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
Jewish women have long been the guardians of the kashrut of their home kitchens and often of their synagogue kitchens. Now, however, women are entering the ranks of mashgihot of commercial and communal establishments as well. A recent article in jweekly, the Jewish newsweekly of Northern California,1 documented the hiring of several female mashgihot to
Women as Mashgihot Read More »
What is the first step in coming up with a new ritual? It seems that the need always arises from a hole, an emptiness, a sense that something is missing. Sometimes it is a hole in the order of the tefillah itself, as in the time that our Women’s Tefillah Group of Raritan Valley, now
New Rituals for Women’s Tefillah Groups Read More »
Anyone who has attended more than a few britei milah is likely to compare them: How fast did the mohel work? Did the baby cry a lot? How pale did the male family members become? But the guests at a brit milah of the grandson of Marcie and Tsvi Lieber in Silver Spring, Maryland, in
Women as Circumcisers: Are Mohalot Kosher? Read More »
Working on campus under the auspices of the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus was an awesome and empowering opportunity for me. I always felt very blessed that my husband, Eli, and I ended up at the University of Maryland, College Park, because it was exactly the kind of community in which I felt
On Being a JLIC Educator on Campus Read More »
A stranger walking into the auditorium of Bais Abraham Congregation on a Tuesday evening might be surprised to see some two dozen women of all ages sitting together deeply engaged with a text of Gemara. Most of these women have encountered the actual daf (page) of the Talmud for the first time in this program.
Shalhevet Women’s Kollel of St. Louis—Diving In Read More »
If you followed the recent elections in Israel, you could not have missed the “No Voice, No Vote” campaign. The campaign started as part of the efforts of a group of hareidi feminists to put the lack of representation of hareidi women in the Israeli Knesset on the national agenda. In fact, the “No Voice,
“No Voice, No Vote”: A Campaign to Allow Hareidi Women’s Voices Read More »
We Jews—and, in particular, we Orthodox Jews— tend to think that it’s all about us. We labor under the illusion that we are an autonomous society, immune from external cultural trends and changes. However, when examining the changing nature of rabbinic authority in the twenty-first century, we must take into account a few significant worldwide
Democratization of Halakhic Authority: Opportunities and Challenges Read More »
This article is is dedicated to the memory of Belda Kaufman Lindenbaum, z”l. What does it mean to have an inclusive approach toward women and women’s voices in p’sak halakhah? The answer is not as simple as some might imagine. At Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) Rabbinical School, of which I am rosh hayeshiva, one of
P’sak Halakhah and Women’s Voices Read More »
The Jewish world has lost a great luminary with the passing of Belda Kaufman Lindenbaum, visionary Orthodox feminist activist and indefatigable supporter of Orthodox women’s education. A founding board member of JOFA, past president of the board of Drisha, founding board member of Yeshivat Maharat, and founder of Midreshet Lindenbaum, Belda was larger than life.
Belda Lindenbaum, z”l: Our Founder and Superhero Read More »
