Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is the scholar in residence at National Council of Jewish Women. Her most recent book, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, was both a National Jewish Book Award winner and an American Library Association Honor Book. She writes a weekly newsletter.
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
By Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
-
Opinion Inside Israel’s Absurdly Kafkaesque Department of Mysteries
It turns out that when you enroll a kid on a tourist visa in the first grade in Jerusalem, the Ministry of Education doesn’t like it very much. We had come for a sabbatical year; my husband, Nir, is Israeli, so this was home for him, both for family and a lot of his work…
-
Opinion Actually, Dr. Ruth, the Talmud Does Not OK Rape
On Monday, Dr. Ruth Westheimer appeared on the “Diane Rehm Show” and made what have already become widely circulated remarks suggesting that, once a couple is naked and in bed together, consent is considered already granted and irrevocable: “I am very worried about college campuses saying that a woman and a man… can be in…
-
Opinion Why Jewish #BlackLivesMatter Activists Should Take Back Seat
The Black Lives Matter movement that has erupted in the past few months in response to the killing of unarmed African-Americans — the most well-known of whom are Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice — has struck a deep chord with Americans of all races and backgrounds. As the protests continue, more and more…
-
Opinion Why Barry Freundel Story Makes Me Physically Ill
Illustration by Kurt Hoffman Yesterday, prominent Modern Orthodox Rabbi Barry Freundel was arrested on charges of voyeurism. The police report obtained by the media indicates that he had used cameras to record women showering as they prepared to use the mikveh. Freundel should, and will, have his say in court. These charges are serious, though,…
-
Opinion Take Back Tzniut
The first days of school are, once again, upon us. Teachers, parents and students alike are thinking about school supplies, those first lessons, the new routine. But for some students — especially female students in junior high and high school — and those who work with them, attention has also, once again, turned to the…
-
Life Female Rabbis Should Have Male Friends
Does a woman need to give up friendships with members of the opposite sex when she marries a man? For Rabbi Rachel Miller Solomin, the answer is yes. In a piece for Tablet, she writes about the decision to write a friend — a Catholic priest with whom she said explicitly she would never have…
-
Life Why Judaism Needs Feminism
This is the fifteenth entry in an ongoing series exploring Jewish feminism. I’m a Jewish feminist for a lot of reasons. On the one hand, given that feminism is about removing external hindrances to the project of everyone living out their highest, holiest, Divinely-given potential —why wouldn’t I be? There’s still plenty of homophobia, transphobia…
-
Opinion Adults, Who Happen To Be Young(er)
Rabbi Steven Wernick, the new head of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, has made it clear that one of his priorities for the organization is outreach to Jews in their 20s and early 30s. As Conservative Jews gather for the USCJ’s biennial in Cherry Hill, N.J., December 6 — the first of Wernick’s tenure…
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward ‘Rabbi rebellion’: 33 Orthodox rabbis endorse Harris
- 2
Opinion Almost all voting groups shifted toward Trump, except American Jews. Why?
- 3
Opinion I was a Bernie supporter. This year, I’m voting Trump. Here’s why liberal Jews like me made the switch
- 4
Opinion Here’s why Orthodox Jews are loyal to Trump — even if they don’t love him
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture A reunion project for Holocaust survivors and their families runs a race against time
-
Opinion In violent attack on Israelis in Amsterdam, an alarming cultural omen
-
Opinion A European Jewish leader on Amsterdam violence: ‘A line has been crossed’
-
Culture Should we call the violence against Israeli soccer fans a ‘pogrom?’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism