Elana Sztokman

There was an exciting energy at the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance conference. Speakers in both the plenary and individual sessions, such as emerging star Lisa Schlaff, made far-reaching statements and bold suggestions about issues ranging from marriage and sexuality to halachic ingenuity. Participants responded in kind with creativity and courage, revealing what seems to be a powerful consensus that Orthodoxy is in the midst of a major overhaul from the ground up. The fact that conference participants expressed full and enthusiastic support for Orthodox women rabbis offers some sense of the disconnect between this grassroots community and the formal leadership of Modern Orthodoxy. Read the rest of this entry →

I'm heading off to New York next week for the bi-annual JOFA conference, where I'll be joining many distinguished speakers in what will surely be a stimulating, push-the-envelope kind of event. I'll be giving two talks, one about a vision of feminism in Orthodox education and one about about boys, men and masculinity based on my post-doc research on the subject. The conference schedule looks fantastic, a delectable smorgasbord of issues in Judaism and gender, and I'll be sure to report back. Here is more exciting info from JOFA: Read the rest of this entry →

The Internet can be a nasty place. Whether due to the replacement of visceral human relationships with a cold, lifeless screen, or because people have learned to type faster than they think, something about Internet conversation seems to bring out the worst in human discourse. As my Forward colleague Jay Michaelson pointed out in his column last week, “the immediacy and anonymity of the Comment feature on the Internet encourages one to respond in the heat of the moment, and with as much fire as possible.” That said, there seems to be a particular fire in talkbacks relating to religious Judaism. Michaelson noticed this as well, what he called, “rage…dressed up in religious rhetoric.” In my writings on topics of gender and religious life at the Forward, in The Jerusalem Post, and elsewhere, I’ve been called a “man wannabe,” an “anti-Semite” and other names. It’s intriguing to me that essays about cultural trends often merit one or two comments while comments about gender and religion can get 20–30 comments. There is an ire around religious issues (especially gender) that begs explication. Michaelson calls for collective anger management, but I think there is something else at work here. This trend took a rather vile turn recently when my daughter Avigayil wrote a column here about her experience being attacked by haredim at the Kotel. Read the rest of this entry →

In Friday's Jerusalem Post. If all the people whose biographies appear in Jewish Sages of Today: Profiles of Extraordinary People were in the same room, it would be quite an impressive gathering, a venerable "who's who" of today's American Jewish and Israeli world. But fame and renown are not what editor Aryeh Rubin was looking at in the people whom he chose to profile. Rubin, a successful businessman, philanthropist and scholar, was not looking for "stars" but "sages." Read the rest of this entry →

Kolech is offering a series of educational and empowerment programs to address the changing needs and interests women of all ages -- and sometimes even men. Take a look – you may be surprised to find out that other people are interested in exploring the same issues that you are! Read the rest of this entry →