Michal Raucher

Michal Raucher is an associate professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. Her research lies at the intersection of the anthropology of women in Judaism, reproductive ethics, and religious authority. Michal has a background in religion, anthropology, gender studies, and bioethics.

As a Fulbright Fellow, Dr. Raucher conducted research on the reproductive ethics of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish women in Israel. Her first book, which is based on this research, was published by Indiana University Press in 2020. It is titled, "Conceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women."

Dr. Raucher’s second book, tentatively titled “The New Rabbis,” is based on six years of research with women who have been ordained as Orthodox rabbis in America. “The New Rabbis,” explores how religious authority is changing in Orthodoxy in America with a focus on women rabbis. Research for this book has been supported by the Israel Institute, the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, the American Academy of Religion, and the University of Cincinnati.

Michal has also published on Jewish pronatalism, the study of Orthodox Judaism, sexuality and gender in Judaism, religion and bioethics, abortion legislation in Israel, and female religious advisors on the Internet.