Orthodox Life – Page 2

Experimentation and Commitment: Shabbat on New York’s Upper West Side

In the recent Israeli documentary Ha-Modernim (“The Modern Ones”), filmmaker Cheli Rosenberg documents the lives of young unmarried residents of Jerusalem as they navigate romantic, social, and familial pressures. Quite appropriately, Rosenberg frames Ha-Modernim with evocative footage from an Erev Shabbat in Jerusalem, beginning and ending the film with the message that the experience of […]

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Se’udah Shlishit in Denver

Geffen Feldman

My se’udah shlishit group was born about eight years ago on a long, summer Shabbat afternoon. My children were out and about, and I had already read, walked, and napped. I was restless. I had been reading a provocative book about the rabbinic treatment of women in the Talmud and I wanted to discuss it

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An Expanded Shabbat Table: How Two Families Became One

Geffen Feldman

It is Friday night. Amid flurries of last-minute preparation, another busy week comes to a close and Shabbat’s calm descends. The day bears different gifts for each of its revelers. For some, Shabbat brings spiritual rejuvenation; for others, it is simply a time for much-needed rest. But spanning the collage of traditional Judaism is the

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How to Read Eshet Hayil

Geffen Feldman

I cannot remember exactly when my family began singing Eshet Hayil at the Friday night table. I do know that it was we, the kids, who brought this custom into the house. When I was five years old, my family moved to Toronto from Sarnia, a small town in Western Ontario where my father had

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A Different Shabbat

Geffen Feldman

In daily living, everything is different after a spouse dies. Since the death of my husband Noam z’l in March 2005, Shabbat is one of the greatest challenges I must face. Throughout our nearly 50 years of married life, Shabbat was the heart of our family and the focus of our week because we all

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A Majesty All Its Own

Geffen Feldman

In the article below, Rivy Poupko Kletenik describes the Friday nights she now spends with her father, Rabbi Baruch Poupko, in a Seattle nursing home. Rabbi Poupko served as rabbi of Shaare Torah Congregation in Pittsburgh for more than 60 years and was a leading figure in the fight for Soviet Jewry. Ed. Shabbat is

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Divorced but Not Alone: The Strength of Community

Geffen Feldman

Before the very first Shabbat after my divorce that my son Daniel and I spent at our home in Woodmere, I confess to being consumed with trepidation: who was my son going to stay with in shul? I was happy to keep him with me as he was only three years old then, but looking

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Oasis in a Real World: Why Shabbat Works in Contemporary Homes

Geffen Feldman

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

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Emerging Voices: Cover-Up in Day Schools

Geffen Feldman

The way that tzniut, modesty, is presented to girls in schools is critical to how it is perceived by them. There seem to be two general approaches. One is inner-directed, making modesty a matter of self-respect: it does not behoove a female to disrespect the holiness of her body by dressing inappropriately. The second approach

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What is Hidden is Blessed

Geffen Feldman

Immersed in poetry ever since I was a child, I realize now that I have always gained spiritual sustenance from poems. As I grew into an adult, the world of poetry – writing, reading, coordinating poetry events, teaching poetry, being mentored by poets – sustained me. But over time it was no longer enough. My

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