Jewish Blogs

Jewish Women International: 7 Years Later

When Jewish Women International opened the doors to its first International Conference on Domestic Abuse on July 20, 2003, there was optimism… there was ambition… but nobody knew for certain what would become of the work we were starting that day. Or rather, the work we were continuing – JWI had already been working in domestic violence (DV) for nearly ...

Jewish Women Inspire during Women’s History Month

Last Hanukkah, the we celebrated the women who light up our lives (video). Now, during Women’s History Month, we have continued the project by creating a place where you can tell us about a woman who lights up YOUR life.Jewish Women Inspire, an ultra-sharable blog hosted on Tumblr, is a place where we can collected stories, remembrances, and notes about ...

Jewish women and the Democratic National Committee

Yesterday, President Obama chose Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the new chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), making her the first Jewish woman to hold this position. After doing a little research at jwa.org, however, I realized that even though Wasserman Schultz may be the first Jewish woman to chair the DNC, she is actually joining a long tradition ...

Jewish women and GLBT Pride: Who will you add?

Former president Bill Clinton designated the month of June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in 2000. Last year President Obama expanded the month to celebrate the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (GLBT) community. From the beginnings of the Gay Rights movement in at Stonewall, Jewish women have played an important part in the fight for equality.Read More: @ jwablog.jwa.orgYou might ...

Jewish Wives Gone Wild

I know Hollywood isn’t known for its functional relationships, but what has gotten into our hot Jewish icons?First, Scarlett Johanssen divorces “Sexiest Man Alive” Ryan Reynolds. Actually, in spite of his truly amazing abs, he’s always seemed like a tool (Two Guys and a Girl and A Pizza Place, anyone?) So maybe this isn’t so bad. No kids, and he’s ...

Jewish Summer Camp: A Father’s Reflection Upon His Son’s First Time at Sleepaway Camp

May you find learning and growth of all kinds.A few days before my oldest child ventured off to summer camp for the first time, I read a beautiful prayer by my colleague Rabbi Phyllis Sommer. On her “Ima On (and Off) the Bima” blog, she shared her prayer as her son embarked on his second summer away at camp. Titled ...

Jewish Stars over Hollywood

Long ago Jewish Hollywood moguls decided that they can make more money if the viewing public sees the films as a christian. The fact is they wanted to blend in the Gentile community.Thus a lot of Hollywood actors and actresses changed the names to sound more christian. Samuel Goldfish to Samuel Goldwyn and insisted that he was a gentile until ...

Jewish Non-Profits and Social Media – Do They Get It?

As a rabbi who is a social mediaologist, I find myself consulting a lot of synagogues and Jewish nonprofits on their social media strategy. The leaders of these institutions all recognize that they require a social media strategy, but the plan for how it will be implemented varies greatly.Many synagogues in 2012 have yet to budget for social media marketing ...

Jewish Names

Parshat Shemot begins, “V’ele shemot bne yisrael habaim mitzrayama“-These are the names of the people of Israel who came to Egypt. The Baal Haturim notes that the first letters of this verse spell out “sheviye“-imprisonment. Even when the Jews were imprisoned in exile, they stood out. They maintained their identity by keeping their Jewish names, language, and dress.Tosfot is bothered ...

Jewish mothers for marriage equality

The title on Feministing.com made me chuckle: “Jewish mothers lobby for right to nag all their kids about getting married.” Yeah, that sounds about right!New Yorkers United for Marriage will launch a new ad for marriage equality this week featuring the quintessential Jewish parents, Paul and Iris Blumenthal, with their strong Long Island accents and notably Semitic-sounding last names.Read More: @ ...

Jewish Girls Should Get Married

On Sunday night I had a conversation with my ex about marriage. Every time he sees me he ends up saying some version of, “When are you going to get married?” And I say, “As a divorced person, care to tell me what’s so great about marriage?” And then he changes the subject.So, it seemed kind of ironic that shortly ...

Jewish feminism, then and now

Yesterday I celebrated Mother’s Day in an unusual way. Instead of the traditional “early bird” dinner with my extended family, I traveled to New York City for a reunion of Jewish feminist matriarchs: the founders of Ezrat Nashim. I was invited to this gathering as a daughter of the movement to present a reflection on Jewish feminism today.Read More: @ jwablog.jwa.orgTags: Feminism, Jewish, Jewish ...