The Jerusalem maiden of the title is Esther Kaminsky, a bright and willful eleven-year-old hareidi girl living in Meah Shearim and attending the Evelina de Rothschild School in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. A French teacher discovers her prodigious artistic talent, but the pursuit of art, as either a career or a passion, […]
Michal Smart and Barbara Ashkenas have collected some fifty essays by articulate women of various Jewish denominations who tell poignant tales of relatives who died and their experiences in saying kaddish for them, what motivated their taking on the practice, and how they felt doing so. The women, on the whole, derived much that was
Kaddish: Women’s Voices Edited by Michal Smart, conceived by Barbara Ashkenas Read More »
One cannot fathom the effect of this siddur until one actually prays with it. At first glance, the main innovation is immediately recognizable– stunningly beautiful photographs accompanying each prayer on almost every page. The deep relevance of these photos will grip even the skeptic who has years-long familiarity with the Shabbat prayers. Each photograph serves
Nehalel beShabbat Siddur Devised and English translation by Michael Haruni Read More »
Yocheved Debow does a yeoman’s job with a difficult, complicated, and complex topic: talking to your children about sex. Her book is thorough, straightforward, and practical. Unfortunately, it’s also humorless and xenophobic There are issues any honest person would have to struggle with when writing a sex education book from an Orthodox perspective. There are
Talking about Intimacy and Sexuality: A Guide for Orthodox Jewish Parents Read More »
Jewish marriage resides at the confluence of two ideologically oppositional commitments that modern Jewish women and men struggle to navigate in their everyday lives, and will not readily abandon: exclusionary religious practices and modern ethical systems, such as feminism. Gender inequalities embedded in religious authority, practice, and marriage per se further present a moral problem,
Tradition and Equality in Jewish Marriage: Beyond the Sanctification of Subordination Read More »
When my second daughter was born, a group of Jewish husbands in the hospital wanted to name their daughters immediately. So they left their wives and newborn daughters and trekked to a small local synagogue. It was a synagogue they had never set foot in before and would never set foot in again, a synagogue
A Jewish Ceremony for Newborn Girls: The Torah’s Covenant Affirmed Read More »
Elizabeth Shanks Alexander, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, has written a breakthrough study on the issue of women and timebound commandments. An academic study, the book focuses in depth on the Tannaitic and Amoraic sources related to this topic. As such, it is a multilayered, complex work that demands
Gender and Timebound Commandments in Judaism Read More »
Many writers have brought biblical stories to life in works of historical fiction, but few have turned an imaginative eye upon the tales of the sages of the Talmud. (Milton Steinberg’s classic As a Driven Leaf, portraying the life of Elisha ben Abuya, comes to mind as an exception.) Now, Ruth Calderon, who famously taught
A Bride for One Night: Talmudic Tales Read More »
Maggie Anton’s latest novel, Enchantress, may be set in ancient Talmudic times, but it grapples with modern feminist themes. It is the story of Hisdadukh rising in her profession as a harasheta (sorceress), negotiating difficult relationships with other women in her field, as well as with her strong-willed husband, Rava. Hisdadukh and Rava struggle with
Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda’s Daughter Read More »
The “Chanah” in the title of this book is a double entendre, referring both to an acronym for the three special women’s commandments of challah, nidah, and hadlakat nerot—taking dough in baking challah, immersing in the mikveh, and lighting Shabbat candles—and to the biblical woman who serves as our model for how to pray to
