FAQ

If you have questions that aren’t answered here, feel free to contact us.

  • Yes! Based in Portland, Oregon, Girls in Trouble tours internationally. Performances can be music alone, or Alicia can include an educational session or creative workshop.

    Since Girls in Trouble is essentially a songwriting project, there are a variety of live versions. Alicia can perform Girls in Trouble songs solo, as a duo, or with a full band. Send a message here to inquire.

  • The Girls in Trouble Curriculum is a series of in-depth study guides (including lesson plans) teaching about women in Torah through song, art, creativity, and personal connections to their stories. These guides are chock-full of Alicia’s thoughts and observations. They are great for self-study, classroom use, Rosh Chodesh groups, or any other situation where people are interested in going deep into a Biblical woman character’s story through art.


    The study guides are intended for teens and adults, though many units can be adapted for younger learners.

    In addition, Alicia and the GIT team are creating a web series about Biblical women!  Visit this page for all Girls in Trouble TV episodes, which are roughly 15 minutes long and available streaming for free.

  • Study guides are primarily geared towards adults and teens; some can be adapted for younger learners.  (This is largely based on which of the characters’ stories deals directly with PG-13 or R-rated subjects in the original text!)

  • Each study guide/curriculum unit includes a beautifully designed PDF with sources, annotations, guiding questions and creative prompts; a PowerPoint, and an mp3 of the Girls in Trouble song. They also include a student copy of the texts without teacher’s notes. When you purchase a study guide, you’ll receive a link to download a zip file containing all of the above.

    Explore a single unit, or combine in any order to make a series. 

    Note: 13 of the units include more extensive visual art interpretations of the character in addition to the text, commentary and creative prompts. If you have a particular interest in visual art, you can search for units by typing “Extended” into the search bar on the store page.

  • 13 of the Girls in Trouble study guides include more extensive visual art interpretations of the featured character in addition to the text, commentary and creative prompts. You can search for these units by typing “Extended” into the search bar on the store page.

  • Answer: No difference; they are the same! We offer a discount to individuals (and small groups) to make these study guides more affordable to those who are learning on their own, and the easiest way to do that on the web store was to create two separate, identical products. Here’s the full curriculum discounted for individual use. If you’re part of a small group, scroll down on the “institution/group” product page for the small-group discount code (or if you’re able, pay full price and support our ongoing work!)

  • Individual = you and a cup of tea, plus maybe a study partner

    Small group = 2-6 people: a regular chavruta, group of friends, Rosh Chodesh group, independent havurah or minyan, or independent teacher working outside of an institution

    Institution = a synagogue, school, group of 7 or more, or other larger community

    All proceeds directly support the ongoing work of Girls in Trouble; you are welcome to select a higher level if you would like to support the project. Thank you!

  • After you order, you will receive two emails: “Your order is confirmed” (which does not include a download link, but has a click-through which will take you to one) and “Your order is ready” (which includes a direct download link.) If you don’t see these emails, try your spam folder. 99% of the time, when people can’t find the download, it was sent to their spam folder by their email provider. Please search there first, and if you still can’t find it, please get in touch with us, and we’ll be happy to help you.

  • YES! When you purchase an item or sign-up for our email list, you will be invited to sign up for the monthly newsletter of Alicia Jo Rabins, creator/performer/lead educator of Girls in Trouble. This is a great way to stay in the loop as new Girls in Trouble songs, study guides, and concerts are announced, as well as books and workshops by Alicia. We respect your privacy and will never sell your email information to a third party. You can easily unsubscribe from the email newsletter at any time.

  • Alicia Jo Rabins (call her “Alicia”) is an award-winning poet, musician, and dedicated Jewish educator. She began playing classical violin at age three, spent a semester of college on a schooner, holds a masters in Jewish Women’s Studies from JTS and a MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson, and studied for two years at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Find out more about Alicia and her projects here.

  • We are tremendously grateful to the Covenant Foundation, whose generous support enabled the creation of the Girls in Trouble Curriculum; to the Peleh Fund; to the Joshua Venture Fellowship for generous support; to JDub Records, who incubated Girls in Trouble and released our first two records; to Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council and friends of Girls in Trouble for supporting our third album, Open the Ground; to all our brilliant musician friends who have performed on our albums and live shows; and to Rabbi Burton Visotzky at Jewish Theological Seminary for inspiring this project, by suggesting that Alicia write songs about women in Torah for her thesis!

  • Thank you for asking!

    We are fiscally sponsored through Fractured Atlas, where you can make tax-deductible donations to our project.

    You can also support our work by buying our music – especially on Bandcamp or at live shows – and our study guides, lyrics, sheet music, and Alicia’s books.