Dr. Mijal Bitton is the Rosh Kehilla (communal leader) and co-founder of the Downtown Minyan.

 

A thought leader, academic and educator, Mijal works to lead the Downtown Minyan as a community guided by Jewish covenantal aspirations and steeped in rich and accessible Jewish learning. Seamlessly integrating her Sephardic, Latin-American and Modern Orthodox backgrounds, Mijal teaches Torah exploring what it means to embody complex Jewish values in the 21st century: grappling with difficult questions and seeing the world and Jewish tradition as a precious and eternal symbiotic relationship.

 

Mijal serves as Scholar in Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and is working on a monograph on questions of tolerance and liberalism as seen through the prism of the New York Syrian Jewish community. She is the recipient of the Wexner fellowship among other recognitions.  

 

Mijal is married to Rabbi Sion Setton, and has two children: Ness and Mazali.

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PUBLICATIONS & AWARDS:

The Jewish Week 36 Under 36

Many Jews of color and diverse Jews are politically conservative — and many voted for Trump - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Is Jewish Continuity Sexist? — Sources Journal

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Connect with Mijal at mijalbitton@nyu.edu