Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the robust lives of American Jews. Here there’s a little of everything about the multifaceted world of Jewish life. There are light-hearted Jewish celebrity stories and shocking Jewish celebrity news. Food is also plentiful,…
Life
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The Real Problem with Baby Wigs
Now, why would a parent put her baby girl in a wig? Besides wanting me to laugh at her, that is. According to the manufacturers of “Baby Bangs,” it is to allow your baby girl to have “a beautifully realistic hairstyle in a snap.” For $25 you can buy a customized hair extension attached to…
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Giving Thanks, For Selfish Reasons
There’s an episode of “House” that Jeremy and I watched recently. In it, a doctor on House’s team is trying to thank him. When he avoids her, she says to him, “Do you know why people pray? Do you think they pray to him and praise him because they want him to know how great…
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New Abortion Restrictions: Wide in Scope, Sneaky in Passage
In some ways, my feminist activist dreams are coming true right now. There’s a populist uprising happening across the country, with marches and flash mobs and occupations, and it’s a feminist one. Through civil disobedience, activists are risking their bodies to save women’s bodies from state control. It’s a beautiful awakening, a proverbial sleeping giant….
The Latest
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Eggs and Hatred Won’t Kill Prayer at Kotel
When I woke up last Monday morning, I ditched my cozy blankets and jumped out of bed before sunrise to join my fellow Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion students as we set out on a holy mission. Heading over to the Kotel for Rosh Hodesh with Women of the Wall, we knew we were…
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Tootsie, Barbie and Beauty Standards
I’ve already blogged here at the Sisterhood about my childhood proclivity for Disney Princesses. Perhaps it won’t surprise you, then, that I was also an unabashed doll player. Barbies, paper dolls, American Girl dolls, Madame Alexander. You name it; I played it. Guided by the imaginations of a few close friends sitting together on someone’s…
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Dressing Modestly for Me — Not Religion
Most women would do or pay anything to be that beautiful blonde in the bar, the one getting attention from all the men. And most women probably would not understand being blonde and voluntarily giving it up — covering up the blonde hair with a headscarf, voluntarily shedding the sexy outfit in favor of a…
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Should Halacha Take Precedence Over Women’s Health?
In a story from the operating theater of the absurd, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported on July 8 that a woman was denied a scheduled D&C for a missed abortion because of an arcane aspect of halacha. The report is in Hebrew, but there is a related English language blog post in 972 Magazine. According…
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For Siblings, How Close Is Too Close?
Two weeks ago, The New York Times Motherlode blog featured an essay I wrote in anticipation of my children attending overnight summer camp for the first time. Zev and Ruthie, ages 10 and seven respectively, leave this week for Camp Kimama, near Netanya, Israel — and they’ll be sleeping in separate spaces for the first…
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Breaking: Fathers Want to Father
On Monday, the New York Times ran a now heavily criticized story about working moms whose lean-in fantasies involve baking cookies and softball games instead of professional achievements. The article mostly focused on one woman, Sara Uttech, an agricultural association executive who is more interested in flexible scheduling and sick leave than promotions. For mothers…
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Why We Need Heroines
Sisterhood contributor Elissa Strauss wrote this week about how overjoyed and moved she was by Friday Night Lights character Tami Taylor — well, at least actress Connie Britton’s — return to the scene to boost Planned Parenthood in Texas after the Wendy Davis filibuster. I, too, have obsessed and enthused about Tami (and Britton) for…
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A Male Feminist Speaks Out
Can men be feminists? If so, what does it look like? A recent spate of articles like this one at Policy Mic, this one at On The Issues and this one at Slate tackled these questions. But I wanted to find out more, so I decided to use social media to find a feminist man…
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