Getting hitched in Israel is hardly a simple proposition, as a new documentary on the subject shows. In the Jewish state, marriage is only possible through Israel’s chief rabbinate — the pre-eminent religious governing body, which predates the founding of the state itself; non-Jewish Israelis must be married by their own religious authorities. In addition,…
When my wedding photo was published in the Forward in 2002, it accompanied an article about creative Jewish rituals found online, including a blessing for children at the time of their parent’s remarriage. I remember thinking, as I looked at the photo, what’s so unusual about this? Oh, right. Most people don’t have their five…
For someone who’s recently written a novel about teenage Orthodox Jewish lesbians — it could even be called the definitive novel, since there isn’t exactly a surplus of teen Orthodox lesbian fiction floating around — Leanne Lieberman isn’t really the ideal spokeswoman for the “Orthodyke” community. As a matter of fact, she’s neither Orthodox nor…
A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book By Aliza Lavie Spiegel & Grau, 448 pages, $35. God speaks to Jewish women as well as to Jewish men. God loves Jewish women as well as God loves Jewish men. From biblical times to the present, there have been prayers that speak to this love, answer this call and…
l Enforced Marginality: Jewish Narratives on Abandoned Wives By Bluma Goldstein University of California Press, 235 pages, $39.95. We would do well to remember that when we say “according to the rabbis,” we are historically saying “according to men.” According to the male rabbis who wrote the Talmud and who, for European generations, were the…
Jewish dating powerhouse JDate has enlisted everyone’s favorite psychosexual therapist to contribute an advice column to its online magazine JMag. Readers of the Bintel Blog, of course, already know that Dr. Ruth gives good advice.
Like many young New Yorkers, the folks who write Heeb magazine’s blog evidently spend a lot of time perusing the Craig’s List real estate listings — and it paid off for them. They stumbled upon this one-of-kind sublet.
Often, words and expressions change meaning by happenstance, or because a secondary meaning gradually becomes a primary one. There’s no wider significance to it. Sometimes, though, the change is indicative of a real cultural shift. I had this thought the other day, as I was reading an article about the current trend in some American…
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