The Jewish Burka Comes to Brooklyn
In Israel, as I noted earlier this year, a renegade group of Haredi women has taken to one-upping the already increasingly severe modesty standards of their community by donning Muslim-style burkas. The trend was apparently initiated by a female spiritual leader in the ultra-Orthodox stronghold of Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet. The fashion trend, which has reportedly dismayed husbands and rabbis alike, has spread to other ultra-Orthodox enclaves in Israel.
Now, Hasidic rapper/blogger Y-Love reports they’ve made their way to Brooklyn:
Not too long ago, I had my first abaya-sighting.
For the first time, I saw one of the followers of veil advocate Rabbanit Bruria Keren decked out in hijab sal and abaya…in Boro Park, walking down 13th Avenue with her friend, chatting and schmoozing in frumspeak.
The first thing I thought to myself was, “Oh no, they’re here. They’re here in Boro Park.”
Y-Love also links to a story in last week’s Times of London profiling a pair of Israeli women who have taken to wearing Muslim-style dress.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
