It’s nice to see influential men increasingly protest the absence of women presenting at major Jewish events. In the publication eJewishPhilanthropy.com, Shaul Kelner writes a powerful essay about his pledge to refrain from participating in any all-male panel discussions, and to make his involvement conditional on the inclusion of women. Kelner, an assistant professor of…
A persistent stereotype attaches itself to Hadassah: sweet, elderly ladies holding tea socials and collecting money in tin boxes for Israel. But it takes no more than five minutes with Nancy Falchuk, the organization’s national president, to dispel this image. Her Hadassah sounds like it has been processed through the meat grinder of business consultants….
On the heels of a Forward survey revealing that fewer than one in six Jewish communal organizations are run by women, and that those women who do occupy top jobs earn less than their male counterparts comes an essay by Rabbi Rebecca W. Sibru about her personal experience with sexism during rabbinical school and in…
When the international advocacy and fundraising organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure called two Israeli advocates to invite them to a breast cancer conference in Egypt, “we were very excited about it,” one of the women said. “This is a level we never dreamed of, breaking political barriers. This collaborative effort with Middle East…
The only synagogue in Greenville, N.C., sits on the outskirts of this old tobacco town in a converted funeral home. Inside, on a recent Friday, people milled, kibitzed and greeted one another: “Good Shabbos.” “How y’all doing?” Nametags were distributed to make everyone feel comfortable. The bright strum of a guitar coaxed the guests —…
In advance of a trip that he took with his grandfather to Africa two years ago, Eric Feldman, 18, wanted to do something good. “I’ve always been raised not just to enjoy the beautiful sights, but to give back wherever you go,” he said. He was going to volunteer to serve food at a homeless…
Despite notable gains for women in the past year, a Forward survey of 75 major American Jewish communal organizations found that fewer than one in six are run by women, and those women are paid 61 cents to every dollar earned by male leaders. The numbers are especially striking when compared with the overall composition…
One of the perks of fighting antisemitism for a living is the occasional opportunity to meet a genuine hero. On September 12, one of those heroes — a largely unsung one — died at age 53 alone in a motel room in Santa Fe, N.M., after a long battle with Crohn’s disease that had left…
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