This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish women and women’s issues.
Women
The Latest
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Opinion Time for Israel To Change Stance Toward Jewish Women
Is Judaism the problem or the solution to women’s equality? Try telling agunot, women who are chained to their husbands unable to obtain a get, a religious divorce, that they are equal to men. Overarching Jewish values like b’tzelem Elohim — that all people are created in the image of God — may teach equality,…
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News Orthodox Schism Over Role of Women Widens After Graduation of Maharats
The dust has settled after the June 16 graduation of the first class of female maharats from a groundbreaking Orthodox rabbinical school. But controversy over the role that the newly minted religious leaders from Yeshivat Maharat will play in Orthodoxy — along with 14 more students in future classes — appears to be just getting…
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Opinion Maharats Win Support of Jewish Women
The first class of maharats may be controversial among the Orthodox. But the graduates enjoy overwhelming support from Jewish women from other denominations, who see the battle for recognition as part and parcel of the struggles they faced — and won. “It’s an affirmation of everything that has led to this moment, as well as…
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Fast Forward Barbra Streisand Lashes Out at Orthodox Over Treatment of Women in Israel
Iconic Jewish entertainer Barbra Streisand on Monday took a swipe at Orthodox Jews in Israel who compel women to sit in the back of buses and assault them for following religious rituals traditionally reserved for men. “It’s distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of a bus or……
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Life Finding Common Ground in Interfaith Relationships
On a quest to explore the age-old Jewish tradition of finding a “nice Jewish boy” or “nice Jewish girl,” I recently wrote about my own partnership for the Sisterhood, as well as the experiences of a few single Jewish friends. But I wanted to understand, more deeply, how being with a Jewish partner — which…
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Life Why I Only Date Jewish Guys
Growing up, two things were clear: I had to go to an Ivy League school and I should marry a “nice Jewish boy.” My partner of four years is a nice Jewish boy from Long Island; he is my longest and most serious relationship. Before Jonathan, my foremost relationships lasted three months each. The first…
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Life Fearlessly Leaning In
The “What Would You Do if You Weren’t Afraid?” Tumblr is the latest project from Lean In, the global community born out of Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg’s book of the same title. The blog is inspired by studies showing that although women are graduating college with higher GPAs than their male peers, they are avoiding…
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News Jewish Women Declare Victory on Supreme Court BRCA Gene Mutation Case
Joanna Rudnick, a breast cancer survivor and BRCA-1 gene carrier, turned 39 today — and got one heck of a birthday present. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that human genes cannot be patented, although it reiterated that synthetic or altered genes may be subject to patent law. In other words, human DNA cannot be patented…
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Books In ‘Something We Said,’ Richard Pryor’s daughter finds words to discuss the unspeakable
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
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Opinion New York’s Israel Day parade was a shanda — but not because of Mamdani
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