Many of us have, shall we say, challenges in our family relationships — and memories from childhood that are more brutal than blissful. Most of us work out these sorrows and struggles in journals, in therapy, or perhaps over wine with trusted loved ones. Gayle Kirschenbaum took a road that’s surely less traveled. In the…
“I’m 41, religious and single. I’m not prepared to give up on motherhood and I’m also not prepared to give up on my halakhic devotion. If I can’t have a partner, at least I should have a child.” With this impassioned plea, Aviva Harbater opened up the 2011 inaugural conference of KayamaMoms, a Jerusalem-based organization…
The 20-week ultrasound, the one where you get to see the most detailed image yet of your baby-to-be, is, for many, a time of exquisite exhilaration and wonder at the feat of physics that can capture the contours of your roughly 9-ounce bundle of joy. But as I lay on the table, watching brain quadrants…
Deborah the Prophetess stands before the people of Israel. “Listen,” she calls out, “did not the Lord, God of Israel command: ‘Go, march on Mt. Tabor…’” “What about the children?” a heckler calls out. “Who’s taking care of your children when you’re out prophesizing in the middle of the day?” You won’t find this exchange…
The opening paragraph of a recent article on the sociologist Orna Donath includes the phrase “professional iconoclast” in reference to Donath and her work on Israeli men and women who don’t want to be parents (as opposed to “childfree,” which has no direct translation to Hebrew). Donath, a post-doctoral student at Ben Gurion University, is…
The founder of group that claims to have taken 7,300 Jewish mothers on subsidized tours of Israel has posted a video that references the end of days and urges Jews to move to Israel for safety reasons. Lori Palatnik, founder and director of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, which runs trips that some have nicknamed…
While reading this Sunday’s New York Times article “Overselling Breast-Feeding,” I couldn’t help but reflect on the emotional roller coaster that has been my experience with breastfeeding. Prior to getting pregnant, I was not committed to breastfeeding. I thought I’d play it by ear and see how it went. I understood that not everyone who…
In a recent Jezebel article titled Tracy Moore supports mothers who form tight-knit groups consisting of others just like themselves. “In those early days I wasn’t looking for fellow slobs per se, but it’s unlikely I’d have befriended a Fit Mom, only because I would not have imagined that we’d be in the same headspace—and…
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