Welcome to JewFem.com!

Your source for news and insights about gender in Jewish life

elana head shot low res croppedJewFem.com offers you news, information and insights about gender and feminism in your Jewish life. The blog tackles Jewish education, synagogue, Israel, Jewish community, bits of pop culture, and more. The site was created by the award-winning writer Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman (@ElanaHope), former Executive Director of JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance. Elana's books include The Men’s Section: Orthodox Jewish Men in an Egalitarian World, which won the 2012 National Jewish Book Council Award for Women's Studies, Educating in the Divine Image: Gender Issues in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools, which won the 2013 National Jewish Book Council Award for Education (co-authored with Chaya Gorsetman), and the forthcoming The War on Women in Israel: How Religious Radicalism is Stifling the Voice of a Nation Elana writes frequently at The Forward, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, Lilith, and more.

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Listen to Elana talk about her books

Elana talks with Sara Ivry of Vox Tablet about her book "Educating in the Divine Image: Gender Issues in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools".

Elana talks with Gabrielle Birkner of The Forward about her book "The Men's Section" and her vision of gender in Jewish education.

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Latest News

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Congratulations! Educating in the Divine Image wins the National Jewish Book Council Award
Elana's newest book, Educating in the Divine Image: Gender Issues in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools, won the 2013 National Jewish Book Council Award in the category of education and i...
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The JewFem Blog

Look out for these upcoming events.....
I'll be traveling to NYC next week for three great events: * Wed Feb 4, Museum of Jewish Heritage a discussion of the War on Women in Israel with the amazing Nancy K. Kaufman of NCJW * Thurs Feb 5, The Park Slope Jewis...
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Posted by Elana Sztokman on 31 January 2015
Baking challah with Haviva
The first thing I did when I finished reading Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner David’s new book, “Chana’s Voice” is to set out to learn how to bake challah. Haviva’s writing is like that; she inspires you to open your heart and appr...
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Posted by Elana Sztokman on 31 January 2015
Women shaking up elections in Israel
[Crossposted from Huffington Post] Israeli women are shaking up the political system in their country in some intriguing and even exciting ways. With national elections set for March, it seems that election fever has pro...
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Posted by Elana Sztokman on 31 January 2015
A Political Tipping Point for Ultra-Orthodox Women?
There is a new feminist revolution happening in Israel, and it is emerging from one of the most surprising places: Ultra-Orthodoxy. Over the past two years, ultra-Orthodox or haredi women have been organizing around fem...
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Posted by Elana Sztokman on 20 January 2015
Maybe Not Such a Good Girl: Book Review
  Courtesy of Blue Thread Communications   [crossposted from The Jewish Week]In the many communal conversations about shifting Jewish identities and trends -– swelling ultra-Ortho...
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Posted by Elana Sztokman on 09 January 2015