by Rebecca Honig Friedman

The following is cross-posted on the Lilith Blog.

Israel’s 60th Yom Ha’atzmaut, Independence Day, fell on Thursday, and the momentous anniversary is being marked — and marketed — in America with a slew of cultural events designed to forge connections between American Jews and Israel in as A-political a way as possible.

It’s a great idea, because goodness knows Israeli politics ain’t doing the job. And Israeli culture, particularly music, is better — and more popular in America — than ever. (Israeli singer/songwriter, Yael Naim, even has a song featured on a Mac commercial, the pop music equivalent of selling out Carnegie Hall.) The JTA has written all about it.

The musical celebrations fit nicely into Israel’s latest P.R. strategy, whose gist is, we’ve got more than religious icons and gas masks. We’ve also got fantastic music, literature, and beautiful women, including Natalie Portman (the Israeli-born film star hosted this past Wednesday’s gala 60 at 60 concert at Radio City Music Hall and could be the best thing to happen to Israeli public image since, well, ever).

Wednesday’s concert was the culmination of a 60 at 60 musical tour that’s been going on since the beginning of May and will continue through June 1st, and music really is a brilliant choice for a cross-cultural celebratory experience. Of all art forms, it is the most accessible and the most universal. Even those who don’t understand Hebrew can appreciate a good beat or a catchy tune.

But is appreciating Israeli culture the best way to celebrate its survival as a Jewish State — which is really what we’re celebrating? Is liking Israeli music likely to forge a meaningful connection to the land that produced it? And are these fun artistic events just a slick marketing tool, used to gloss over the difficult politics that still run through the core of Israeli society?

It could be. Take the abysmal attempt of the Israeli Consulate last year to woo American men with a photo spread of hot female IDF soldiers in Maxim magazine. Such “celebrations” can quickly devolve into a gross superficiality (and sexism for that matter).

But celebrating culture doesn’t have to superficial if we put it in the right context. Which is that a vibrant cultural and artistic life is a sign of a nation’s health. As we know well from America’s failing public school system, the arts are the first thing to go when there’s not enough money, and the same is true for societies in general. A nation at war tends not to be quite as focused on putting money into, say, the film industry. So the point of these cultural celebrations is not that Israeli music rocks but that after 60 years Israel has evolved from a nation struggling for mere survival into a thriving country with the resources to develop amazing artists whose music has the opportunity to rock, and measure up on the world stage.

By the way, for the appropriate answer to that Maxim photo spread, see photographer Rachel Papo’s “Serial No. 3817131,” a slightly more politically charged but significantly more meaningful collection of photos of female IDF soldiers, in full uniforms, not bikinis.

Posted on May 9th, 2008 Filed under: Lilith Blog | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

A new anthology of writing by bisexual, transgender, lesbian or queer-identified Jewish women, “Keep Your Wives Away From Them” (love the title), is calling for submissions. Here’s the 411:

Call for Submissions:
KEEP YOUR WIVES AWAY FROM THEM:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF WRITINGS BY AND ABOUT ORTHODYKES
Deadline: July 31, 2008

… Keep Your Wives Away From Them is an anthology of professional scholarly essays and personal journalistic pieces that will document the stories of those who have lived in the meeting-ground of Judaism and queer desire. This anthology, in calling attention to an otherwise hidden or silent population of women, will unravel the puzzle of a seemingly impossible identity. It will also document the rich innovations in Jewish and queer life in the communities of Jewish LBTQ women and female born genderqueer individuals that have developed in around the world over the past 25 years.

Some topics KYW will address:
Life as a LBTQ person: What are the dilemmas and difficult elements of maintaining simultaneously and LBTQ identity? What are the joys and triumphs?
Family Ties: Personal stories may describe shifting filial or sibling relationships and severed or renewed family ties.
Community: Have traditional communities integrated LBTQ women into their midst? What rules must be followed to blend in?
Trans/intersex experiences: What are the challenges of being trans/intersex/genderqueer in the religious world and what resources are there for dealing with them? How do trans people adapt or relate to Jewish law, which so rigidly distinguishes between male and female obligations?
Ritual and Jewish Law: Often discussions of “homosexuality and Judaism” are focused exclusively on men. What are the sources of Jewish law, ritual, and halakah for interpreting classical Jewish teaching on lesbianism?

