The school, which has far more applicants than it has places, gives priority to those children whose mothers are Jewish. M, the student in question, was raised in a practicing Jewish home, but his mother is a convert from Catholicism, and converted in a reform temple. (However, those students whose parents are atheists would still be given priority, were the mother "ethnically" Jewish.) When M.'s father took the school to court, he won; however, the school appealed - hence the Supreme Court ruling.

While this may not seem to be a big issue - how many non-Jews, after all, are going to be eager for a strict parochial education, so how much will the new "religious practice" tests matter? - it could have wide-ranging implications for all faith-based schools. And, says England's orthodox community, for modern Judaism as a whole. Said the President of the United Synagogue, to the Guardian, "Essentially, we must now apply a non-Jewish definition of who is Jewish...These are matters of principle. If we don't fight this, what do we fight? These are germane to everything we believe in."

Jewish School Loses Appeal [Guardian]
Jewish School Loses Places Fight [BBC]

For over twenty years, a group called the Women of the Wall (some of the group's members are pictured above) has challenged the rules restricting women's access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Hewing to Orthodox rules and an Israeli high court ruling that upheld them, women are separated from men and are forbidden to wear tallit, traditionally reserved for men.

Yesterday, Nofrat Frenkel and other women from Women of the Wall went into the main area to pray, and after protests from the Orthodox men regularly installed there, she was detained for two hours and ordered to stay away from the wall for 15 days.

As much as Israel is riven by its disputes with Palestinians, long-simmering tensions between the ultra-Orthodox in Israel and more liberal elements have been exploding in recent months, including riots this summer and bitter, at times violent, protests over issues like keeping a parking garage open on the Sabbath.

Over the years, the Women of the Wall have had chairs and feces thrown at them while praying. Ultra-Orthodox anger at Women of the Wall flared up afresh earlier this month when Israel's chief Sephardic rabbi, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, lashed out at them during his weekly sermon.

"There are stupid women who come to the Western Wall, put on a tallit (prayer shawl), and pray...These are deviants who serve equality, not Heaven. They must be condemned and warned of."

The response of Women of the Wall's Anat Hoffman:

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef established negative motives for the group of women praying at the Western Wall without knowing even one of the women. Because the motive of the group is awe of God, I invite him in the name of Women of the Wall to meet us and get to know us."

An Orthodox man tells Israeli filmmaker Yael Katzir in her recent documentary on the Women of the Wall, Praying In Her Own Voice, "Women have their job to do and men have theirs. Women must teach the children, take care of the house, raise the children to observe the Torah and its commandments, and the man must go learn Torah."

The role of women is a major front in the struggle over who gets to define Judaism and the use of space in the Jewish state. As Hoffman puts it in the clip seen here, "Israel markets the wall as a place of national unity. How can there be unity when half the population is silenced?"

Police Arrest Female Activist After Donning Prayer Shawl at Western Wall [Haaretz]
Praying In Her Own Voice [New Love Films]

[Jerusalem, November 16. Image via Getty]

An Ethiopian Jewish women prays during the Sigd festival in Jerusalem on November 16, 2009. Sigd, the holiday of return and longing, is held fifty days after Yom Kippur. Prior to their immigration to Israel, the Jewish community in Ethiopia observed Sigd in their villages, praying to return to Jerusalem. Today, Sigd is celebrated in the holy city with thousands of Ethiopians from all over Israel gathering to pray together. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New York, November 1. Image via Getty]

NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 1: A group of Hasidic Jewish girls watch the runners of the 40th ING New York City Marathon pass through the Williamsburg section of the borough of Brooklyn on November 1, 2009 in New York City. Meb Keflezighi who won New York City Marathon was the first American champion to do so since 1982 in the time 2:09.15. More than 40,000 people participated in the event. (Photo by Afton Almaraz/Getty Images)

[Bethlehem, October 29. Image via Getty]

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK - OCTOBER 29: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman prays under Israel's concrete seperation barrier where it forms a heavily-guarded enclave protecting the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel, on October 29, 2009 in the West Bank Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Thousands of Jewish worshiipers converged on Rachel's Tomb on the anniversary of her death. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

