RELIGION

Mijal Bitton

Rosh Kehilla

The Rosh Kehilla of Manhattan's Downtown Minyan continued her rise in 2025 as one of American Jewish life's most compelling voices. Building on the foundation established in 2024 when the Maimonides Fund named her an inaugural Scholar in Residence, Bitton spent 2025 deepening her research on "the Surge"—the phenomenon of renewed Jewish engagement sweeping North America since October 7. Her "Wondering Jews" podcast with Noam Weissman grew into a weekly destination for tens of thousands seeking conversations that blend intellectual rigor with warmth and humor, tackling everything from antisemitism to Shabbat to the emotional complexities of loving Israel while living in the diaspora. She spoke at major Jewish gatherings, continued her groundbreaking sociological research on Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in America, and through her "Committed" Substack newsletter offered weekly Torah wisdom for navigating Jewish life in this transformed moment.