Rachel Factor
Encyclopedia
Rachel Factor is an Orthodox Jewish
singer, dancer, actress, and performing-arts instructor.
, where she discovered an affinity for dance. She began performing in the community theater, and at age 18 moved to Los Angeles
to pursue a dance career in music videos, film, and television. She worked as a back-up dancer for Jody Watley
and Belinda Carlisle
and appeared in over 40 television commercials. She then moved to New York, where she performed as a Rockette
at Radio City Music Hall
, in off-Broadway
productions, and in Broadway
shows including Shogun: The Musical
and Miss Saigon
.
family. At age 29, she fell in love with Todd Factor, a Jewish television commercial producer, who told her that he had to marry someone Jewish. At first she was hesitant about converting, but decided to look into Judaism and was interested in what she learned. She studied for and underwent a Conservative
conversion
before her marriage and afterwards lived as a secular Jew, continuing to perform in the theater. However, until after the birth of her first child in 2002, and the child's circumcision
by an Orthodox mohel
, she and her husband began moving toward an Orthodox lifestyle.
After Factor and her 8-month-old son underwent Orthodox conversions, she changed her name to Rachel and she and her husband moved to Jerusalem where he could study in a baal teshuva
yeshiva.
the term "Jewish American Princess", recounting her journey to Orthodoxy. J.A.P. had a 50-city, 4-month tour in the U.S. and Canada. Her second show, Not Even Normal, depicted her journey from Broadway performer to kollel
wife. Her third show, Becoming Rich, explores the themes of faith and trust in God while living on a kollel salary.
In 2005 she opened the Jerusalem Women's Center for Theatre Arts (HaMachol Shel Bnos Miriam), a dance-and-wellness center in downtown Jerusalem.
In 2010, she opened Midreshes Shmuel, a post-high school women's Torah learning and performing arts program, under the direction of Rabbi Binyomin Moskovits, rosh yeshiva
of Midrash Shmuel Yeshiva. Her husband, who now goes by his Hebrew name
, Tovia, is a member of the Midrash Shmuel kollel
. In summer 2010, she also directed a 5-week Dance and Touring Summer Program introducing Orthodox Jewish teenage girls to the performing arts along with tours of Israel.
The Factors reside in the Sha'arei Hesed
neighborhood with their five children.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
singer, dancer, actress, and performing-arts instructor.
Early life and career
Born Christine Frances Masave Horii, Factor is a fourth-generation Japanese-American. She attended the Punahou SchoolPunahou School
Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S. State of Hawaii...
, where she discovered an affinity for dance. She began performing in the community theater, and at age 18 moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to pursue a dance career in music videos, film, and television. She worked as a back-up dancer for Jody Watley
Jody Watley
Jody Vanessa Watley is an American, singer, songwriter, record producer, and founder of Avitone Records whose music crosses genres from Pop, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Electronic Soul....
and Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer who gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands and the first such group whose members wrote their own songs and played their own instruments...
and appeared in over 40 television commercials. She then moved to New York, where she performed as a Rockette
The Rockettes
The Rockettes are a precision dance company performing out of the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York City. During the Christmas season, the Rockettes have performed five shows a day, seven days a week, for 77 years...
at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
, in off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
productions, and in Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows including Shogun: The Musical
Shogun: The Musical
Shōgun: The Musical is a musical with a book and lyrics by John Driver and music by Paul Chihara.Based on James Clavell's 1976 epic novel and the 1980 television mini-series of the same name it spawned, it centers on shipwrecked English sea captain John Blackthorne, who finds himself drawn into a...
and Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
.
Conversion to Judaism
Factor was raised in a ProtestantProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
family. At age 29, she fell in love with Todd Factor, a Jewish television commercial producer, who told her that he had to marry someone Jewish. At first she was hesitant about converting, but decided to look into Judaism and was interested in what she learned. She studied for and underwent a Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
conversion
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
before her marriage and afterwards lived as a secular Jew, continuing to perform in the theater. However, until after the birth of her first child in 2002, and the child's circumcision
Brit milah
The brit milah is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal .-Biblical references:...
by an Orthodox mohel
Mohel
A mohel is a Jewish person trained in the practice of brit milah "covenant of circumcision."-Etymology of the Hebrew and Aramaic term:...
, she and her husband began moving toward an Orthodox lifestyle.
After Factor and her 8-month-old son underwent Orthodox conversions, she changed her name to Rachel and she and her husband moved to Jerusalem where he could study in a baal teshuva
Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
yeshiva.
Current career
After her Orthodox conversion, Factor chose not to perform in front of male audiences. She created for female-only audiences her first one-woman show, J.A.P. — a play onWord play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
the term "Jewish American Princess", recounting her journey to Orthodoxy. J.A.P. had a 50-city, 4-month tour in the U.S. and Canada. Her second show, Not Even Normal, depicted her journey from Broadway performer to kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
wife. Her third show, Becoming Rich, explores the themes of faith and trust in God while living on a kollel salary.
In 2005 she opened the Jerusalem Women's Center for Theatre Arts (HaMachol Shel Bnos Miriam), a dance-and-wellness center in downtown Jerusalem.
In 2010, she opened Midreshes Shmuel, a post-high school women's Torah learning and performing arts program, under the direction of Rabbi Binyomin Moskovits, rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
of Midrash Shmuel Yeshiva. Her husband, who now goes by his Hebrew name
Hebrew name
Hebrew names are names that have a Hebrew language origin, classically from the Hebrew Bible. They are mostly used by people living in Jewish or Christian parts of the world, but some are also adapted to the Islamic world, particularly if a Hebrew name is mentioned in the Qur'an. When...
, Tovia, is a member of the Midrash Shmuel kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
. In summer 2010, she also directed a 5-week Dance and Touring Summer Program introducing Orthodox Jewish teenage girls to the performing arts along with tours of Israel.
The Factors reside in the Sha'arei Hesed
Sha'arei Hesed
Sha'arei Hesed is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem, Israel, bordering Rehavia, Nahlaot and Wolfson Towers.One of the founders of the neighborhood was Yoel Moshe Salomon, who also founded Nahalat Shiva...
neighborhood with their five children.