Feminist discourse in the Orthodox Jewish community—where it has been allowed in—has largely been driven and shaped by the voices of women; and unsurprisingly so. As women sought equal access to Jewish learning and practice, as women shared the pain of exclusion and missed opportunities, it was the female perspective that was being heard, debated, […]
Educating Our Boys Read More »
As a passionate supporter of learning and ritual in Orthodox Judaism, as a mother of a first-born girl and two boys, and as a professional advocate, I recognize the important impact that lay leaders can have on gender sensitivity in the educational environment of Jewish day schools. It is in the day school setting that
The Impact of Lay Leadership in Gender Issues in Jewish Day Schools Read More »
We send out a unique personal prayer when we name a newborn. Whatever public brakhot we may say, it is the quiet uniting of received tradition and imagined future that trembles within us at this moment of holy decision. Marking our child with a name, we link him or her to what we pray will
What Do We Name the Baby? Read More »
How many religious girls or women do you know who aspire to dance or to sing? Interestingly, although one would hardly expect such a trend in Israel today, more and more young women are blazing a trail to follow their dreams of becoming artists. Religious women are dancing, singing, painting, and acting; what is more,
Religious Women Take Up the Arts in Israel Read More »
Netanel, a forty-year-old father of four living in Jerusalem, told me that he had never skipped a day wearing tefillin. “Even when I was fighting in my tank on the Lebanese border, my tefillin was always there in the tank with me,” he said. I thought to myself, there is something you won’t likely hear
Tefillin in the Tank: American and Israeli Cultures of Religious Identity Read More »
In May, my eighty-year-old father made aliyah. He has carefully followed all of the instructions in the booklet that Nefesh b’Nefesh supplied him, dutifully making the rounds of the various bureaucracies. He has learned the bus routes, located the barber and the bridge club, and even spent a few nights at Shaare Zedek Hospital. He
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 »
As a child, like many aspiring performers, I was talkative, expressive, and admittedly a little manipulative. My stage life did not, however, really begin to emerge until I entered high school. My suburban Jewish day school did not offer a formal drama program, nor were the performing arts a popular extracurricular activity among my peers.
Emerging Voices: Pursuing the Performing Arts as a Modern Orthodox Teen Read More »
Aliza Hiller is a physical education teacher and coach of the girls floor hockey team at Yavneh Academy in Paramus, New Jersey, and plays ice hockey on a women’s team called the Quarry Cats. She describes how she has combined religious observance with participation in competitive sports. Q: How did you first become interested in
Aliza Hiller: On Being an Orthodox ‘Jock’ and a Coach in a Yeshiva Setting Read More »
It’s a rainy night, and the Glasers are gathered in the kitchen with some close family friends, following Havdalah during the eldest daughter’s birthday weekend. All of the immediate family is home together, having just shared ritual Shabbat meals filled with Torah discussion and zemirot. The father heads to the living room and sits down
Meet the Glaser Sisters Read More »
