Welcome to the Forward’s Jewish News coverage about feminism and womens issues.
Feminism
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Opinion Sorry Orthodox Union, Women Clergy Are Here To Stay
I once spoke to a group of elderly Jews about the advances in women’s Torah study. One woman in the audience eagerly raised her hand. She said that she was born in Krakow, and was the downstairs neighbor of Sarah Shenirer, the founder of the Bais Yaakov schools. “Believe me,” she said, “the rabbis were…
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Life Ignore the OU — Orthodox Women Rabbis are Here to Stay
When the Orthodox Union released their statement on female clergy last week, I was not particularly upset. I was not sad, I was not angry, and I was not anxious. I felt perhaps a tinge of frustration, coupled with a disappointment that had been dulled by months and months of expectation. As a staff member…
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Community Can Orthodox Judaism Be Feminist?
Feminist, to me, has never been a dirty word. In fact, as soon as I learned the word and its meaning, I embraced the term, cloaking myself in the righteousness of women’s rights, brandishing the banner of feminism as a challenge to those around me. When I was younger, I took on the childish causes…
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Opinion 3 Generations on the March: ‘It Felt Like the Passing of the Baton’
I was moved by the masses, but ambivalent about their message. As my Grandma, Mom and I held onto one another while we wove through the scant empty pockets in the crowd, I listened to chants of “Hands too small, can’t build a wall,” and was reluctant to participate. It felt like “going low” when…
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Opinion 3 Generations on the March: Were All of Us Rallying Behind One Message?
I was very focused on the food, the cold and the crowds. And did I mention a terrorist bomb or crazed shooter? Though I was entirely sure of my philosophical, visceral desire to sign on for the Women’s March in Washington, the notion of hordes amassing in one location triggered every one of my Jewish…
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Opinion 3 Generations on the March: A Feminist Activist on ‘One of the Best Days’
The Forward asked three generations of the Pogrebin family to recount their experiences at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Here the grandmother, a veteran feminist activist and writer, describes how this protest left her soaring. Read daughter Abigail Pogrebin’s account here and granddaughter Molly Shapiro’s essay here. Pardon the hyperbole but yesterday was one…
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News After 20 Years, Orthodox Feminists Claim Big Victories — but Still Face Challenges
The past two decades have witnessed a small revolution in the religious leadership roles being taken by Orthodox Jewish women. It is an arc easily traced back to when Blu Greenberg and a small group of like-minded women convened the first International Conference on Orthodoxy and Feminism. That 1997 conference, which attracted many more people…
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Life What Will Feminism Look Like Post-Clinton (and Post-Pantsuit)?
I am not now and never have been a member of the Pantsuit Nation. I don’t even really own a pantsuit, but can merely combine a navy blazer from one store and similarly navy slacks from another if this is needed, which, to be fair, it rarely is. I had, however, known of the private…
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BINTEL BRIEF How do you deal with invitations from someone whose behavior drives you nuts?
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Fast Forward An Israeli think tank used AI to analyze 4,400 American synagogue sermons. Here’s what it found.
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