Sarah Seltzer
By Sarah Seltzer
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Life The Health Care Bill: Women’s Gains and Losses
Last night’s congressional debate and votes on health care reform was riveting TV, from the shouts and hollers in the crowd to impassioned speeches on both sides to the final, triumphant arrival of Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, who had just achieved what no other speaker in decades of trying had…
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Life The Women in the Crosshairs of ‘Freedom of Religion’
While much of the weekend’s news cycle was devoted to Bibi-Bidengate, another event in Israel this weekend caught my eye: the protest against sex-segregated buses, which fellow Sisterhood blogger Allison Kaplan Sommer writes about here. In the Sisterhood’s earlier coverage of the issue, Elana Sztokman rightly called the so-called “modesty” policy on public buses deeply…
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Life Set in Westport, a Jewish Retelling of ‘Sense and Sensibility’
In Cathleen Schine’s “The Three Weissmanns of Westport” — currently on The New York Times’ extended bestseller list — Jane Austen’s tale of two very different sisters, “Sense and Sensibility,” is transposed to the world of Manhattan and Connecticut Jewry. Miranda Weissman is a headstrong, romantic and a disgraced literary agent, while her practical, prim…
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Life Embracing the Bad-Ass and the Beauty
I couldn’t read all the Esther and Vashti talk around the Web, without chiming in myself. Like Elissa Strauss, I dressed up as one of the two queens every year at my Jewish day school’s Purim carnival — at least until 3rd or 4th grade when we started getting more creative with our costumes. Whether…
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The Schmooze Jews on Ice
I tuned in intermittently to the “cultural dance” segment of Olympic ice-dancing last night. In a night filled with several highly questionable routines including a Russian pair’s notorious (and racist) aboriginal costumes, I was jolted out of my apathy by seeing Israeli ice-dancing pair Roman Zaretsky and his sister Alexandra, called “Sasha” enter the rink…
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Life When Discussing Rape, Notions of Sisterhood Dissipate
We mentioned Tuesday the disturbing news of a British survey that showed that women were more likely than their male counterparts to blame rape victims for being raped. As someone who writes about reproductive rights and gets frustrated with the frequently encountered “abortion for me, but not for thee” syndrome, this all sounds very familiar….
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Life The Backlash Against Super Bowl Misogyny-fest ‘10
This year, the coveted commercial time during the (exciting and inspiring) Superbowl was filled with ads that made women, and male viewers, uncomfortable with their implied or overt misogyny. Twitter feeds and blog comments were filled with viewers marvelling at the unceasing, unvaried tone of the ads. While beer ads are traditionally less than friendly…
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Life Oscar Nominations Aside, ‘An Education’ Makes Me Cringe
This week’s Oscar nominations have been kind to the Nick Hornby penned film “An Education,” which netted honors for acting, writing, and even Best Picture. The film tells the story of a bright middle-class schoolgirl in a humdrum town in mid-century Britain, who falls into an affair with a cultured, attractive and winning older man…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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News They texted about Torah and mitzvahs. Feds say they were insider trading
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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Fast Forward Talarico won’t campaign with Democratic House candidate who wants to open ‘a prison for American Zionists’
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Fast Forward Pacific Palisades Jews, displaced by fire, reopen their synagogue as part of returning home
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Culture At Eurovision, Israel’s near triumph shows the limits of tolerance
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Fast Forward Israel’s Noam Bettan takes 2nd at Eurovision, buoyed by scrutinized public vote
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Culture It looks like a kaffiyeh, but this pro-Israel influencer wants you to wear a sudra