A popular Jewish pop music group has written a short cheery PSA about a weighty problem in the Orthodox Jewish community: women whose husbands have left them but refuse to give them a proper divorce. In Jewish law, the husband is given absolute authority in the matter of annulling a divorce. If he refuses to…
Women’s megillah (Scroll of Esther) readings haven’t gotten quite as big as Achashverosh’s kingdom, but they are getting there. The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) has published its annual directory and interactive map of women’s megillah readings happening around the world on Purim this year. The initiative is part of Project Esther, an annual JOFA…
Feminist, to me, has never been a dirty word. In fact, as soon as I learned the word and its meaning, I embraced the term, cloaking myself in the righteousness of women’s rights, brandishing the banner of feminism as a challenge to those around me. When I was younger, I took on the childish causes…
“There is simply no room for women in the beit midrash” “Most guys wouldn’t date you, because you are Student Council President” “I know that you have your career, but I’m the guy, and you know, the parnassah” “You need to go to the back door. Only men can enter through the front.” While there…
Podcasts hosts Dov Linzer and Bat Sheva Marcus. Does Jewish law allow practicing the Kama Sutra? Is it a mitzvah to use a vibrator? What does the Talmud say about sexual fantasies? It turns out, quite a bit. The recently launched podcast, “The Joy of Text,” covers topics not usually discussed by your local Orthodox rabbi. Hosted…
Photograph via cafepress As the associate director of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA), Aaron Steinberg plays a direct role in shaping the trajectory of Orthodox feminist advocacy. In the lead up to JOFA’s “UnConference” on Sunday in New York, the Sisterhood’s Sarah Breger spoke with Steinberg about the future of Orthodox feminism and what…
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Up there amid all the sports stars, movie actors and underwear models, those are the faces of Jewish Orthodox feminists gazing down at you from a billboard in Times Square on Wednesday. For one day only, the countenances of five individuals who have advanced the cause of Orthodox feminism…
I cannot fathom the idea of working on a problem for 40 years. And yet, there is a whole group of Jewish women — and a handful of men — who have been doing just that. These are the agunah activists, some of whom have been fighting to find solutions for agunot — women trapped…
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