Dangerous Distinctions
My beloved aunt and I differ in appearance, reflecting the attitudes toward women’s dress of our different Jewish communities. She steps out in a neat wig and modest dress; I’m bareheaded, unless I’m wearing a kippah, and I usually wear pants. Never in my life has she criticized the way I dress or, more importantly, the way I practice Judaism. I recently told her that I had learned to perform hagbah, the ritual practice of holding up an opened Torah scroll after it has been read. She chuckled, indicating she thought that was a job for an enormous man. But, then, she offered praise, saying that all learning is beautiful.
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Chronic Illness: Separate — Not Equal
In the fall of 2013, I got sick. Like most people who fall ill, I assumed I would get better. Weeks, then months, then years passed. And though there were plenty of ups and downs, I did not recover.
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Redeeming Particularity
We are inheritors of a tradition rooted in two interconnected questions, posed by God, in the Bible. The first, “Ayyeka?” (Where are you?), is presented to Adam and Eve after they eat the forbidden fruit, notice they’re naked, and hide. The second, “Ay ahikha?” (Where is your brother?), appears in the story of Cain and Abel after envy and competition for God’s love leads to the Torah’s first murder.
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The Problem Is Hierarchy
Havdil: the making of distinctions. I’ve been thinking about this subject for as long as I’ve been a feminist, which is to say, for half a century. The fundamental insight of feminism is that, in the patriarchal world we inhabit, there is an ever-present, underlying dualistic hierarchy that privileges male above female, and this primary distinction generates much of the world’s oppression and injustice.
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NiSh’ma: Havdil
Our commentators reflect on the tension between God’s desire to categorize and make distinctions (light and dark, Shabbat and the days of the week) and the blurriness of our contemporary lives.
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Consider and Converse: A Guide to Havdil
Consider and Converse: A Guide to ‘Havdil’ — ‘Distinctions’
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