Women’s Initiative for Jewish Studies (WIJS) at Young Israel of New Rochelle is proud to present Dr. Yael Landman on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 @ 8:30 pm (ET) on Zoom. Dr. Landman will be the second speaker of the 2026-2027 season in the monthly scholarly programming offered by WIJS at YINR.
Dr. Landman’s lecture is entitled, “Anatomy of a Punishment: What Happens to the Sotah in Numbers 5?” Numbers 5 introduces the case of the sotah, a woman whose husband jealously accuses her of adultery but lacks the necessary evidence to prove it. The woman undergoes one of the Torah’s most unusual rituals, and exactly what she experiences if proven guilty is notoriously difficult to understand. This lecture focuses on what happens to the body of the sotah when the ritual determines her guilt. We will consider the meanings of the particular bodily punishment she experiences and how it fits with biblical ideas about women, bodies, shame, and punishment.
Yael Landman is Assistant Professor of Bible at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Her first book, Legal Writing, Legal Practice: The Biblical Bailment Law and Divine Justice (Brown Judaic Studies, 2022), received the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise in 2024. Prior to her position at JTS, Landman taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Yeshiva University, and the Drisha Institute. She also served as Acquisitions Editor at Gorgias Press and has held fellowships at New York University School of Law, the Herbert D. Katz Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and Brooklyn College. Landman holds a PhD from Yeshiva University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
All WIJS programming is open to women and men. Please visit https://www.yinr.org/wijs.html to view the complete WIJS 2026-27 schedule. For more information, to be added to the WIJS email list, or for Zoom information, please call 914-636-2215 or email: wijs@yinr.org. Individuals on the WIJS mailing list will automatically receive the Zoom information.
