Chana Lanter

Majors: Philosophy and Religious Studies

Minors: Linguistics, Translation Studies

Interdisciplinary Honors: Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Certificate in Jewish Studies

Chana is a rare two-time Kennedy Award winner!

Advisor: Ari Y. Kelman

2023 winning seminar paper: 

“Advisors, Not Decisors: Yoatzot Halakha and Partial Authority" examines the emergent role of yoatzot halakha (‘halakhic guideswomen’) in Modern Orthodox life, especially in relation to rabbis. The paper analyzes how yoatzot answer women’s questions for insight into their use of halakhic creativity and authority. The paper explores concepts such as embodied knowledge, partial perspectives, institutional legitimation, and the interface between halakhic and secular.

2025 winning honors thesis, "The Yoetzet and Her Halakha: Discursive Practices of Female Experts in Jewish Law." This thesis explores the discursive practices of yoatzot halakha, Orthodox female experts in menstrual purity law. The project illustrates how yoatzot halakha help women with their relationship to menstrual purity law, such as developing of novel legal rulings and using pastoral skills—and the tensions involved in such work.

Chana also served as the Jewish Studies liaison to the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) for the 2023/2024 academic year.