Personal Narrative

JOFA on the Campus The View from U of P: Muslim Women, Orthodox Jewish Women and Myself

Last Spring, as part of a class project at the University of Pennsylvania, I embarked on a study of its first-year Orthodox Muslim and Jewish female students. Tradition in both these religions dictates that women live either in their fathers’ or husbands’ homes. For both Orthodох Jewish and Orthodox Muslim women freshmen, college is the […]

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Reflections

The eyes of strangers searching me up and down as I come towards them on a Jerusalem street… the voices of the Sephardic and Ashkenazi eighth graders singing Hebrew songs together at my sister’s school, Evelina de Rothschild… the determination of the disabled children at Shalva — a lifesaver for parents who are overwhelmed with

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A Matter of Choice

The spiral effect of September 11 was enormous. As in any disaster, the unknowns added to the chaos and pain. One such matter concerned potential iggun for the widows. By day three, even before the full shock and horror had crested, I had received several calls: what was JOFA going to do about the agunot

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Reading the Ketubah

In our wedding photographs, Ori is wearing a top hat precisely like the one his grandfather wore at his wedding in the early thirties and my veil is as thick and heavy as any old fashioned one. Our chuppah is a tallit. Some of the images, especially those in black and white, are impossible to

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I Am Not A Feminist

I am the youngest of three sons. No sisters. I never learned that boys and girls have different roles in the family. There were no girls. I washed dishes, did laundry, vacuumed, dusted, and did whatever chores I was asked to do.  But I am not a feminist. I was very active in NCSY, our

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