Israel's army is a subject of fascination to many Americans, primarily because they draft not only male civilians, but women as well. There's a group of Israelis though who, until recently, were actually exempt from conscription: ultra-Orthodox men and women. And it's their lack of inclusion in the draft, similar to…
Some people get their rocks off obsessing about the Royal Wedding, which definitely ranks as one of the most elaborate (and popular) celebrations of Christianity still remaining. For those of the Jewish faith who felt left out of that display, here's equally insane alternative: the wedding of Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, the …
An Israeli court ruled today that women can legally pray and wear prayer shawls at Jerusalem's Western Wall, despite the best efforts of Orthodox Jews who want the holy site to remain a boy's club until the Red Sea parts once more, and probably even after that.
Because of his awesome judgment and giant brain, Oklahoma State Representative Dennis Johnson broke out the phrase "Jew me down on a price" during a floor debate about the challenges facing small businesses. After someone slipped him a note pointing out that it's 20-fucking-13 and the last year in which it was…
Five women who were recently detained at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for daring to pray alongside men at Israel's holiest site will not be penalized for "disturbing public order" by virtue of their gender. Progress!
Here's the gist of the controversy
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assigned famous former dissident Natan Sharansky an impossible task that The Daily Beast's Dan Ephron calls "almost cruel in its complexity." No, it's not brokering peace in the Middle East, but coming up with some sort of compromise between Jewish women who want to pray at…
Since the first arrest of this nature back in 2009
As Katie Baker reported last week, folks looking for a Jewish partner are spoiled for choice, with more dating sites catering specifically to the Tribe than candles on a menorah. But that abundance stands in contrast to the paucity of writing celebrating Jewish sexuality itself. Filling the gap (as it were) is a new…
Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt, who is apparently not only a Rabbi but the definitive judge of good Jews, women, and pastrami sandwiches (he also manufactures kosher meat), is concerned about Sarah Silverman. He's mad, too — mad that her most recent political initiative, "Let My People Vote," employs biblical rhetoric — but,…
When I heard about Yenta, a new iPhone application that, Grindr-like, connects Jewish singles by location and cheeky questions like "How Jewish are you?" "What's your shtick?" and "What will impress your mother?", I wondered how many other Jewish online dating sites there were.
Super-duper Orthodox Jewish leaders in New York are bristling under the Health Department's plan to mandate a parental consent form before rabbis perform the ancient circumcision ritual called "metzitzah b'peh." So far, some 200 rabbis have objected to the city's mandate, and have signed a proclamation claiming that the…
Feeling tempted by scantily-dressed women on the bus, or sexy billboards by the side of the road? If you're an ultra-Orthodox man in Israel, you're in luck: you can now buy special blinders to prevent sin-enticing images from sneaking into your peripheral vision. As the Times of Israel reported yesterday, an…
We can't really blame New York City's political reporters for obsessively covering Mindy Meyer's
When people find out that you grew up as an observant Jew, a game I like to call "20 Questions About Orthodox Jews" is inevitable. Here are a few couple of prime examples: "Is it true that you guys have sex through a hole in a sheet?" Or: "Why do married women shave their heads and wear wigs?" And once, they find out that I…
Ladies, I may have some bad news: While it's usually OK to screw your brains out when you're pregnant, using a vibrator may be a little more risky.
There was a time — not too long ago — when a nose job was practically a given for a Jewish girl of means. But recent plastic surgery statistics show that 37 percent fewer Americans got nose jobs in 2011 than in 2000. Obviously there's the small matter of the financial crisis, which left most Americans with less cash to …
It's no secret why frightened looking girls walk into the social worker's office on the second floor of the Student Health Center at UC Berkeley. And while I sat there, vaguely nauseous and needing to pee (for the third time that hour) I avoided eye contact with the students walking by. After all, Nice Jewish Girls…
Have you heard about the gigantic rally being planned on Sunday, May 20th at Citi Field in Queens "to combat the evils of the Internet and the damages caused by advanced electronic devices"? No? Well, you guys, it's going to be HUGE. As some Israeli rabbis explained in an article called, "A Letter from our Masters the…
That's the message of an ad posted in the local paper of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, NY. You can read the whole ad below.
As the clash between modernity and fundamentalism grows more intense worldwide, women's bodies are a key battleground. Last month, ultra-Orthodox Israelis spat
The issue of gender segregation has been growing more heated in Israel, and there's an ironic twist to the latest incident. A major conference on gynecology is only featuring male presenters, because really, what the hell do female researchers know about the functions of the wily vagina?
Controversy has erupted in Israel over several women refusing to move to the back of the bus for men. Proponents of public transportation gender segregation say that they're only looking out for the ladies' modesty, but opponents say forcing women to move for men puts Israeli society on a slippery slope that could lead …
An anonymous story in the Yeshiva University Beacon has caused a scandal with its depiction of a premarital sexual encounter. The piece was so controversial that it's led to the resignation of an editor and a schism between the newspaper and the university.
In the Yom Kippur tradition of kaparot, some Orthodox Jews swing a live chicken above their heads, then slaughter it, often donating the meat to charity. But some now say the practice is inhumane. Rabbi Meir Hirsch says the chickens "spend all day in the sun without food or drink" before their deaths. He adds, "You cannot …
Patti, Patti, Patti… Oy vey ismir. You are to dating and relationships what Sarah Silverman is to comedy. By nature of your personality alone, you force us to choose: We either love you or we (really) don't. And, Patti, I love you. Really, I do. In spite of your overzealous relationship with the flat iron, I think…
Di Tzeitung, the Hasidic newspaper that Photoshopically removed
In many ways, this has been the season of the Good Jewish Girl. The proudly Jewish, defiantly curly-haired Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz — a woman "so, so excited to be Jewish" — has been elected to lead the Democratic National Committee (the second woman ever to hold said position). In February, the elegant,…
Walking to class past the political and cultural smorgasbord of Sproul Plaza at the University of California at Berkeley was a feast for the eyes. There was, of course, the Ralph Nader-loving table teeming with activity and the ever-desolate Berkeley College Republicans station. But the one that always caught my eye…
