Your question could include concerns related to:
All contact is confidential and will not be shared with a third party without your permission. If you would like the Yoetzet to contact a specific rabbi in the process of answering your question, please indicate this in your message.
Events and Programs
FEATURED
Your question could include concerns related to:
All contact is confidential and will not be shared with a third party without your permission. If you would like the Yoetzet to contact a specific rabbi in the process of answering your question, please indicate this in your message.
Rifka Sonenberg teaches at Ulpanat Orot High School and is the resident educator at The House. She also teaches Torah privately. Rifka has a B.Sc. from York University and a teaching degree from Michlalah, Jerusalem. She spent three years studying at Nishmat, including one in Machon Gavoha, and is a yoetzet halacha trained in Nishmat’s Keren Ariel program.
Sarit Anstandig serves as JLIC Director at Binghamton University along with her husband Jared. Before moving to the upstate New York campus, Sarit lived with her family in Toronto and taught Judaic Studies at Bnei Akiva Schools. Prior to her time in Toronto, Sarit taught at Yeshivat Frisch, University of Michigan Hillel, and Farber Hebrew Day School. She received a Masters degree in Bible from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School, a Master’s in Talmud from Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies, and a Masters in Education from University of Michigan. She is thrilled to work with the Toronto community and be a resource for women as they navigate their halachic journey.
Invite a yoetzet to have an intimate conversation with your kallah or niddah review class, your mommy and me class, a community group, with you and your menopausal friends, your cancer support group or just you and your friends.
To book a yoetzet email speaker below:
Who
01
The Canadian Yoatzot Initiative (CYI) connects individuals in the Greater Toronto Area and across Canada who have halachic questions to a yoetzet halacha, an halachic advisor, who can offer knowledgeable and sensitive advice in a timely fashion. Questions can be discussed directly via phone, email or through our webform.
The Canadian Yoatzot Initiative is run under the auspices of Mizrachi Canada in their capacity as a leading organization in Canada which looks to add value and enhance the modern Orthodox and religious Zionist community in Canada.
Why
02
What
03
A yoetzet halacha is an advisor in Jewish Law, certified at Nishmat by a panel of Orthodox rabbis to be a resource for women with questions related to taharat hamishpachah, an area of Jewish Law that relates to marriage, sexuality and women’s health. This role was devised to assist women who are more comfortable discussing very personal issues with another woman. Yoatzot are extremely knowledgeable but do consult with Orthodox rabbinic authorities when approached with questions which demand a posek or decisor’s attention.
Canadian Yoatzot Halacha are graduates of Keren Ariel Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program at Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. Yoatzot Fellows, who are also trained in America through Nishmat’s Miriam Glaubach Center, are chosen for their Torah scholarship, having spent multiple years studying halachic texts, as well as for their leadership ability and strong religious commitment. The two-year certification course includes over 1000 hours of intensive study of rabbinic texts under the direction of Rabbi Yaacov Warhaftig and Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin in Israel and Rabbi Kenneth Auman in the U.S. Yoatzot receive training from experts in modern medicine and psychology, including gynecology, infertility, women’s health, family dynamics, and sexuality. Over 100 yoatzot halacha have graduated from Nishmat programs in Israel and the U.S. since 1997. They work in Orthodox Jewish communities throughout Israel, North America, and in London, England.
All contact is confidential and will not be shared with a third party without your permission.
Please choose one of the following to contact a yoetzet in Canada:
1-855-YOATZOT
(962-8968)
Please call and leave your name, phone number, a general description of your question and the best time to reach you. We will return your call within 24 hours, excluding Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
ask@yoatzot.ca
Please send an email with a description of your question. It is often helpful to discuss a question over the phone.
If you are comfortable with this, please include your telephone number and the best time to reach you. We will respond within 24 hours, excluding Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
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North
Our North drop-off location is at the BAYT, 613 Clark Ave W. in the mailbox outside of the Keilim Mikva.
Please follow the instructions and use the form on their website.
Click here to be redirected to their site.
Central
Our Central drop-off location is at Clanton Park Shul, 11 Lowesmoor Ave. The dropbox is located at the back of the shul (off Midvale Ave.) on the North-East corner of the building.
Please print out and include this form and follow instructions on our site.
When it is not possible, please include a note on paper indicating your phone number and/or email address, and whether the sheila is: a) a hefsek tahara, b) a moch, c) which day of sheva nekiim it’s from, d) a ketem (stain), e) if you would like a response from a yoetzet only.
Text 647-225-5480 upon drop-off with the word “Dropbox”.
South
Our South drop-off location is at 525 Coldstream Ave. The dropbox is located at the bottom of the driveway, near the garage.
Please print out and include this form and follow instructions on our site.
When it is not possible, please include a note on paper indicating your phone number and/or email address, and whether the sheila is: a) a hefsek tahara, b) a moch, c) which day of sheva nekiim it’s from, d) a ketem (stain), e) if you would like a response from a yoetzet only.
Text 416-712-9752 upon drop-off with the word “Mailbox”.
The Yoatzot Halacha work under the auspices of the Yoetzet Halacha Rabbinic Council of Canada, which was established by community Rabbis to offer support, halachic guidance and direction to the Yoatzot Halacha in our community. The Council will be working with the Yoatzot on a regular basis to create guidelines and general policies for the initiative.
Rabbi Eliott Diamond * Rabbi Seth Grauer * Rabbi Aaron Greenberg * Rabbi Charles Grysman * Rabbi Noam Horowitz * Rabbi Aaron Katchen * Rabbi Jay Kelman * Rabbi Daniel Korobkin * Rabbi Rafi Lipner * Rabbi Elan Mazer * Rabbi Avram Rothman * Rabbi Chaim Strauchler * Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner
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