The latest Pew Report on religious freedom showing that Israel is practically on par with Iran on this issue should not come as much of a surprise. Those of us who have been tracking religious freedom in Israel have observed that not only are incidents of religious intolerance and oppression on the rise, but they are becoming bolder, more normalize...

WE WON!  I'm absolutely thrilled to report that the cookbook I compiled,  The Masala Mamas: Recipes and Stories from the Indian Women Changing their Communities through Food and Love ,   WON the international Gourmand Award for food books in the category of fundraising! How exciting is that!! Special shout-out to all the sp...

I made an infographic on "Dynamics of the Jewish Patriarchy" for the current Journal of the Association of Jewish Studies (AJS). With the help of super-talented graphic designer Shoshana Balofsky.  A few disclaimers:  It obviously does not exhaust every aspect of the patriarchy, nor does it go into intersectional aspects of the patriarchy...

TEL AVIV ( JTA ) — Wednesday night was one of the hardest nights on the Israeli calendar. In that hazy space between sunset and nightfall, Israel transitioned from the intense pain of Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day, to the uninhibited joy of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Independence Day. It's an evocative, jarring and charged transition. After a full day or more o...

On April 9, Israeli voters head to the polls. In this chaotic and potentially momentous election, the headlines are mostly focused on political maneuvering and corruption scandals in the top-ranks of the male-dominated political parties. But in this election, more Israeli women are running for Knesset than ever before, and they're speaking out abou...

The New York Times report about megadonor Michael Steinhardt's history of sexual harassment should come as no surprise to anyone following the #metoo movement or the excellent reporting of Hannah Dreyfus. The Jewish Week published an investigative story by Dreyfus about Steinhardt last year, although there was very little tangible fallout from the ...

I walked to shul this morning in the rain and hail. As I was futilely trying to keep my layers of clothing dry, thinking about the 49 people killed in mosques in New Zealand yesterday, thinking about the overall state of the world, I was recalling the shabbatot of my childhood in Flatbush, where certain weeks we had to go to synagogue no matte...

This morning I have thrilling news: We are excited to invite you to an event launching the new Israeli political party, Simply Love (פשוט אהבה Pashut Ahava in Hebrew, ببساطة محبة Bibisataten Mihabeten in Arabic). This multicultural party, comprised of women and men across the spectrum of Israeli society, has a unique platform built on values o...

The women who were elected – unlike the people surrounding the Trump White House and the radical Right – are not calling for violence, bigotry or hatred. T hree women were elected to Congress who have some right-wing Jews shaking in their boots as if having Palestinian or Muslim women speaking their minds is the greatest threat to Israel's existenc...

The article by Linda Bloodworth Thomason  -- the brilliant creator of the 1980s sitcom, Designing Women -- about her harassment by Len Moonves of CBS, sheds light on the connections between a man's attitude towards women and the work he creates in the world.  Moonves sexually harassed lots of women . And in the meantime was in charge...