We arrived in Israel on Friday morning, the day before ground troops were mobilized in Gaza. By Shabbat morning at Shira Hadashah, the mothership of “partnership minyanim,” plenty of men had been told they would be mobilized and others knew that they would follow soon. The sweet joy of that week’s Shabbat Kallah celebration that […]
Oasis in a Real World: Why Shabbat Works in Contemporary Homes Read More »
The body in our culture has become a dumping ground for a broad spectrum of emotional experiences and anxieties, and a concrete, socially sanctioned way of expressing self-doubts and existential angst. Many women live just under the radar of full-blown eating disorders as unhealthy eating behaviors have become normative, and perspectives on the female body
Food for Thought: Eating Disorders and the Jewish Community Read More »
About five years ago a new issue suddenly erupted primarily in the haredi community: women were wearing sheitels (wigs) made from human hair coming from India. Some, perhaps even much, of this hair came from a place called Tirupati, in South India, where there is a Hindu temple. Pilgrims coming to this temple, before entering
The Sheitel Memorandum Read More »
One of the major dilemmas facing Jewish education today is the challenge of teaching tzniut – modesty. I believe that the study of Hasidism, although it may seem an unlikely source, can aid in our understanding of tzniut and help us develop a broader and more nuanced approach to teaching it in our schools. Most
When I lived in Cairo in 1993–1994, I became friends with Manal, a young Egyptian woman who worked in a nearby post office. Manal, the first woman of her lower income family to work outside the home, wore a plain white headscarf (hijab) pinned at her neck. She described her hijab as spiritual armor, which
Comparative Reflections on Modest Dress in Contemporary Judaism and Islam Read More »
In her article in this Journal issue, Norma Baumel Joseph refers to Orthodox Bat Mitzvah ceremonies in Brooklyn in 1944. I followed up on the lead and found fascinating detailed descriptions by Rabbi Jerome Tov Feinstein of Congregation Anshe Emes in the October 1944 copy of “Orthodox Union,” one of the forerunners to “Jewish Action”,
From the Archives: The Bas Mitzvah Comes To Our Synagogue Read More »
A mitzvah or hesed project can provide young people celebrating their Bar or Bat Mitzvah with the perfect opportunity to reflect on who they are, who they want to be, and how they can best have an impact on the world. The self-reflective process of choosing, designing, and implementing a mitzvah project can serve to
HaTov Ve HaMeitiv: Good for Oneself and For Others Read More »
There is a strong sense of “Jewishness” in the air at Barnard College/Columbia University. Whether one is strolling down College Walk or eating lunch in the cafeteria, the sight of familiar faces is a constant reminder of the Jewish campus community. At the Kraft Center, which houses the Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the beit midrash is a
Learning and Teaching on Campus—Where Are the Women? Read More »
Introductory thoughts The overall focus of this Education issue of the JOFA Journal is on topics relating to gender and education. As we worked on the journal, it became apparent that a critical subject that affects so many Jewish families—and, therefore, so many JOFA Journal readers—is the high cost of day school education for all
The Affordability Crisis Read More »
Six years ago, my husband, Saul Strosberg, and I moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Saul had just graduated from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and had accepted the position of rabbi at Sherith Israel, the Orthodox synagogue in Nashville. For weeks after we made the move, I wondered what had made me agree to it. I
Living and Learning in the Bible Belt Read More »
