Elana Sztokman

I'm on my way to New York, my first trip there in three years. I'm going for the second conference of the Global Task Force on Jewish Peoplehood Education of the School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies at Beth Hatefutsoth, the Museum of the Jewish People. What is "Peoplehood"? It's a way of conceptualizing Jewish identity beyond the liberal-minded individualistic search for self. It revolves around connectivity and mutual responsibility, and implies that one cannot be Jewish in a vacuum, the Judaism is inherently different from, say, Christianity, in that there is a necessarily communal element to it. One cannot be a "Good Jew" alone -- a Passover seder of One is not a seder. Connection is key. For me, it's not just connection but mutual responsibilty: this is about reminding Jews that caring for the well-being of the person sitting across the table, ocean, screen, or partition is a vital aspect of our tradition and heritage. Below is the press release about the conference. I'll try and send a blog from there, otherwise, reporting when I get back. L'hitraot! Read the rest of this entry →

I have neglected this blog for over a week..... I've had three major projects all come due at the same time (yesterday), which meant that I was entirely focused on getting things off my todo list, and of course, blogging barely made it onto the list. I just want to say, I feel a little bit like Lucy on the assembly line as things keep coming and I can't always keep up. Only, it's not just work that piles up, but actually the blog posts in my brain. It's a big problem.....The blog is actually really important for my mental health, keeping ideas flowing and making sure that I don't get too sunk in to one spot and stop moving forward. Once it's written and out there, I have a freedom inside, an ability to move forward and explore new avenues. Or revisit old ones from new perspectives. That's really why I blog. Not to make a particular point, but mostly as housecleaning for inside my head. I think it keeps me sane. Anyway, thanks for your patience. I hope to get back to blogging soon. Even though, one of my big projects is a conference that I'm coordinating in New York, which I'm leaving for on Wednesday (had to get all the materials off by UPS yesterday, so that's done, but now I have to actually pack AND, well, plan my own talk.... AARGH).... So anyway, I'm going to try and send in some thoughts about Budapest, Gal Lusky, Yom Hazikaron/Atzmaut, and then mehadrin buses, as well as maybe some regards from NYC.... But until then....just keep swimming, just keep swimming (hattip Dori). Read the rest of this entry →

Great Britain has been tossed into a storm of genuine self-reflection about social expectations around female beauty, a storm that originated from a seemingly unlikely yet quite remarkable source: a song performance by 47-year old spinster Susan Boyle on "Britain's Got Talent." So as not to ruin the surprise, I suggest you watch the performance yourself on YouTube -- there have been over 12 million views over the past four days -- and then we can talk...[Hat Tip: Joel Katz] Read the rest of this entry →

Passover may be called the Holiday of Freedom, but we ought to call it the Holiday of Food. The entire ritual of obsessive kitchen cleaning followed by cooking mountains of food, eating specified dishes in huge quantities until the wee hours, and then struggling to rid our bodies of the effects of these binding traditions, is not exactly the kind of lifestyle that your personal trainer would prescribe for healthy living. But for Orthodox women, this entire food-focused ritual has extra baggage, not only because women in Orthodoxy remain the primary arbiters of kitchen-stuff but because the holiday involves another significantly pressurizing aspect of celebration: getting dressed for synagogue. [Thanks to Keren Copperman for helping prepare this article.] Read the rest of this entry →

I never thought I would be the one to get up on Passover eve at 5AM to watch the sunrise and partake in a rather strange practice that occurs only 28 years. I'm not much of a morning person to begin with, and add that to the intense pressure of preparing Seder and finishing the magical feat that is turning over an entire kitchen -- given all that, going out at dawn to make an obscure blessing was something I wouldn't have expected myself to do. Yet, there I was, packing up my kids, my dog, and my remaining chametz to climb to the top of Titura (well, we drove some part), where we watched the sunrise with a group of friends and praised God for creating the universe. What a beautiful way to usher in the holiday of spring and birth, and the celebration of freedom. Hallelujah.... Read the rest of this entry →

Thank you Nomi Saraga for changing the world! The Kolech blog has been credited with influencing the rabbi of Elyachin to change his discriminatory and harmful policies regarding women and mourning. According to YNET, which originally picked up the story about women being prohibited from attending their own relatives' burials from Kolech, the Elyachin rabbi "reread the sources" after receiving all the bad publicity. The blog led to pressure, which led to real change! It doesn't happen every day, but for now, Score 1 for women changing the world through blogging! Read the rest of this entry →

The status of women in Israeli politics has hit a new low. As Bibi Netanyahu finalizes his coalition talks, the picture for women is becoming starkly clear: Two women, among some 35 men in senior cabinet positions. The two women, by the way, are Likud veteran and former Education Minister Limor Livnat as Minister of Culture and Sport, and Sopha Landver of Yisrael Beitenu as Minister of Absorption. The two women now constitute the now 5.4% female representation in the Executive Branch of government, below the world statistic in which 12% of UN nations have a women head of state (24 out of 192), far below the 21% of representation in the Knesset, and way, way below the 51% of women who actually make up the population of voters. Women are arguably the most under-acknowledged voter base, and most certainly the least likely to elbow their way into the corridors of Israeli power. Read the rest of this entry →