Elana Sztokman

Etka Holtzberg, a tiny, bubbly, flirtatious, white-haired, slightly hunched over 87-year old woman, is one of the most incredible people I have ever met. She has experienced nearly all that the Jewish people have been dished out in the twentieth century – shtetl, poverty, death, Siberia, Holocaust, Israel, war, terror, kibbutz, disease – and has not only survived, but continues to radiate an enviable joie de vivre. Incredibly, of the four children whom she brought into this world, only one is still alive, though severely injured. Her first child died in infancy, her second child, Meri, was killed in a 1972 El Al hijacking, her third child, Zachi, died ten years ago from Cerebral Palsy, and her fourth child, Avi, now in his fifties, was nearly killed patrolling the northern border. Etka’s husband and mother both died in July 1974, while Avi lay in the hospital. “I feel strong,” the 4’9” Etka smiles broadly as she inches her head to my face. She can barely see, she needs a device to hear properly, and she has major heart issues. But she tenaciously lives on her own, does her own cooking, makes her own dolls, borscht and jam, and, perhaps a bit frightfully, still zooms around kibbutz in her electric scooter. I suppose if you’ve been living in one place for 59 years, you don’t really need to see in order to get around. Read the rest of this entry →

I asked my son to name his ten favorite stars, he could only think of men. I asked my husband the same question, and he named seven men and three women. Better, I suppose, but still troubling. Men not only dominate our visual culture and our consciousness, but they also continue to dominate the economic aspects of popular culture. According to the Forbes richest celebs list the top ten earners among the acting elite are men. Not only that, but the total amount that these actors are making is nearly twice the amount that the top ten actresses are making. Perhaps art imitates life after all? Read the rest of this entry →

[This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post Op-Ed, July 31, 2008] Yesterday, the women of Israel suffered a major setback in divorce reform as Shas blocked the "Divorce finances bill" using a coalition threat. This bill would reverse a very damaging law that requires that the man serve his wife a get before any financial settlements can be made. The system as it currently exists promotes the use of the get as blackmail, since women are unable to receive any financial rights -- not even NII (Bituach Leumi) payments reserved for single mothers -- until after the get is served. Shas MKs threatened the coalition by saying that this new bill would break up families. Indeed it will -- it will enable women to obtain their sought out freedom from abusive husbands. But for Shas, it is clearly more important to keep women imprisoned at all costs. Keep the blackmail in place, they argue. It seems the status of women in Israel is regressing to the Middle Ages. Read the rest of this entry →

Women's organizations are teaming up with liberal rabbinic groups for a landmark initiative to create an alternative religious court. This is an attempt at grass roots pressure to bolster real reform in the religious apparatus that chains women, converts, immigrants, non-Orthodox Jews, and others, and holds the entire country hostage to an antiquated system of political protektzia marketed as religiousness. It may in fact be the only way to break the haredi stranglehold on Israeli society. Yair Sheleg reported on it last week's Haaretz in Hebrew. For more details, contact Mavoi Satum -- mavoisatum@mavoisatum.org Read the rest of this entry →

I have a confession that may shock even some of my feminist friends: I do not pluck my eyebrows. I can hear the gasp screaming through cyberspace. Actually, I remember well the first time a hairdresser stared intently at my face and said, “You need your eyebrows done, right?” At first I didn’t even know what she was talking about (naive me). But then, she took out a piece of dental floss, rubbed her saliva on it, twisted it elaborately around her fingers and starting approaching my face, saying, “Here, I’ll show you.” Yeah right. I bolted from there like Superman on his way to save Lois. (Skipped the haircut too) I remembered this story as I read Ynet’s “Great Beauty Survey” that came out yesterday Read the rest of this entry →

Watching Barack Obama wearing a yarmulka and laying wreath at Yad Vashem should be a thrill. I mean, he may be the next US President, and he's in Israel, identifying with Jewish history. I should be excited. I think it's my post-Hillary depression. I really wanted her to win -- I don’t think I even realized how much until she officially dropped out. I sense the entire America is watching women like me – the post-Hillary dejected ones. They want to know whether we will suck it up and vote for Obama or be small-minded and vengeful and vote for McCain. With Hillary out of the race, pundits can go back to classifying us as enablers or delilahs, convenient female roles that demand little depth or independent thought. Yeah, I’m a little depressed. Read the rest of this entry →

The announcement by Education Committee Chair Michael Melchior that that the State of Israel is opening a new stream of education – neither State nor State Religious but sort of “Jewish value-oriented” – is the kind of news that has the potential to change Israeli society. I’m not being melodramatic. It’s really true. Finally, the majority of Israelis who are ill-defined and uncomfortable in the way they are identified from the age of four may yet have some reprieve. The government is saying to them, NO, you’re not all crazy, all three million of you. We are going to help you fit in. Read the rest of this entry →

Like many other women, I imagine, I have a love-hate relationship with Madonna. Some days I find her liberating and inspiring, while at other times, well, I guess I'm just jealous. For sure, Madonna gets women thinking and talking about themselves. But recently, I must say, I have been just a little disappointed. Read the rest of this entry →