Update December 4, 2017 from the Chochmat Nashim Facebook page: Supreme Court Judge Hanan Meltzer said, "There is no such thing in the State of Israel as a road that is closed to women, nor will there be. As far as we are concerned, there should be a police presence day and night and any woman … [Read more...]
Only Men Safe from Rockets at Ashdod Rabbinate
July 16, 2014 by 3 Comments
In which exclusion of women doesn't stop for for war. Visiting the rabbinate can be a joyful time, like when you are registering for a wedding. But it can also be traumatic in case of a funeral, divorce or custody battle. These days, just leaving the house involves calculating how close you will … [Read more...]
Separate and Unequal at the Western Wall
March 10, 2013 by
The status of women at the Kotel (Western Wall) is in the news. You may have heard of The Women of the Wall, a group that meets monthly to pray together at the Kotel. Some members have been arrested for wearing prayer shawls. The controversy centers around whether these women are simply observing … [Read more...]
Halberstam Defends Her Pro-Makeup Stance
March 23, 2012 by
I reread the Halberstam article about whether marriageable girls wear enough makeup, after reading a claim that it was satire. The parts about the greatness of her son including the Ph.D. he is aspiring to, and Ollie's hair straightening salon, were indeed over the top. Her hyper-sensitivity about … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Purim Costume Ads
February 8, 2012 by
It's only Tu Beshevat, but the marketing for Purim is ratcheting up with advertisements for Purim costumes everywhere. A week or two ago, Hadassah Margolese, mother of 8-year-old Naama of Beit Shemesh fame, opened a haredi weekly distributed for free in her building's mailboxes. She was shocked … [Read more...]
Sderot Businesses Asked to Sign “Modesty” Contracts
December 12, 2011 by
I've written a lot about extreme modesty in women's dress and we always have this discussion about whether or not it is any of our business. At what point do we say "live and let live," and when do we begin to worry that these trends will affect us in our daily lives. Well, the time to worry is … [Read more...]
Is Hyper-Modesty about Female Empowerment?
October 3, 2011 by
NRG published a story about a pamphlet distributed to homes in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, urging women to wear shalim, or cloaks. If you have a copy of the pamphlet, please let me know. According to the pamphlet, the purpose of wearing a shal is "to cover the outline and shape of the body and … [Read more...]
Elad Poster Outs Couple for Immodest Behavior
May 29, 2011 by
A pashkevil went up over the weekend in Elad, warning the public about a woman and man who did "grave deeds:" Elad is a religious city outside of Petach Tikva. Here's my translation: So the Public May Know With great sorrow we must publicize that according to our Holy Torah one must stay … [Read more...]
A Frum Fashion History of Denim Skirts
May 13, 2011 by
In Tablet Magazine, Dvora Meyers takes readers on a tour of her wardrobe over the years, and how in retrospect, her skirt choices paralleled her journey away from Orthodox Judaism. In this passage, Meyers describes her ambivalence about wearing pants in public for the first time: Even with all … [Read more...]
With a Mother-in-Law Like This, Who Needs Enemies?
December 11, 2010 by
The letter below appeared in yesterday's edition of the alon Giluy Daat in a column called gilui lev (confession or revelation). My children tell me the letter isn’t typical for this column — most are thank-yous and the like. But if it’s at all typical of the way parents in the religious community … [Read more...]
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