Requirements for submission:
• The essays in KYW will reflect a multitude of experience and contexts. Essays may draw upon personal experience or may be academic/scholarly in nature; literary non-fiction is also welcome. No poetry or fiction.
• Submissions must be carefully written and edited; personal pieces must be strong in narrative drive, dialogue, and tell a compelling story. Accepted submissions will reflect a diversity of experiences (class, culture and cultural setting, religious belief, educational background, geography, ethnicity, generation, and marital status).
• Essays should be 5-15 pages in length and must include a bio and CV. Must be in Microsoft Word file; double spaced, with margins of an inch on either side; one-inch indent for paragraphs, with footnotes as appropriate.
• If a submission has appeared previously in another publication, the author must obtain permission for reprint and pay any permission fees. The best twenty pieces will be picked and published in KYW by North Atlantic Books and distributed by Random House. Each accepted contributor will receive two copies of the book. Essays should be submitted as soon as possible and no later than July 31, 2008.
• Authors may publish under a pseudonym.
• Essays, short bios, and accompanying CV should be sent to Miryam Kabakov at KeepYourWives@gmail.com.

About the editor: Miryam Kabakov, LMSW has been a builder, participant and beneficiary of Orthodyke communities in New York, Jerusalem and Berkeley and an activist in the Jewish LGBTQ world. As a young woman she first read Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence and made a non-binding vow to break silence for yeshiva girls everywhere.

Posted on May 9th, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Today is Yom Ha’atzmaut,
a.k.a. Israeli Independence Day,
a.k.a. the Birthday of the State of Israel.

So go out and celebrate! Here are some suggestions:

Eat falafel.

Check out 60bloggers.com, were you’ll find 60 blog posts about Israel by 60 different bloggers (including moi, I mean ani).

And for a special treat, watch jazz legend Nina Simone sing in Hebrew!
It’ll be fun!

Posted on May 8th, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman and the Jewish Women's Archive Staff

The following is cross-posted on Jewesses With Attitude:

This is truly fascinating. A regular column in The American Jewess, “The Woman Who Talks” (a more politically correct way to say The Yenta?) was a place “for the ventilation of all subjects pertaining to woman: social, domestic, religious, literary, political, philanthropic, and so on-ad infinituz,” according to its first installment.
But one particular column, from January of 1896, reads like a 19th century Emily Post, dictating proper social etiquette to contemporary American Jewesses. It reminds one that at one time people really did live like the characters in Henry James novels.
A surprising tidbit gleaned from the piece — two weeks was considered appropriate notice for a wedding invitation! Consider it proof that people were so much less busy back then. (Or that they made much less of a deal about weddings.)

But the article’s full of fun facts. Here are some of the choicest bits:

People invited only to church or temple need not call on the bride nor send a present. The attention shown is too slight to warrant such returns. But every one invited to the ceremony or reception should send a present. It is nowadays absolutely de rigeur for the bride to write a note of thanks to every separate and distinct individual who has remembered her with a gift.
There are two unpardonable displays of vulgarity of which I trust none of my readers are ever guilty. The first is to be late for a dinner. The second is to make your calling card do the duty imperative upon yourself of calling on your entertainers. I am sure it is little enough asked to call upon a person who has taken the trouble to give you pleasure. [What would she think of email? –RHF] The only social functions which release one from the obligation of a call of appreciation are afternoon teas and church or temple weddings. Personally I except the high tea, but society ordains otherwise.

While the above is still relevant in essence, the following we find rather archaic:

In introductions always present the gentleman to the lady, the younger lady to the elder and the unmarried to the married. Between men age is usually the only consideration in making a presentation unless one is particularly distinguished. Make your introductions simply and easily. “Mr. Pine, Mrs. Olive,” which elaborated means: “Mrs. Olive permit me to present Mr. Pine.” A lady if seated need not rise to acknowledge introductions to gentlemen, but should never fail to do so when ladies are presented.
It is rarely necessary to introduce on the street; but when this is done, in case of a gentleman, he should always turn and walk a brief space with the ladies, and not keep them standing. In acknowledging an introduction on the street a gentleman should lift his hat entirely. If he will bear in mind that once upon a time gentlemen remained uncovered the whole time they were talking to a lady on the street, he will find this but a slight effort.

