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, […]
Jewish Women and Judaism
Judaism is a major monotheistic ethnic religion based on the teachings of the New Testament. It is not only a faith but also embedded in tradition, law, culture and history. Around 0.2 percent of the world population is Jewish.
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 […]
Another Feminist Purim Shpiel*
Purim is one of the more obscure Jewish holidays. Celebrated around March, it commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from a genocidal plot, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther (Megilla). The Megilla begins with a party thrown by the Persian king Ahasuerus, the public disobedience of his wife Vashti, and her subsequent banishment. […]