June 2022

In Shifra’s ArmsJewish Unplanned Pregnancy Serviceswww.jewishpregnancyhelp.orgHelpline: 888-360-5872Textline: 646-632-8547 JScreenSaliva-based screening for genetic diseases common among people of Jewish ancestryBased at Emory University’s Department of Human Geneticswww.jscreen.org IWSTHAB“I Was Supposed to Have a Baby”—online support platform for those facing pregnancy and infancy lossLinktr.ee/iwassupposedtohaveababy on facebook.com Jewish Fertility FoundationProvides financial assistance, educational resources, and emotional support to […]

By Hillary Kener RegelmanOne of the first mitzvot in the Torah is to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). In light of modern medicine, many rabbis today interpret the verse to mean “Be fruitful and multiply … but be cautious and get genetic testing first!” Since the 1970s, tremendous innovations in the field of human genetics

By Plonit Almonit“I hope you don’t resent.…”That’s what my boss said to me in the course of the discussion in which I was fired while still new on the job. She agreed that my performance had clearly been affected by my pregnancy. Positive feedback had gone down during my second trimester but up when I

By Gail KatzThe typical pro-choice and anti-abortion positions in debate in American society today do not line up well with halakhic views on abortion. Halakhah never frames the issues in terms of individual choice, nor does halakhah talk in absolutes around the theology of when life begins. Rather, the issues are framed in terms of

High School Leadership Development Program On June 29, JOFA launched its first online High School Leadership Development Program. Over the course of this virtual three-week program, 26 young women from all over the country participated in skills-building seminars, career fairs, and cohort-bonding exercises. Participants focused on strengthening their critical thinking skills, taking advantage of opportunities

By Elana FrankI have three rambunctious and adorable boys whom I love more than life itself. All were born via the miracle of in vitro fertilization (IVF), or, as my husband calls it, “test tube babies.” Technically, my husband is right because, like it or not, that little glass tube or dish is where the

By Daphne Lazar PricePublishing this issue of the JOFA Journal, which focuses on women’s health and reproductive issues, might seem out of touch amid a global pandemic, heightened racial tension, an increasingly polarized society, and rising antisemitism. And still, supporting women’s health and reproductive rights and exploring these fundamental human values through the lens of

By Rivka Cohen Growing up in a Modern Orthodox community, I did not encounter open or positive discourse about female sexuality. Besides the quick basics of reproduction covered in biology class, little or no effort was made to ensure that the women in my all-girls high school were familiar with our bodies, in touch with

America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to TodayBy Pamela S. NadellW.W. Norton, 2019, $28.95Pamela Nadell paints on a broad canvas—American Jewish women’s history—that has been employed before by many fine historians, including Paula Hyman, Charlotte Baum, Sonya Michel, Joyce Antler, and Jenna Weissman Joselit, among others. Yet she fills it in with so