Elana Sztokman
By Elana Sztokman
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Life Our Duty To Put Jewish Women ‘On the Map’
The current theme here at the Sisterhood is about women being seen and heard. I like that! Renee Ghert-Zand wrote about a really important initiative to encourage women to get their strong voices out there by writing more op-ed articles. Debra Nussbaum Cohen and Devra Ferst reminded women to speak up unapologetically. And I, myself,…
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Life How Modern Orthodoxy Is Losing Touch With Modernity
Women are banned from running for public office, according to Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of the Elon Moreh settlement. In a startling regression to 19th century gender inequalities, Levanon responded to a query by a woman requesting permission to run for her local council, with a resounding “no.” The first problem is giving women authority, and…
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Life The World’s ‘Most Influential’ Jewish Women
In honor of Shavuot, the Jerusalem Post printed a special supplement on “The Fifty Most Influential Jews in the World” — and there are only seven women in the list. A woman doesn’t even make an appearance until number 10 — US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Bizarrely, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg comes…
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Life How Sexism Keeps Women Out of the Kitchen
One of the wonderful things about living in Israel is that Jewish holidays are all-encompassing. Around Rosh Hashanah, for example, every commercial — whether for outdoor furniture or dishwashing liquid — somehow includes apples and honey. Around Hanukkah, public displays of light and candles on every street compete with the smell of sufganiyot. Around Passover,…
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Life Motti Elon, at Center of Sexual Abuse Scandal, Returns to Teaching
The Rabbi Motti Elon story was back in the news this week. It seems that despite all the hubbub over the investigation into his alleged sexual abuse of students, and despite his agreement not to continue teaching, Elon has been giving classes, some of which are even being posted on the Internet by his fans….
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Life Sex and Women’s Pleasure Debated in the Orthodox Sphere
It seems that sex is on everyone’s minds this week. (“Just this week?” The cynic replied.) It’s not just on The Sisterhood that sexuality in Jewish life became a focus, but also elsewhere on the Jewish Web. Asimon, “Israel’s Women’s Site,” for example, announced that in honor of “May is Masturbation Month,” they are holding…
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Life Women Leaving Orthodoxy
The recent Rabbinical Council of America decision to exclude women from the rabbinate brought to mind the 2004 film “Mekudeshet: Sentenced to Marriage,” a documentary about women stuck in the divorce process in Israel. There is one particularly heart-wrenching scene that has been playing over in my mind recently. “Rachel,” a 30-something Orthodox mother of…
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Life A Month After Passover, Eating Matzoh To Promote Inclusion
Every year at the end of Passover, my mother takes a box of matzoh and puts it aside for a few weeks. Then, on the 14th day of Iyar, exactly a month after Passover eve, she takes it out and eats it — as do many other Jews around the world — to remember the…
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