Standing Up for Agunot
Martyna Starosta Shira Dicker protests the plight of chained women, or agunot, whose husbands refuse to grant them religious divorces, during a small Times Square gathering on International Agunah Day.
Queen Esther
The Latest
-
Life -
Life The Modern Day Vashtis
Getty Images// Children in the Philippines protest against sex trafficking In the Purim story, Vashti’s expulsion, we know, is the result of her refusal to present herself before King Achashverosh. The text is ambiguous about the reason for her refusal, leaving much room for modern-day, feminist interpretation. Perhaps Vashti did not appreciate being summoned, did…
-
Life Throwback Thursday: Queen Esther in New York City
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. Sonia Kanciper, a 22-year-old member of the Farband, the Labor Zionist organization and a post-graduate student at Hunter College, was chosen New York’s Queen Esther of 1952 in a beauty contest of…
-
Life Haredi Wives to Sara Netanyahu: ‘Be Our Esther’
Mazal Tov! Sara Netanyahu has been crowned Queen Esther of Israel. Eighteen wives of Haredi Members of Knesset penned a letter to Mrs. Netanyahu urging her to use her powers as Queen of the Israeli empire to influence her husband, Benjamin Netanyahu, Emperor of all Israelis. According to Israel National News, the women pleaded with…
-
Life Purim Ate My Daughter
Purim is just around the corner and, in my house, that means my children have been super-glued into their costumes for about three weeks. My 6-year-old son, a dinosaur fan, has been wearing his T-Rex hat and roaring at the baby non-stop. My 3-year-old daughter has been wearing her poofy, pink princess dress and tiara,…
-
The Schmooze Biblical Clue in Computer Worm?
It sounds like a high-tech thriller with DaVinci Code undertones: A file name inside a lethal computer worm might reference the Biblical Queen Esther — and could finger Israel as the source. A report in today’s New York Times says a file inside the Stuxnet worm’s computer code was named “Myrtus,” possibly a “cross-linguistic wordplay”…
-
The Schmooze Katy Perry Channels Queen Esther
She’s got the No. 1 album in the country — and, apparently, she can relate to the Bible’s Queen Esther. Katy Perry, who’s dominated radio waves since May with the inescapable pop single “California Gurls,” went straight to the top spot September 1 with the release of her third album, “Teenage Dream.” In addition to…
-
Life Parlaying the Power of Pretty
When I was in kindergarten I played Queen Esther in our synagogue’s Purim spiel. I remember feeling pretty good about playing the lead, and energized that the role called for playing a heroine and putting on a frilly pink dress. I thought about this Saturday during a discussion at my synagogue about gender and power…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 3
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 4
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
In Case You Missed It
-
News Harvard is defying the Trump administration — after its own crackdown on academic freedom
-
Opinion The Passover attack on Josh Shapiro was terrifying. But don’t assume it was antisemitic
-
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
-
Fast Forward Northwestern University defaced by anti-Israel graffiti during passover
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
