Religion

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Birth of Denise Eger, first openly gay president of the CCAR

March 14, 1960

Denise Eger, the first openly gay president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and known for her trailblazing activism, was born on March 14, 1960. Eger’s rabbinical career spanned several decades and she notably served California’s queer Jewish community at the height of the AIDS crisis. 

Image of the city of Jerusalem with a dove in the sky

A Call to Prayer and a Call to Action

Amia Kaplun

The simultaneous presence of two distinct yet intertwined faiths struck me with a profound sense of unity that I had never truly grasped before.

Topics: Theology, Zionism

Women Religious Workers in Eastern Europe

In nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Eastern Europe, Jewish women served their communities as spiritual leaders and paid religious functionaries. The main women’s leadership roles documented in Yiddish literature, memoirs, memorial books, and ethnographic studies include the midwife, the evil eye healer, the cemetery measurer, the prayer leader, and the mourning woman. 

Judith Lax

Dr. Judith H. Lax (1924-2022) was a trailblazing lay leader in the Conservative movement. In 1971 Lax became the first female president of a Conservative congregation. She went on to hold numerous positions in the United Synagogue of America that were previously held exclusively by men. Through her many firsts, Lax quietly laid the groundwork for women’s equality and helped change the face of Conservative Judaism. 

Arlene Agus

Arlene was known for her intense and fervid connection to Jewish liturgy, her dazzling smile, her love of words, music and laughter, and her steadfast commitment to feminism.

Barbara Ostfeld

Barbara Ostfeld became the first ordained female cantor at age 22, serving a number of temples in her tenure. Ostfeld was passionate about music from a young age and finds joy in her work through poetry and musical theory alike. She is also a writer; her essays on feminism and cantorial work have been printed in several publications. 

Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Mager Officiating Meredith Marks' Bat Mitzvah

Reality TV Meets Jewish Tradition

Catherine Horowitz

JWA chats with Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder about what it was like to officiate Meredith Marks' bat mitzvah on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

Shoshana McKinney Cropped

7 Questions For Shoshana McKinney Kirya-Ziraba

Sarah Groustra

JWA chats with Shoshana McKinney Kirya-Ziraba, writer and founder of Tikvah Chadasha Uganda.

Text reads "I sang then and my song was our sun." with an image of the sun.

Rivka Basman Ben-Hayim: Poetry as Spiritual Resistance

Margaret Lockman

Yet at the moment when her humanity was threatened the most, Basman Ben-Hayim turned to art.

Sarah Dolin and Menorah

Elevating Jewish Rituals With Clay

Shoshana McKinney Kirya-Ziraba

Every piece of Judaica Dolin creates is an expression of Jewish tradition and intention.

Topics: Crafts, Hanukkah, Ritual
Collage of a kippah and a rainbow

How My Kippah Affirms My Trans Identity

Murphy Slater

I feel most sure of my gender identity and presentation when it melds with my Jewish cultural identity.

Hadasah Yaqob-Johnson Cropped

Hadasah Yaqob-Johnson on Motherhood, Faith, and the Rabbinate

Shoshana McKinney Kirya-Ziraba

The rabbi-to-be reflects on the divine lessons of motherhood and her path to the rabbinate. 

 

 

Topics: Rabbis, Motherhood
Collage of a computer and Star of Davids

Why I Delayed My Bat Mitzvah

Sylvie Simmons

After that initial Zoom bat mitzvah, it became clear that my own celebration would look the same.

Collage of a Star of David necklace

Connecting Across Generations Through My Star of David

Jess Shapiro

Aunt Barbara gave me the opportunity to forge my own Jewish identity, with the help of a simple, silver, Star of David.

Collage of a compass and a heart

My Jewish Feminist Journey in Israel and the US

Ruth Pollin-Galay

I was dubbed “femenistit masricha,” a smelly feminist, on the first day of seventh grade. I kind of liked it. 

Collage of tallit, a kippah, and other Jewish ritual objects.

The Question that Sparked My Jewish Journey

Yona Pianko

I hadn’t thought much at all about why I engaged with Judaism—or even why I was Jewish beyond having been born that way.

Collage of two hands reaching out with stars in between

Encountering Feminism and Sexism at Jewish Summer Camp

Zoe Moore

Feminism does not require that all women are the same and should react in the same manner to misogyny.

Collage of painted Stars of David

Finding Spirituality Through Art

Margaret Lockman

Religion and art are both about turning individual experiences into community ones.

Collage of maps with a Star of David

Balancing Identities: If Hanukkah Harry and Elf on the Shelf Were From China

Sophia Kurtzig

Being Jewish, Chinese, and American has fed my aspiration to ensure that more non-traditional Jewish people feel comfortable with their identities.

Collage of protest with a sunflower and a megaphone

How Judaism Fuels My Commitment to Reproductive Rights

Amia Kaplun

As we progress and amend our traditions, we can take wisdom from past rulings to benefit the Feminist cause.

Collage of a globe and stars of david

Confessions of a Super Jew

Meital Fried

I lead a life filled with Jewish meaning, and I shouldn’t have to untangle that from the other identities I hold.

Collage of Jewish texts

Reclaiming my Spiritual Freedom

Lea Davis

I realized that my faults with Judaism stemmed from men’s interpretations of how women should behave, not actual law.

Collage with a megaphone

Marrying Feminism and Judaism in Pluralistic Spaces

Maya Braiterman

Women can only access Judaism's power when we enter a space that allows us to engage with tradition in the way we see fit.

Episode 118: The Femme Fatale in the Sukkah

This Sukkot, we're welcoming a special guest into Can We Talk?’s virtual sukkah: the Talmudic “femme fatale” Homa, one of the women featured in her new book, "The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic." In this episode, Talmud scholar Gila Fine tells Homa’s story, reinterprets it from Homa’s perspective, and explains why she thinks Homa makes a fitting symbolic guest for Sukkot.

Rabbi Dov Linzer and Abigail Pogrebin

Q & A: Rabbi Dov Linzer & Abigail Pogrebin on "It Takes Two to Torah"

Judith Rosenbaum

JWA chats with Orthodox rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform journalist Abigail Pogrebin about their new book, It Takes Two to Torah. 

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