Benay Lappe (Hebrew: בִּנֵיי לַפֶּה/בנאי לאפה) is a rabbi and a teacher of Talmud in the United States.

[1][2] Lappe was born on April 13, 1960, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois.

She earned a BA in Italian literature and a MA in education from the University of Illinois, an MA in Hebrew letters from the University of Judaism, and an MA in rabbinic literature, as well as a semicha (rabbinic ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

[5] She is professor of Talmud at the Hebrew Seminary in Skokie, Illinois, and serves as the President and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA (Hebrew:סְבָרָא), a yeshiva she founded in Chicago in 2003.

[6][7][8] SVARA emphasizes radical empathy and innovation within Talmudic study and aims to empower learners to actively engage with and contribute to Jewish tradition.