This March, for Women’s History Month, the Ms. Blog is profiling Wonder Women who have made history—and those who are making history right now. Join us each day as we bring you the stories of iconic and soon-to-be-famous feminist change-makers. At this point in history, nearly every religious denomination allows women to be members of the clergy. […]
Tag: Judaism
The All-Women Chasidic Band That Will Rock Your Stockings Off
From the Crown Heights neighborhood in central Brooklyn, known for its large Chasidic community, comes a fresh-sounding, repeat-button-worthy all-women rock band: Bulletproof Stockings. Comprised of Perl Wolfe, Dalia Shusterman, Elisheva Maister and Dana Pestun—all Chasidic Jews—Bulletproof Stockings mixes heavy vocals with light melodies, their music carrying echoes of Chasidic melodies and incorporating drums, piano and […]
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Misogyny at the Wailing Wall
Every month for the past 24 years, a group of Jewish women of many denominations meet at the Western Wall, a holy site in Jerusalem, to pray and worship together. They have been met with violent opposition, including tear-gassing, thrown chairs and brutal police arrests. These brave women call themselves The Women of the Wall, […]
The Femisphere: Blogging on Faith And Religion, Part 2
In the second part of our Faith & Religion Femisphere roundtable (see part one and meet the participants here), we tackled the upcoming election and abortion as well as the place of religion within feminism. The Femisphere: What was your reaction to the way Martha Raddatz framed her question on abortion during the Vice-Presidential debates? […]
The Femisphere: Blogging on Faith and Religion, Part 1
While religion tends to be a hotly debated topic everywhere, it can sometimes feel even more divisive within the feminist community–especially when it seems like we’re in a constant battle with the religious right over issues such as reproductive and LGBTQI rights. Yet there are feminists who have […]
Contemporary Abortion Politics: Good for the Jews?
This title is, admittedly, at least partially tongue in cheek. It refers to an old Jewish joke from my childhood, where any topic, no matter how seemingly unrelated, always came back to this question. But on a more serious note, the centrality of the abortion issue in this presidential election season has led me to […]
Queer History Month: A Chat With Author Lesléa “Heather Has Two Mommies” Newman
In honor of Queer History Month, I want to give a shout out to Lesléa Newman, an iconic yet under-recognized gay Jewish writer whose work continues to inform the changing landscape of GLBT rights in the U.S. I first met Lesléa at a writing workshop sponsored by my mom’s Sisterhood group at our synagogue nearly […]
Jewish Feminist E.M. Broner Dies
At first I was confused when the rabbi at my university’s Hillel placed an orange on our seder plate during the Passover celebration. Where was there an orange in the story of Passover? Later, I learned that my rabbi was honoring the feminist world of Judaism, following in the footsteps of Esther M. Broner (E.M. […]
Seder Time: An Orange, A Tambourine … Guacamole?
This was originally posted last Passover, March 29, 2010, on the Ms. Blog. Unlike most religious events that require attendance at a synagogue, church or mosque, the Passover Seder–which was celebrated last night, and will be celebrated again tonight, by Jews around the world–remains at home, around a dinner table. That fact alone has always […]
All the Things I Learned During Women’s History Month
I’ll be a senior in college when I return to school in September, and no insult to my university, but I learned more about women’s history in one month on the Ms. Blog than I have in the last three years. It may have been the personal narratives that helped me absorb so much material, […]