Guess society men didn’t do much heavy lifting back then.

The end of the column shares some small and random news items, revealing that “electricity for heating and cooking is rapidly being introduced” and, more fantastically:

Recent observations show beyond reasonable doubt that Mars is well supplied with air and water. The habitability of that planet seems therefore to be established, and it now only remains to discover some method of communication, a consummation not improbable to the science of the next century.

Reminding us that, over a century later, we’re living in “the future,” and yet still no contact with Martians.
But if we do ever make contact, let’s make sure to write a proper note. Surely interplanetary etiquette dictates one should.

Posted on May 6th, 2008 Filed under: The American Jewess | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

The prestigious Israel Prize [for Special Contribution to the State of Israel and Israeli society] will be awarded to women’s organizations Na’amat, WIZO and Emunah, as well as several other organizations, this Thursday. Here’s Jerusalem Post’s report on the women’s organizations being honored:

Women’s organizations
“Despite their differences, the combined activities of these women’s organizations [Na’amat, WIZO and Emunah] have succeeded in advancing social, humanitarian, cultural and education activities within the public sphere,” noted the judges.
Among their noble activities, wrote the panel, is the establishment of day-care centers for pre-schoolers - providing quality education and allowing working mothers to participate in the workforce. Plus, their joint work in advancing legislation for women’s rights and providing aid, advice and shelter to battered women.

Na’amat
Na’amat president Talia Livni says the fact that three women’s organizations are receiving this year’s prize is a welcome recognition by the state to the role of women in society.
“I am very happy that the three organizations have won this together,” she says. “Together we have been pioneering in the field of women’s rights, child care and other activities for more than 80 years.”
While each organization has its individual character, continues Livni, Na’amat’s specialty lies in female empowerment, advancing legislation for women and taking a stand against domestic violence.
“In Na’amat, one of our main focuses has been on helping women to reach the workforce,” she highlights. “We recognize the double duty of women as employees and mothers.”
While the organization proudly points to the fact that 50 percent of women now contribute to the economy, Livni, who will accept the prize on behalf of all Na’amat workers, volunteers and supporters worldwide, points out: “We still want to see complete equality in every workplace. Women are still not in the highest positions in many fields and we will not stop until we get there.”
Founded in 1921, the organization was originally called Moetzet Hapoalot (Council of Working Women) and was made up of young female pioneers who arrived in Palestine in the early 1920s.
Today, Na’amat employs more than 5,000 women and men here, has sister organizations in nine countries and provides support services to women, children and families across the country.

Emunah
While religious Zionist women’s organization Emunah is no stranger to winning prizes for its wide-ranging contributions to society, Liora Minka, its chairwoman-Israel, says “it’s finally sinking in how significant receiving this prize is.”
“We have dealt with the unique challenges facing Israel over the past 60 years,” says Minka, an educator and former lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, who will accept the prize on behalf of Emunah. “We have had influence over Israeli society in many spheres.”
From working with disadvantaged children in any one of its 130 day-care centers or assisting new immigrants in building their homes here or the elderly in growing old with dignity, Minka believes that this is a very “symbolic year to receive the prize.”
Based in Jerusalem, Emunah was founded in 1935 to “promote religious Zionist ideals through volunteering in various communal activities and endeavors to improve the face of Israeli society.”
The organization, which today has 26 chapters worldwide and a network of professionals and volunteers, also aims to invests in developing the spiritual aspect of women through Midreshet Emunah for the Study of Women and the Jewish Family and in its many Torah centers throughout Israel.

WIZO
“WIZO has helped to create a country that people want to be part of,” states Helena Glasser, world president of Women’s International Zionist Organization, who will accept the prize for the 88-year-old organization. “And this year is the right time for us to get such an honor.”
Glasser says that unique aspect of WIZO’s work lays in the thousands of people here who have graduated from its day-care centers, youth villages and outreach programs.
“We continue to work with children, youth, women and the elderly,” she says proudly. “Everywhere I go I see the handprint of our organization.”
However, Glasser refuses to take personal credit for the prize preferring to deflect her praise onto the professionals and volunteers both here and abroad throughout the organization’s history that have “aided Israeli society.”
WIZO was founded in Britain in 1920 by Rebecca Sieff as a non-partisan voluntary movement aimed at addressing the needs of the fledgling Zionist community already living in Palestine.
Today, it provides services to all sectors of society from newborn babies to the elderly via its day-care centers, schools, youth clubs and other programs.

