Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt was the Life/Features editor at the Forward. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, and Tablet, among others.
Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt
By Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt
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Life Orthodox Survivor Of Sex Abuse Exposes Traumas In New Film
You wouldn’t believe she’s only 20. With no film schooling or experience, Baltimore native Miryam Rabinowitz has thrown herself into a film project that tells the story of sexual abuse — or rather, its lonely, complex aftermath. “Still Feeling” tells the story of Yuval Goldenberg, a young woman who was abused during her childhood in…
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Opinion Orthodox Judge Blames Religious School System for Overdose
The Orthodox community was rattled last month when 20-year old Malky Klein, daughter of Avrohom and Rifka Klein of Boro Park, died of a heroine overdose. Social media flooded with tearful reflection. A podcast interview with Klein’s father went viral. A video tribute to the young woman got 28,000 views within a week. Over $250,000…
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Life Banned from Print Media, Ultra-Orthodox Women Turn to Instagram
Orthodox women are disappearing. Over the years, Orthodox magazines and newspapers have placed a strict ban on any images of women. And ironically, this erasure has emerged at a time of the community’s increased access to a luxury lifestyle: Orthodox women, decked out in glamorous wigs and haute couture, will ultimately pick up glossy religious…
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Culture Everything You Need to Know About Judaism’s Saddest Day of the Year
Tisha b’Av, the Ninth of Av, is the commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem’s Temple. And it’s also, basically, Catastrophe Day for the Jews. It’s the day we consolidate all of our thousands of years of sorrow into one, 25-hour long inferno. Here’s what traditional Jews are mourning on this day, according to the Mishnah…
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Opinion When You Protest An Eruv, You Protest Women’s Rights
For the young Orthodox woman living in a community without an eruv boundary, motherhood comes with a high cost. The moment that newborn arrives, it’s goodbye to Sabbath mornings in synagogue, goodbye to afternoon social outings, and goodbye to nice dresses. Instead, say hello to living in a robe in a claustrophobic apartment for a…
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News After Documenting Holocaust Graves, This French Priest Takes on IS Crimes
She was 22 when she was sold to a high-ranking soldier in the Islamic State group. And she knew she was privileged, getting a high-ranking husband. After all, most Yazidi girls are sold 25 times at minimum. Being owned by a high-ranking official meant she would most likely be kept for longer. Every morning, her…
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News The Secret Jewish Past of Harlem
Walk along Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem on a Sunday morning, pass the Mt. Olivet Church and you’ll hear the gospel choir singing passionately, worshippers and gospel-lovers streaming into the church in their Sunday best. But look up, toward the top of the towering Grecian columns, and you’ll find Stars of David. Built…
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Life The ‘Shidduch Crisis’ Has Led to an Orthodox Obsession with Female Beauty
“We usually don’t take a car,” the yeshiva boy says to the driver, an older Irish man with a hearty laugh and a dapper straw hat. “But the lady was inappropriately attired (he winks at his date), in her heels I mean, so we had to…” The yeshiva boy’s date cuts him off and leans forward to the…
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