Rabbi Lauren Tuchman is a sought after speaker, spiritual leader and educator. Ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018, she is, as far as she is aware, the first blind woman in the world to enter the rabbinate. She provides consulting to individuals and organizations across the Jewish community on a variety of matters pertinent to disability access and inclusion. She has taught in numerous synagogues and other organizations across North America. She was named to the New York Jewish Week’s 36 To Watch for her innovative leadership concerning inclusion of Jews with disabilities in all aspects of Jewish life. In 2017, while still a rabbinical student, she delivered an ELI Talk entitled We All Were at Sinai: The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah.

In addition to her work in the disability inclusion space, Rabbi Tuchman passionately believes in the power of spiritual and contemplative practice as a path of transformational personal and collective change for the Jewish world and beyond. In 2024, she launched Disability Wisdom As Soul Care in partnership with Kirva, formerly The Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project. She is an alum of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Clergy Leadership Program and is currently training to become a Jewish mindfulness teacher under the auspices of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and Or HaLev.

She is honored to have been a part of SVARA’s first cohort of teaching fellows, completing the SVARA Kollel in 2019. She joyously continues to be a regular teacher with SVARA.

You can find more at her website or via her newsletter

.