[North Hollywood, October 29. Image via Getty]

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 29: Saba Moore-Doucette (C) and her daughter Molly along with neighbors look at the scene after a gunman shot and wounded two men in the underground parking garage of the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Congregation on October 29, 2009 in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. The wounded men, arrived in separate vehicles for a morning prayer service and were shot after they got out of their vehicles. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

[Bethlehem, October 29. Image via Getty]

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK - OCTOBER 29: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman prays under Israel's concrete seperation barrier where it forms a heavily-guarded enclave protecting the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel, on October 29, 2009 in the West Bank Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Thousands of Jewish worshiipers converged on Rachel's Tomb on the anniversary of her death. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

There is, apparently, an epidemic of possible miscegenation at work: Jewish girls are dating Arab boys, and someone has to stop it. So, since there's apparently no shortage of available zealous busybodies who have nothing better to do after-hours, several troupes of vigilantes have formed amongst Jewish men who hope to "save" the young girls for themselves. With names like "Love of Youth" and "Fire for Judaism," they prowl those areas where teen couples are known to congregate and perform interventions with tactics not unlike those of abortion protesters, trying to save "problem cases" by administering lectures and disseminating CDs and literature on the dangers, presumably, of miscegenation.

The motivation seems to be both political and religious in nature, fueled as much by regional tensions as the traditional fear of losing Jews to intermarriage. "Their place is with the Jewish nation, not our enemies," says one of the organizers, who's obviously far more religious than any of the girls he's harassing.

Shockingly, turning this into an exciting forbidden Romeo and Juliet situation and casting Arab men as dangerous bad boys has not stopped the teens! For those of us who see this natural interaction as a healthy way of forging new understanding and connection, that's a good thing. For those whose intransigence has nothing to do with logic or apparently respect for personal decisions, boundaries and the law, well, probably not so much. When the short "West Bank Story" won an Oscar, it seemed light-hearted. The reality? Not so much.

Vigilantes Patrol For Jewish Women Dating Arab Men [NPR]

[Jerusalem, September 23. Image via Getty]

An Ultra-orthodox Jewish woman swings a chicken above her daughter's head during the Kaparot ceremony in Mea Shearim Ultra Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem on September 23, 2009. According to Jewish beliefs, the ritual is supposed to transfer the sins of the past year to the chicken, and is performed before the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendar, which this year falls on September 28. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

When Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig was ordained, 1984, there were few female rabbis - let alone gay ones. As she tells the New York Times,

I played a significant role in the change toward gay rabbis. I saw how long that process took. In '85, I submitted a resolution to the Central Conference of American Rabbis to open doors to gay men and lesbians. It was not changed till 1990.

While Wenig may represent the reform fringe, she can take credit fpor paving the way for significant changes in even the more conservative community: for two years the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary has admitted openly gay students. And only a few weeks ago, Poland saw its first openly gay rabbi, a move controversial enough to make international headlines.

Wenig might well feel , cautiously, optimistic - despite the opposition to gay marriage in more conservative Jewish communities - but it's questionable if her 1990 declaration of God's sex will be met with the same level of acceptance. She explains now, "Jewish texts are replete with anthropomorphic images of God. I don't say God would ever die. I fudged that. Whatever else, I would say God is eternal."

A rabbi's struggle: To allow gay clergy or not? [USA Today]
Conservative Jews Allow Gay Rabbis and Unions [New York Times]

RABBI SCHOOL GAY-OK [NY Post]
Amid Jewish revival, Poland Gets Openly Gay Rabbi [Newsvine]

Writes Bialik in Tablet,

The WNTW producers asked if I have any clothing restrictions. Deep breath. "I don't wear pants," I told them. "I prefer skirts." You see, I am what I guess you'd call a Conservadox Jew. I started embracing certain aspects of Jewish modesty, or tzniut, before my second son was born, and although I know many Orthodox women who don't observe tzniut, the boundaries and framework of privacy it provides appealed to me.

