Offerings

Tutoring — Consulting — Scholar in Residence — Group Teaching and Facilitation — Ritual

Tutoring

$200/hr

Self-Selected Topic Tutorial

I will work with you to tailor a curriculum for a defined number of weeks or on an ongoing basis to explore topics, genres, and skills that are alive for you. I have worked with students ranging from those new to Judaism to those with many years of text study experience.

I teach niddah (halakhot about menstruation and sex) with a feminist lens to anyone who wants to learn. In particular, I have taught many queer couples and individuals. My goal is for you to be empowered with textual knowledge in your choices! I tailor my curriculum to your particular questions and needs.

Niddah

Guided Halakhic Research Chavruta

You pick the topic, and I guide you through the relevant halakhic (Jewish life-guiding) texts. In this model, we follow where the texts lead, with a focus on empowering you to better understand both the topic and the halakhic process.

Original-Language Guided Gemara Chavruta

What it says on the box! We learn Gemara together, and I provide guidance, gentle nudges, and advice about best practices to improve your skills as we simultaneously learn content. 

Avigayil guided me expertly through the difficult halakhic sources. We debated interpretations and worked together to discern the underlying principles.…Even as we engaged in that serious intellectual work, she never let me forget that my question was also a seeking, a hope that halakha could speak to me, a queer femme woman, as my whole self.

Avigayil did guide me to an answer to my halakhic question, one I still rely on years later. But she did more for me than answer a sheylah. The experience behind arriving at that answer is what I truly treasure: learning rigorous sources with an insightful and compassionate woman versed both in halakha and queer femme experience. I felt that Avigayil was standing alongside me, shoulder to shoulder, as she showed me how to make a spiritual home within a tradition that was not written with people like me in mind.

— Lexi Kohanski

$180-$220 hourly

Consulting

Discounts available for multi-session work

Issue-specific consulting 

I am available for one-off or ongoing consulting for clergy, educators, and nonprofits around integrating women’s Torah into your teaching and programming, advising queer community members sensitively, especially around the integration of traditional practice and queerness, reviewing or advising on hilkhot niddah (laws around menstruation and sex), integrating Torah into your community trainings and policies, and beyond. 

Curriculum development 

I offer curriculum development services for a range of Jewishly-rooted organizations, including but not limited to synagogues, advocacy organizations, and leadership development programs. I create accessible, scaffolded curricula that draw from a deep well of Jewish canonical sources and materials beyond the canon. I offer both broad-scale guidance on texts and granular lesson plans inviting maximum student engagement and lively classrooms.

Example areas:

  • Sex, Relationships, and Judaism

  • Shabbat - The How and the Why

  • Jewish Visions of Justice

Rabbinic Thought Partnership

Modeled off of a long-term collaboration with Rabbi Shira Stutman, I work with rabbis to develop Torah content and structure for sermons and classes. I suggest additional sources that engage with your ideas, help brainstorm topics when you are stuck, and when relevant, learn Torah in chavruta with you to help develop your thinking and teaching. I offer this as an ongoing relationship or a shorter-term collaboration (think: High Holiday season)! 

It is overstating the case only slightly to say that over the last four years, there would be no Rabbi Shira Stutman without Rabbi Avigayil Halpern. Avigayil is both muse and mirror, critic and champion, researcher and translator.

Most weeks, before I write a word of a sermon, Avigayil has already found the texts I didn't know I was looking for — not just the obvious midrash, but the one two steps more esoteric that I’ve never seen before. Every sermon and text study I've taught in that time has had her somewhere inside it — in the texts she found, the question she pushed, the sentence she said wasn't good enough yet. She is the chevruta and backstop that every pulpit rabbi deserves.

— Rabbi Shira Stutman

Aspen Jewish Congregation and Mixed Multitudes Consulting

Scholar-in-Residence and Group Facilitation

I have taught exciting, lively Torah to students of all backgrounds around the world. I specialize in guiding students with mixed experiences of Jewish text in learning skillfully together, with nobody being made to feel small or left behind. I support groups in building community around shared exploration of values and ideas through Torah learning, whether for an hour, a day, a weekend, or longer.

See my sample classes and my Scholar-in-Residence one-pager.

    • $400-$500 for 1-2 hours, 5-30 students.

    • I can teach a series for your organization or synagogue, or a self-organized group of people with interest in a specific topic! 

    • Between $1000-$3000 depending on duration and topic of series.

    • $1000 for a full day of teaching and facilitation.

    • Inclusive of 1 sermon, 1 smaller drash, 1-2 classes. 

    • $1500 - $2500 plus travel expenses.

    • Base rate of $1500 for three sessions, $300 per additional session, plus $200/hr for developing new curriculum and materials.

Avigayil is an extraordinarily talented educator that brought incredible richness to our community. She shares her expertise with sensitivity, accessibility, and passion, drawing diverse audiences into the world of Torah. I was impressed with how well she could navigate complex and sensitive topics with our group, leveraging her gifts and skills to engage our community in deep and meaningful Torah.

— Rabbi Rachel Isaacs

Center for Small Town Jewish Life

Our community is diverse in many ways, including political assumptions and previous and current Jewish involvement. Walking into this complex scene, Rav Avigayil hit it out of the ball park. She taught two engaging and intelligent classes, one on the Jewish ethics of talking about our sex lives and one on queer moments in hilchot nidda. Both successfully integrated learners with an extremely wide range of Jewish textual knowledge and both were fun and intellectually rigorous…She was a delight to host and to welcome into our community, and brought rabbinic perspective and expertise that enriched my constituents. What a joy to learn with her!

— Rabbi Sarah Mulhern

Silverstein Base Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL

Lifecycle and Ritual

If you are seeking a traditional, halakhic wedding with an eye toward a ceremony that reflects your liberatory commitments, I might be your rabbi! I charge $2000 for wedding officiation, including six sessions in advance to plan a ritual that is aligned with your values and ongoing communication as part of our planning. 

For many queer people, wedding costs can be complicated with family dynamics. I am happy to discuss flexibility in my rate.

Weddings

I work with pop-up and established communities to facilitate traditionally-rooted, creative. ritual with an eye toward queerness. I’ve led Passover Seders, Tashlich rituals, and more! Reach out to dream together.

Jewish ritual

Rabbi Avigayil was AMAZING to work with. She is incredibly knowledgeable and was able to break down concepts in our learning in a way that was easy to understand. She was always incredibly warm, steady, and supportive throughout the process. Rabbi Avigayil was truly a cherished guide and mentor throughout our wedding planning from start to finish and we have endless gratitude for her. 

— Suri and Stacy

married October 2025