Debra Nussbaum Cohen recently wrote a wonderful and impassioned post about teaching our daughters to use tefillin. As the mother of a daughter who has indicated interest in wearing tefillin when she reaches Bat Mitzvah age, I was glad to see others thinking about this issue. Yet as important pieces like this are, the challenge to gender roles in Judaism always seems to be unidirectional.
My Dear Sweet Daughter:
I have to disagree with Chanel Dubofsky’s Sisterhood post in which she contends that new interest in Jewish men’s clubs reflects male anxiety about a supposed women’s takeover of Jewish organizations and life. I think it’s great that a non-Orthodox Jewish organization is making progress in engaging Jewish men. The goal is to have everyone involved.