I am UNORTHOBOXED: Sharon Gabin Lichtman

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” and neither will I, Sharon Gabin Lichtman, be boxed in. Throughout my 40 years as an Orthodox woman, I have rarely stayed within my prescribed space. A huge accomplishment given that I was schooled in the Bais Yaakov system. 

After completing my degree in Forensic Psychology, from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, I worked as a pre-release counselor for the Department of Corrections in Valhalla, New York. At the time I was a 23-year-old young woman, recently married, working in the male section of the jail. Over the next few years I became pregnant and joked that “I’d be on the cover of the Post for having the inmates deliver my baby” because of the numerous lockdowns that made leaving the building impossible. After a few years with the Department of Corrections, I accepted a promotion to work as a Crime Analyst for the Department of Probation. I stayed with the Department of Probation for five years before shifting gears to work in academia. I am now an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Adelphi University in Garden City. 

Living in Woodmere, New York, I am constantly frustrated by the limitations my religion and community have established for women. However, I am blessed to have met some like-minded women, and together we have established a successful grassroots organization, the Five Towns Orthodox Feminists. We were brought together by a post on Facebook asking about local women’s Megillah reading. Together we have created monthly events in the Five Towns area for women such as dancing with a Torah on Simchat Torah, women-led Megillah reading, and lectures by leading female Torah scholars that local shuls refuse to host. 

In addition to my leadership role in the Five Towns Orthodox Feminists organization, I am a proud member of the local Hadran of Long Island group, a passionate group of women learning Daf Yomi under the leadership of Rabbanit Michelle Farber. We are into our third year of the cycle and have only missed one gathering to celebrate a completion of a Masechet. When I was first learning the Daf, my son’s Rebbe was also learning and asked if any of the dads had completed the recent masechet. One of my three sons bravely stated: Not my dad but my mom!

Recently, I joined a cohort of Orthodox Jewish leadership after having successfully completed the Maharat Tefillah Community Leader Fellowship. The ice breaker event was sharing an item that displays your vision for impact. I chose to use a pillow with the inscription “Don’t mess with Yalta”. Yalta is a woman from Talmud times who refused to accept being excluded from a “cup of blessing” and threatened to smash 400 barrels of wine if she was not included. (Brachot 51b). He refused, and she made good on her promise. I aim to be Yalta.