Following up on my previous post, this is the essay I wrote after my first one was rejected. They published it, only after deleting several sections about Miriam's life and about gender in Jewish life. It was incredible to me. In an essay about the many ways women's lives are erased, they erased women's lives. I'm publishing this here in full ...
The following post on the Torah portion was solicited by a Jewish newspaper that then refused to publish it on the grounds that, "Your essay needs to be about the parsha." The post was exactly my thoughts after reading the first section of Parshat Va'era, and cites those sections. The reason it wasn't "about the parsha" in my understanding is that...
I'm excited to announce that I will be releasing a new book this month: Conversations with my Body: Essays on my life as a Jewish woman. This collection of published and unpublished works on topics including 'modesty', voice, hair, sexuality, fat-shaming, body-image, and more marks an important milestone in my life. This year has been the 25th year...
Below is the text of the op-ed that i wrote in today's JPost -- but here it includes all the useful links for those interested in my sources. The latest argument put forth by Trump supporters on these pages – he is a repugnant but you should vote for him anyway because he is good for the Jews – is head-spinning in its obscenity. This argument,...
So much to wish and pray for in this coming year..... Wishing for humanity to find sources of light and love, and the courage to let go of all the darkness, hatred and fear... Wishing for changes in leadership around the world, for more compassion and empathy, more women's voices, more celebration of diversity, an end to authoritarianis...
It's 3:11 AM and I can't sleep. I have too much to do, and too many thoughts floating through my head. I have been serving as Vice Chair for Media and Policy for Democrats Abroad Israel since the 2016 elections. But it's mostly been on a low flame. Now, however, as the election is less than 100 days away, an election that may in fact be ...
The headlines heralded what many of us have been agitating for years: Orthodox women are going to be recognized as rabbis in Israel. All over social media, Orthodox women virtually cheered, as did their allies.But that excitement after last week's decision by Israel's attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, to require the rabbinate to accept women's ...
Alan Dershowitz seems nervous. That was clear in his interview in the new Netflix documentary, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, that chronicles Epstein's sex trafficking operation. Dershowitz challenged his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, to say on camera that she was forced to have sex with him 'six or seven times'. She did just that. It does not ...
The Kol Hanashim Women's Party did not, alas, make it into the Knesset, but we certainly made waves. With a diverse list of women -- Jewish, Muslim and Christian; from North, Center and South; religious and non-religious, immigrants and veterans; young mothers, single women and grandmothers; able and disabled; straight and LGBT; women of all...
Every time I turn on my computer, I remember why I decided to form a women's political party. Not alone, obviously, but with a diverse and talented group of women. Nevertheless, I am constantly reminded about what brought me here, every time the screen comes to life. No matter how many ad-blockers I use, the ads are constant: Do I want a hot babe? ...
Elana talks with Sara Ivry of Vox Tablet about her book "Educating in the Divine Image: Gender Issues in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools".
