait Ben Zvi, and Rachel Katznelson-Shazar.
• Between Memoir and Narrative: Famous Autobiographies by Jewish Women - A visual and virtual journey into the fascinating autobiographical works of three remarkable Jewish women: Gluckel of Hamelin, Gertrude Stein and Betty Friedan.
• Golda Meir: A Pioneer Story - Golda's life is phenomenal in the way it intertwines with the history of modern Zionism, mirroring the toil and turbulence of a newly born Jewish state. This lecture sheds light on Golda as a social and political leader, wife and mother.

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