Posted on May 5th, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Some fun excerpts from an interview with comdian/late-night talk show host Chelsea Handler, from Silicon Valley’s Mercury News.

On being Jewish:

Q Since you’re talking preppy apparel, did you grow up a prepster?
A Well, my parents had a summer house in Martha’s Vineyard, so that’s as preppy as they got for me. But I really wouldn’t call me preppy. I’m from New Jersey, so I don’t know how preppy you can get when you’re from New Jersey, being a Jew.

On celebrities:

Q You pay special attention to celebrities on “Chelsea Lately.” What bit of wisdom have you gleaned from intensely scrutinizing their actions?
A What not to do. I think it’s a good lesson. If we’re all going to be so obsessed with celebrity culture, at least we should learn something from them. And now I know that I can’t go out without underwear and get out of a car at the same time.

On feeling fat:

Q Yeah, but you’re skinny. You weigh 125 pounds or something.
A Well, this morning I weighed 128, but thank you.

Q You know how many of our readers would slap you for saying that?
A Well, you know what? They’re not on TV. If I wasn’t on TV, I’d weigh 150 pounds. I have no problem being a fat-ass. When you’re on TV, you have a responsibility, especially when you’re going to be making fun of other people. You have to look as good as you can.

Posted on May 5th, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Wedding season is upon us and for engaged couples hemming and hawing over flower and band decisions, here’s a (possibly) more productive use of your time — the S.H.A.L.O.M. workshop. Approved by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski and other “prominent Orthodox Rabbanim,” the S.H.A.L.O.M. workshop guarantees a successful marriage, or the get [Jewish divorce] is free.

No…not really.

Though the workshop does claim that a survey of S.H.A.L.O.M Workshop participants, conducted by the Shalom Task Force, found that “96% resolve their differences more effectively.”

Nothing like quoting your own study for good publicity, but hey, I’m sure it’s true. And anything that gives a leg up on building a healthy relationship is a-okay, as long as they don’t teach things like “Wives, do what your husband tells you.”

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like they do. Here’s the blurb:

The goal of the Shalom Workshop is to teach engaged couples practical tools to achieve a healthy marriage. The ability to easily and effectively meet each other’s emotional needs helps build a strong foundation for a true Bayis Ne’eman B’Yisrael [faithful house in Israel, observant Jewish home].
In just one or two sessions the Chassan [groom] and Kallah [bride] will cover important issues such as:

–Increased understanding and sensitivity to each other’s feelings
–Communicating effectively through a sense of mutual respect
–Promoting self confidence in each other
–Financial Management

The S.H.A.L.O.M. Workshop teaches specific, easily learned methods for successful communication and effective problem-solving. Participants emerge with a deeper self-knowledge and the tools to build a happy, successful and long-lasting marriage.
This workshop is an important addition to traditional Chassan/ Kallah classes

Workshop dates and locations in the NY Metro area are listed on the workshop’s website.

If I seem a little ambivalent about the S.H.A.L.O.M. workshop, it’s because, well, I guess I am. … Read more on the Lilith Blog…

