Digest: A New ‘Morning-After’ Pill; Ruth Gruber Documentary
The Sisterhood Digest:
According to protocols from former Israeli President Moshe Katzav’s recent trial for rape and other sex crimes, Katsav “saw women that were subordinate to him as a reserve from which he chose sexual objects,”. The defense has called the accusations “blood libel.” A verdict in the case is expected this fall.
A Lebanese medical aid ship carrying all women is planning to set sail for Gaza on Sunday, in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of the strip.
Writing in Tablet, Eddy Portnoy has a jewel of a story about a 1906 riot, during which tens of thousands of Jewish mothers took to Lower East Side streets to protest … tonsillectomies.
Call it the-morning-after-the-morning-after-the-morning-after-the-morning-after-the-morning-after pill — or call it ella. Either way, the new drug has won FDA approval, and is expected to hit U.S. pharmacies this fall.
Just over a week after Dr. Laura “I Am My Kid’s Mom” Schlessinger was widely criticized for a racial-slur-laden on-air rant, the conservative radio host announced that she would be ending her call-in show at the end of the year. Curiously, Schlessinger cited a desire “to regain my first amendment rights.”
In time for legendary foreign correspondent and photojournalist Ruth Gruber’s 99th birthday, a new documentary about her life and work opens in New York on September 10. Gruber’s career highlights include escorting Holocaust refugees to America in 1944, covering the Nuremberg trials two years later and traveling to Cyprus to meet with Jewish prisoners who were detained after their ship, the Exodus, attempted to dock in what was then British Mandate Palestine.
The Forward is a sponsor of the forthcoming exhibit “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women,” which opens October 1 at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. Read our 2008 story about Jewish women’s contributions to comic art here and listen to our 2009 podcast with confessional graphic novelist Laurie Sandell here.
Zeek has a fascinating slideshow of what feminist artist Jacqueline Nicholls called “one of the most personal things I have done.” This series — inspired by the artist’s mikveh visits during a time she was trying to become pregnant — is composed of a 15 white mikveh examination cloths, each embroidered with the words “maybe this month.” View this Sisterhood slideshow featuring other works by Nicholls.
And this week on forward.com, listen to a podcast interview with Carol Ingall, the author of the new book “The Women Who Reconstructed American Jewish Education, 1910-1965” and discover the performance poetry of Vanessa Hidary, a.k.a. “The Hebrew Mamita.”
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