A mamzeir, contrary to popular misconception, is not a child born out of wedlock but a child who is the product of an invalid union, (such as a child born to a married woman from another man). Halachically, being born as a mamzeir is an indelible blemish; a mamzeir can never marry into the Jewish […]
Are Jewish Women “Different But Equal”?
This week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Allison Josephs, AKA Jew in the City, for her radio show on the Nachum Segal Network. Allison had some great questions about the development of my ideas, as well as about my new book Circle, Arrow, Spiral: Exploring Gender in Judaism. At one point she […]
Are Jewish Women Second-Class Citizens?
The following is an insightful article written in response to my new book, Circle, Arrow, Spiral: Exploring Gender in Judaism. It was first published on the Jewish Values Onlinesite, by Dr. Rivkah Lambert Adler. I was a Jew before I was a feminist, but I was a committed feminist before I was a committed Jew. […]
Excellent Book Review in the LA Jewish Home
This review of my book Circle, Arrow, Spiral was published in the latest edition of The Jewish Home, a local Los Angeles publication. Check it out here on page 20. It was written by veteran Jewish writer Rebecca Klempner. The role of women in the Torah world often appears in the headlines, leaving Orthodox Jews feeling misunderstood. […]
Thoughts on My Book Coming Out
Recently, at the Shabbat table, my husband asked the children what gifts in their lives make them feel loved by God. It was an interesting question and produced answers from the children which were particularly illuminating for us as parents to hear. But the question also got me thinking and helped me articulate one of […]
I Hear You
Way back in the Jewish day school I attended, where some of us ate only food with the most stringent of heksherim (certified kosher stamp) and others of us didn’t keep kosher at all, we were all part of one (sometimes) happy class. Baltimore was small then, with just one Jewish girls’ day school. It not only […]
Women on the Bus
An acquaintance of mine who writes for a secular women’s magazine here in Israel called to ask if I would be willing to be interviewed about the hot topic of the day. “I want to hear about how you feel about being relegated to the back of the bus, about being made invisible, about having […]