Jewfem Blog

Aliza Lavie's book on Jewish women and prayer was recently released in English, to glowing reviews all around. Below is the review by gender scholar Prof. Shulamit Reinharz of the Hadassah Brandeis Institute that appeared recently in the Jewish Advocate (You can also read this on the Kolech English Blog, Jewish Women's Voice): Revolutionary ideas in BostonShulamit ReinharzAs usual, the Boston Jewish community has been bursting with cultural offerings this fall, from the New Center for the Arts, to the Jewish Theater of New England, to the Boston Jewish Film Festival, not to mention the various institutions of higher education and synagogues. Because of the plethora of events, one can easily lose sight of how important each one is.

The Jewish world lost a gem last week. Dr. Aryeh Geiger, founder of the pioneering Reut School in Jerusalem, founder of Ometz Hinuchi for principal independence, creator of the Gidonim project for the renewal of Eastern European Jewish cemeteries, died last week after a long and uphill battle with cancer. But his long list of amazing achievements does not capture what made him truly great. His greatness was who he was as a person. Aryeh Geiger embodied kindness and care as an entire world view. He built relationships and institutions on the same principle of spirituality as human connection. He never veered from these unwavering beliefs, and dedicated every ounce of his life to transmitting this love for humankind. I had the privilege of interviewing Aryeh Geiger last year, right after he called a meeting of the staff, students, and parents in Reut, to announce to the community that he was stepping down due to his illness. "I am lucky to be able to prepare for my departure from the community,"  he said with tragic calmness. This was a man for whom life and death formed a challenge and an opportunity. I'm reprinting the interview below from Jewish Educational Leadership. May his memory be a blessing. It already is. Read more

As I read the headline, I thought I was seeing things. Can the Jerusalem Post really be asking the question of whether it is halakhically permitted for the Prime Minister of Israel to be a woman? My eyes did not deceive me. I was let down only by my apparently naive belief that a public newspaper presumably for all of Israel would not be pandering to the anachronistic, medieval narrow-mindedness of some of its religiously fanatic readership. Apparently, the author writes, "the election of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to head Kadima has reignited interest in this question." Wow.

In the following essay, my dear friend Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David offers an insightful overviewand analysis of the relationship between feminism and halakhah today, comparing the scholarship of Professors Tamar Ross and Rachel Adler and emerging with perceptive understandings about gender in Orthodoxy. The article is excerpted from the recent release, New Jewish Feminism, edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein (Jewish Lights). You can also view this article on the Kolech English Website, Jewish Women's Voice: In 1971, an article by Rachel Adler appeared in Susannah Heschel's groundbreaking anthology, On Being a Jewish Feminist. The article, entitled "The Jew Who Wasn't There: Halakhah and the Jewish Woman," initiated the discussion about what the relationship should be between feminism and halakhah, Jewish Law-or, more accurately, the system of Oral Law that has been, until now, the ongoing interpretation of the Torah by Jewish male (and only male!) rabbinic authorities throughout the ages. This discussion continues to this day, as voices coming from a broad spectrum of communities in the Jewish world-from ultra-Orthodox to Jewish Renewal--contribute to and deepen the debate as to what the goal of religious Jewish feminism should be and how to get there.

Tuesday November 25 marks the International Day Against Violence Against Women. This is a horrific and growing problem in Israeli society. Know the facts. Recognize the signs. You may be able to save the life of a woman you love. One sunny morning in the pastoral northern town of Tirat Hacarmel, Noga Gadi, a beautiful 30-year old woman was stabbed 32 times with a knife while in her own home, by none other than her husband. When he was questioned in court about his actions, the husband replied, “What’s the big deal? It happens all the time in this country.” This article is scheduled to appear in the November 25 edition of the Jerusalem Post

The new American First Lady Michelle Obama has declared that she is officially on a "mommy track". What can you do, her husband has the entire free world to think about, so he can't be busy reading bedtime stories to the girls. Of course, way before Barack was elected president, his career was already coming first. Michelle, like so many other women I know, may be a great mother, but she is also a model for women trailing men. Ruth Marcus in today's Washington Post explores how Michelle Obama has become more like Jackie Kennedy than Hillary Clinton, and what this election, in which we could have had a smart, savvy women for president and instead got a smart, savvy woman for "first mommy", has done for the status of women in society. A must read,in my opinion.

The new American First Lady Michelle Obama has declared that she is officially on a "mommy track". What can you do, her husband has the entire free world to think about, so he can't be busy reading bedtime stories to the girls. Of course, way before Barack was elected president, his career was already coming first. Michelle, like so many other women I know, may be a great mother, but she is also a model for women trailing men. Ruth Marcus in today's Washington Post explores how Michelle Obama has become more like Jackie Kennedy than Hillary Clinton, and what this election, in which we could have had a smart, savvy women for president and instead got a smart, savvy woman for "first mommy", has done for the status of women in society. A must read, in my opinion.

This has been an interesting week for women in Israel. Our new woman (acting) Prime Minister, the closing of the sexual harassment case against Prof Eyal Ben Ari, the remarkable work of MK Nadia Hilou.... and a list of some the topics I had planned to write about this week but didn't quite get to.... (deep breath) We'll get there.

Men have no trouble paying attention to women’s bodies – at least on the outside. Getting some attention to what’s going on inside a woman’s body, however, is a whole other matter. Women’s physical health needs are so often overlooked. For decades, discussions of “health” meant “men’s health.” Research was conducted exclusively on men, diagrams in anatomical books were of men, and norms were created based on the male body. Hence, there are departments of “women’s health” in hospitals and medical schools – implying that everything else is by default “men’s health.” To this day, industries ranging from car manufacturers to sports-equipment designers consider a male body the norm. At 5’ 0”, I have trouble seeing over the wheel of most cars without making significant adjustments, and I have yet to use a seatbelt that does not choke me on the neck. Every time I buckle up in the driver’s seat, I am reminded that the men are the normand women are the aberration.

An open letter to incoming Modi’in Mayor Haim Bibas: Mr. Bibas: During your campaign, you promised to act for the benefit of women who, as you know, comprise half of your electorate. You promised to open up an Office of Women’s Issues, a paid, budgeted office dedicated to promoting gender equity and improving women’s lives. This would be a welcome step, giving the women who have been volunteering their time for many years the professional support that they need in order to effectively make change in society, as well as offering real, tangible backing to an entire platform of social, economic and educational reform. Yet, it is being reported that you also promised to create a new “Women’s Portfolio,” a sort of cabinet position used for coalition negotiations in order to placate some of your potential partners in government. What’s more, this portfolio, which may either oversee or compete with the soon to be Office of Women’s Issues for backing and funding, is being offered to the religious party, Achdut. If a women’s portfolio is created and given to the religious party, such a move would be a horrific step backwards for women.