Jewfem Blog

 Book Review: Dreaming Against The Current: A Rabbi's Soul Journey, By Haviva Ner-David (Bedazzled Ink Publishing; Release date: Dec 15, 2021)  Rabbi Reverend Dr. Haviva Ner-David has made some very unorthodox choices in her life. One day, for example, was walking alone in the mountains of the upper Galilee near her home in Hannaton,...

 Introducing JewFem 2.0, an exciting new online course with your favorite Jewish feminist thought leaders, scholars and activists. This will be an outstanding gathering for engaging discussions about the evolution of Jewish feminism — sexuality, politics, media, gender identity, bodies, identities, leadership, money, and more. The world has ch...

Rabbi Sally Priesand, the first American woman to become a rabbi, wrote in today's Forward that she is "heartbroken" to discover that the rabbi who ordained her was also a sexual predator. When the guys fighting for women's equality in public are attacking women in private, something is very wrong. Read my post about the feminists and feminist...

Reports of sexual abuse in the Reform movement are shocking but not surprisingWe all knew this was happening. I have my own stories from life in the Reform movement. Still, there may be hopeful signs of change. Yesterday's hot-off-the-presses report that there is rampant sexual abuse in the Reform Movement that has been covered up for decades shoul...

This text is the introduction I wrote to a chapter about Gender Abuse in my upcoming book on sexual abuse in the Jewish community. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback: I want to share a story.   In September 1998, I started my very first job in the Jewish communal world since completing my Master's Degree in Jewish education –...

This has been a week of revelations about sexual harassment in high-powered Israeli culture.  First up: Colette Avital, who has often been the only woman in a room full of powerful men, shared her truth this week: That she was sexually assaulted by the late Shimon Peres.  This should not come as a surprise. The worst-kept secret was ...

I am shattered and heartbroken to report that my beautiful and brilliant friend, Dr. Chaya Gorsetman, died this week. Chaya was a master educator and lifelong learner in every aspect of her life. She was driven by the most beautiful desire to make every child – and every human being – feel heard, valued, and respected. These were not platitudes. Sh...

Now that the FBI has finally issued an arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie following the murder of his fiancé Gabby Petito, we can say one thing for sure. The police officers who encountered the couple shortly before her disappearance screwed up. This particular fail – in which there were distinct signs of violence and trauma but the Moab police sent...

I would like to talk about what's going in Afghanistan. Because, even though we have more 'local' stories to worry about, like covid and extreme weather, Afghanistan exposes a portrait of the world we are living in.  And it is, in a very profound way, personal.  American did not send troops into Afghanistan twenty years ago because of wom...

International Women's Day 2021. Image by ✮~ Katty ~✩ courtesy of Creative Commons

Follow Rwanda.  On this International Women's Day (which of course begs the question -- if women are out front one day a year, what is going on during the other 364?), today I would like to talk about Rwanda. Yes Rwanda. A country that has been on the forefront of women's political representation for over a decade, the first country to have 50...