Posted on May 2nd, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

British Jewess retires rich. BBC executive Jenny Abramsky, 61, one of the company’s longest-serving employees, recently retired with what is “believed to be the biggest individual public sector pension pot” at nearly 4million pounds. Good for her! [Telegraph]
Canadian court upholds damages for withheld get How’s this for a lede? “The implications of a landmark Supreme Court decision in December upholding the awarding of damages to a woman whose husband withheld a get from her for 15 years, despite an agreement between them, are profound and will be felt for years to come, a panel of lawyers and religious authorities agreed at a recent panel discussion at Shaare Zion Congregation.” Damn straight. Yay Canada. [Canadian Jewish News]
Orthodox Torah expert criticizes contemporary halachic deciders. “In two books recently published in Hebrew … “Darka shel Halakha” (The Path of Halakha) and “Netivot Pesika” (Modes of Decision), [Rabbi Prof. Daniel] Sperber spells out his arguments against the halakhic decision-making of recent generations,” which he says, trends to “disregard … the personal situation of the person requesting the ruling,” showing “an absence of humane consideration for the applicant’s suffering and dignity in favor of comprehensive decisions designed for a general public and tending to be stringent.” This runs counter to the generally sympathetic way in which halachic decisions have been made throughout the course of Jewish history, he argues. [Haaretz]
Jewess likes book by, about Jewesses. “There are few things larger, not to mention more interesting and entertaining, than the psychological ups and downs of nice Jewish characters, especially the ones [Jennifer] Weiner writes about,” opines reviewer Laura Zigman of Weiner’s new book “Certain Girls.” [Washington Post]
Celebrating earthy Jewesses on Earth Day. “Art, liberation, ritual, the environment. For Jewish eco-feminist artist, Helene Aylon, these are the unifying elements of her life’s work.” [Jewesses With Attitude]

Posted on May 1st, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Jewess has placed a nifty new “This Day of Jewish American Heritage” badge on the sidebar to your right ——–>
where each day in May you’ll find a different Jewish woman who made history on that particular date of the year. It’s part of a new project launched by the Jewish Women’s Archive and the JTA:

What connects the Statue of Liberty with Emma Lazarus? Susan Sontag with Gilda Radner? Patriotism with labor protests? Musical theatre and domestic ritual with potato kugel and halvah? You guessed it: JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE.

During Jewish American Heritage Month (May), we’re honoring the legacy of American Jewish women and the country that they struggled to create. For this third annual celebration, the Jewish Women’s Archive has partnered with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) to launch “This Day of Jewish American Heritage,” a daily online feature that connects every day in May to significant moments in American Jewish history. The month of May encompasses a broad range of achievements of American Jewish women including: 19th century stage performer Adah Isaacs Menken, Beverly Sills, Ayn Rand, labor activist Bessie Abramowitz Hillman, pioneering political advisor Belle Moskowitz, and comedian Gilda Radner.

Follow “This Day of Jewish American Heritage” to learn about American Jewish women’s myriad contributions to our nation’s political and cultural landscape. Enrich your celebration by checking out the full descriptions of the events for these dates, and other interactive features on the Jewish Women’s Archive website.

To find out more about the project and how you can participate with your website or blog, click here.

Posted on May 1st, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

The above book was just published in the U.S. for the first time. It’s being hailed as a “Polish Anne Frank” and it’s remarkable.

The launch event is taking place tonight at the Museum of Jewish Heritage and it’s open to the public. Here’s the info:

RUTKA’S NOTEBOOK: A Voice from the Holocaust
ZAHAVA SCHERZ Tells Her Sister’s Story, And Signs Copies of Her Lost Diary
At The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial To The Holocaust

WHAT: Zahava Scherz, commemorates her half-sister Rutka Laskier and the release of Rutka’s lost diary RUTKA’S NOTEBOOK: A Voice from the Holocaust. For three months in 1943, 14-year-old Rutka Laskier recorded her life in the Polish town of Bedzin, where she and her family were forced to live in a Jewish ghetto. Her journal, found two years after Rutka and her family were deported to Auschwitz, is now available for the first time ever to readers in the United States through a collaboration between TIME Books and Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial center. It chronicles three months in the life of a remarkable teenage girl whose powerful voice has led to her being called the “Polish Anne Frank.” RUTKA’S NOTEBOOK also includes two essays by Zahava, recalling how she found out about Rutka.

WHO: At 14 years old Zahava Scherz discovered a photograph album belonging to her father, Yaacov Laskier. Yaacov, the only Holocaust survivor in his immediate family, remarried after World War II and settled in Israel, and his album contained early photos of Rutka and other family members who had died at Auschwitz. Through these pictures, Zahava began a conversation with her father about the family she had never known; though Zahava knew that her father’s parents and other relatives had been killed, he had not told her about his first wife and their children. More than 60 years later, in 2006, Zahava received the phone call that led her to Rutka’s journal. The original diary is now housed in the Yad Vashem Archives.

WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2008
7:00pm - 8:30pm

WHERE: Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial To The Holocaust
36 Battery Place
New York, NY 10280

Posted on May 1st, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »