About Devorah Kigel

“Inspiring...candid...relatable...passionate...genuine...moving...practical...eye-opening.” These are the adjectives Devorah Kigel's students use to describe her and her classes. Using humor, personal stories, and sources (both secular & from Torah), Devorah manages to convey deep wisdom without being preachy or condescending. Her honesty about her struggles along her journey to living a more traditional Jewish life, as well as her accessible way of relating to her students, make her able to reach people who would not be reached otherwise. Devorah holds her B.A. from Hamilton College, where she majored in French and minored in women’s studies, and her M.A. in French from Middlebury College. She spent more than two years living in Paris and wrote her masters thesis on anti-Semitism in France. She then worked for various NYC Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah, and the Jewish Renaissance Center. After spending some time in Israel at the Neve Yerushalayim yeshiva, she got married, started a family, and has been teaching classes on Judaism for women since 2001. She has lectured at NYU, Rutgers, Emory University, Touro College, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Hillel Torah in Chicago, EMET, Aish HaTorah, Partners in Torah, and Jewish International Connection among others. In addition to frequent speaking engagements, Devorah prepares brides for marriage (kallah teacher), works as a dating and marriage coach, teaches monthly marriage enhancement classes (shalom bayit) in four NYC area communities, and hosts Shabbat guests every week. Devorah's husband Reuven is Director of Campus Outreach for EMET, and runs programs on 7 different NYC campuses. The Kigels have 4 children, B"H.

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