Book Reviews

Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women by Julie Esther Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer and Iconic Jewish Women: Fifty-Nine Inspiring, Courageous, Revolutionary Role Models for Young Girls by Aliza Lavie

In 2022, media outlets made much of the 100th anniversary of the first bat mitzvah. Careful editors were sure to note that the anniversary was, in fact, commemorating the first American bat mitzvah. In contrast, the term “bar mitzvah” was first used in the 14th century (while the fact that 12-year-old girls and 13-year-old boys […]

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Nashim Mesolelot: Lesbian Women and Halakha – A Teshuva with Responses by Rabbi Jeffrey Fox

According to this year’s Purim shpiel at the Pardes Institute, where I serve as the Rosh Beit Midrash, there is a whole group of students who can be described lovingly but humorously as sitting at the “gay haredi ̣ table.” That jab was just one telltale sign of the number of Jews, young and older,

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Shabbat Guidebook for Parents: Halacha of Caring for Infants and Children on Shabbat and Yom Tov by Alissa Thomas-Newborn.

I ’ve always enjoyed English language halakhah sefarim. There’s a certain peace that comes with clear descriptions of what is and isn’t allowed in a certain circumstance. It’s very calming. The Shabbat Guidebook for Parents has all of that calm joy, with the addition of some very heartfelt pastoral messages introducing and closing each section

Shabbat Guidebook for Parents: Halacha of Caring for Infants and Children on Shabbat and Yom Tov by Alissa Thomas-Newborn. Read More »

Godstruck: Seven Women’s Unexpected Journeys to ReligiousConversion by Kelsey Osgood

Kelsey Osgood has done a remarkable thing: she’s collected first-person accounts of six women who switched religions—not an easy group of people to find. Osgood, a convert herself (she’s the seventh chapter of the book), weaves in her own insights as she tells their stories, like a knowing friend whispering in your ear as you

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Holy Rebellion: Religious Feminism and the Transformation of Judaism and Women’s Rights in Israel

Brandeis University Press, 2024 ($40) Reviewed by Orit Avishai Israel’s High Court of Justice recently issued what would have been a bombshell had the news cycle not been rightfully consumed by the war in Gaza: A unanimous court ruled that women are entitled to sit for state rabbinic exams. The ruling does not mean that

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