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Culture Ellen Willis and Me
The Essential Ellen Willis By Ellen Willis Edited by Nona Willis Aronowitz University of Minnesota Press, 536 pages, $24.95 Ellen Willis died in 2006, but her voice still echoes in the culture. Willis was the first pop music critic for The New Yorker, an editor and writer for the Village Voice and Rolling Stone, founder…
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Life You Can Do it In a Skirt
Cross-country skiing in a skirt / Courtesy of youcandoitinaskirt.wordpress.com As someone who identifies as an Orthodox feminist but still (mostly) follows the dictates of tznius, or modesty, I often find myself feeling marginalized. Among the women who dress the way I do, I am judged for my progressive views; among those with views more like…
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Opinion A Non-Giggly Girl Causes Problems Among the Ultra-Orthodox
Ultra-Orthodox girls lean out of a classroom window / Getty Images “What do you mean he abused her?” The question was shrill and innocuous. The teacher, Mrs. Stern, looked incredibly uncomfortable. But hey, she had brought it up. “He got into the bed with her, and he abused her.” Mrs. Stern shrugged her shoulders at…
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Opinion Maharat Graduation Surprised Me — Twice
Last year’s Maharat graduation ceremony / Robert Kalfus Two dramatic moments punctuated yesterday’s graduation ceremony of the New York-based Yeshivat Maharat, the rabbinical academy for Orthodox women, which ordained its second class of women who will serve Orthodox communities as poskot — halakhic decisors and advisors. They were granted the title “Maharat,” and acronym for…
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Life Why Women Are the New Gatekeepers of Modesty
Getty Images // Ultra-Orthodox women in Israel Who are the gatekeepers of the conservative religious ideal of tznius, or modesty? This question has been argued and parsed on social media and on blogs in recent years as radicalism in the ultra-Orthodox communities has taken on new and more visible forms. A common misperception is that…
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Life Why Shouldn’t Feminists Be Happy?
Getty Images // A smiling Gloria Steinem. In a recent column, the Guardian’s Jessica Valenti takes aim at our culture’s fixation on the happiness of women. She argues that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with whether or not feminism makes women happier because happiness is not the point. After all, a social justice movement seeks justice,…
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Life Should Monica Lewinsky Be Mad at Feminists?
Getty Images In her already widely dissected 4,300 word Vanity Fair essay, Monica Lewinsky takes aim at the feminists of the late 90s. She says she found no support from the women’s rights crowd back then, and when they did respond to the situation she appeared either as a punch line or a scapegoat. No…
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Culture A Daughter’s Letter to Her Father for Mother’s Day
When I was a girl, on Friday nights, I would compete with my sisters for the privilege of fetching my father’s slippers when he returned home from prayers. My siblings and I would beg for the seat to my father’s left or right at the Sabbath meal. I was often chosen for this honor. My…
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Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
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Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
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Fast Forward After outcry, Cornell president cancels pro-Palestinian performer chosen for campus concert
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Yiddish טשיקאַוועסן: הינטל וואָס איז פֿאַרשוווּנדן דעם 7טן אָקט׳ פֿאַראייניקט מיט זײַן ישׂראלישער משפּחהTidbits: Dog that disappeared on Oct. 7 is back with its Israeli family
אַ צה״ל־סאָלדאַט האָט געפֿונען דאָס הינטל, בילי, אין ראַפֿאַך, דרום־עזה, בערך נײַן מײַל פֿונעם קיבוץ.
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Opinion As Trump lashes out at Zelenskyy, it’s clear: Ukraine is now to the far-right what Israel is to the left
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