Author Archive: New Israel Fund
Judaism is not one-size-fits-all
By Dawn Rosen, October 2013 I believe that Judaism was never meant to be one-size-fits-all. And I believe Judaism was meant to evolve. As a Reconstructionist, I understand that being Jewish means much more than religion and rituals; its culture, music, history, our stories, our family, and how we work to enrich our communities and…
Gender Equality is a Jewish Value
By Dr. Martin Rosenberg, October 2013 Even as a child attending an Orthodox shul, I was bothered by my mother and sister having to go upstairs to separate seating. And I wondered why my coming of age in the Jewish community was a big deal, but my older sister’s was not. As one who grew…
It’s a New World
By Marcia Cohn Spiegel, October 2013 I grew up in the 1930s when I was one of the rare girls allowed to study Hebrew, knowing that I would never read from the Torah or be on the bima of my shul. As a grown woman in the 1970s and beyond, I became a member of…
Kaddish
By Emma, October 2013 I grew up as a Reform Jew in London. Until I went to university, I would go to synagogue every week because my father insisted that my sister and I should. My father himself rarely attended synagogue except at festivals. To get to synagogue we had to travel by bus quite…
A Debt of Gratitude for the Women Who Opened the Doors
By Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, October 2013 When I was ordained in 1985, women rabbis were still rather rare. I was the first woman rabbi in every congregation I served in the 1980s, and in most cases I was the first and only woman rabbi in that city. I looked to the women who preceded…
Praying for True Befuddlement
By Virginia Avniel Spatz, October 2013 “Do you have to be a mommy to lead services?” my son asked me when he was very young. His question was undoubtedly motivated by the fact that I was active in an egalitarian worship community while his father, a non-Jew, was not. And, now 20, my son is…
Two Halves, One Whole
By Shelly F. Cohen, October 2013 The first time I stood on the bima was when I became bat mitzvah in a Conservative shul. At that time, 40-some years ago, it seemed likely that would be the last time I’d be on the bima as well – there were no women clergy (that I knew…
The B’nai Mitzvah of Two Generations as a Metaphor for Equality
By Sandra Cuttler, October 2013 When my children were growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, we belonged to a “traditional” synagogue, which some people would call “Conservadox.” During the many years that we were members, the synagogue did not allow females to read from the Torah during services. It was important to me that…
Up and Down, No and Yes
By Dr. Judith B. Tischler, October 2013 I recently turned 80 (gvurot). I grew up in a traditional Orthodox home, rebelled, and became a member of Hashomer Hatzair (Youth Guard). My first real taste of women’s equality was in that youth movement. At the time, the dream was life in a kibbutz with a lifestyle…
My Most Memorable Service
By Robert Levy, October 2013 It was on a trip to Australia in December with a group of friends. We were exactly 10 people, 5 men and 5 women. I had Yahrzeit for my father and I wanted to say Kaddish, so we needed a minyan of 10 worshipers. Jewish tradition asks for 10 men…
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