Although Bialik isn't that strict - she doesn't, for instance, refuse to wear 3/4 sleeves - her demands do put a bit of a kink in WNTW's style. It's a smart, well-written piece, but there are two kind of hilarous parts. I think - but am not positive - that the following is deliberately tongue-in-cheek.

Growing up, I lived a pretty normal life; I had my own prime-time network TV show from the ages of 14 to 19, which meant my physical appearance and clothing choices were dissected on a weekly basis in gossip magazines and on television.

But this, I'm sure, isn't: "During the days of the sheva brachot, the seven traditional feasts celebrated in the days after the chuppah ceremony, I tentatively covered my head with scarves and crocheted hats." Tentatively? Blossom lived in hats! Hell, she made them a thing! I had a sunflower hat!

Anyway, one has to wonder if WNTW was the only way she could smarten up her act; she's not the first actor, after all, who's used it as an optimistic bit of new-push PR. But hell, we'd do the show if it meant we could hang out with Clinton and Stacey! And we wouldn't even give them any problems about wearing the satin reveal dress, or the A-line skirt, or the nipped-in jacket that shows off the waist and the girls! Indeed, it's always seemed a bit irrational for those who knowingly agree to the makeovers - as opposed to those intransigent types humiliated into it by secret footage - to give the team a lot of problems. But in the case of religious objections? It doesn't seem like anything the dynamic duo couldn't surmount.

So, how'd it go? Well:

I got wonderful new clothes, jewelry, and vegan shoes (one of my other preferences). When we filmed me revealing the final outfits they picked, I gently pointed out that skirts above the knee are not something I'd wear, and that I wouldn't wear sleeveless shirts or dresses without something to cover my arms once I left the set. When the show aired, I saw that my qualifications and explanations did not survive the cutting room...I don't wish to claim that there is an "immodest agenda" on WNTW. It's a show for the average American, who is most likely not Jewish, and if she is Jewish, she's most likely not observant. In spite of the fact that the hosts kept telling me that I needed to be "sexy" and not "hide" in my clothing, I loved being a part of the show. They were right to encourage me to wear clothing that was my size, and to emphasize my figure where it needed emphasizing. But sexy doesn't necessarily mean scantily-clad.

The final twist is that when Bialik does go in for a part, it's that of a Hasid. So it's hard to say who wins the battle of wills. But our money is usually on Stacey and Clinton.

Wardrobe! [Tablet]
What Not to Wear - Season Premiere Sneak Peek [YouTube]
Blossom's Mayim Bialik: I Needed a Makeover! [People]
Related: Jezebel Faceoff: Blossom Russo Vs. Clarissa Darling

[Berlin, July 22. Image via Getty]

A girl jumps from a concrete stele to another at the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin on July 22, 2009. The memorial, designed by US architect Peter Eisenmann, is made up of 2711 concrete steles forming a curved landscape in the heart of the capital. AFP PHOTO DAVID GANNON (Photo credit should read DAVID GANNON/AFP/Getty Images)

Of course, as many a Jew will tell you, "there is no such thing as a half-Jew." When halfjew.com tried to get off the ground - and, only half-jokingly, wanted to take over Governor's Island, which just made the whole thing weird - debate became heated: you were either a Jew with a Jewish mother, wrote furious commenters, or a goy. (A few helpful anti-Semites chipped in vaguely for good measure. ) "Half-Jew," said the more religious, was not a identity.

But, as any of us can tell you, it most certainly is. Certainly growing up in New York, where many of my classmates, like me, had a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother, this was a standard form of identification. While a few of my friends' families "compromised" on Unitarianism or Quaker meeting, many, obviously not terribly religious, raised their kids without a single religion, lighting a menorah in front of a Christmas tree and maybe eating chocolate eggs at Easter before going to a grandparent's passover Seder. We knew which celebrities were half-Jewish: Gwyneth Paltrow, Lenny Kravitz, Carrie Fischer, Paul Newman. Many of us had distinctly Jewish names that would lead the world to make assumptions, yet understood that to the religious Jewish community, we'd not be considered Chosen unless we converted.

In truth, I'd never thought much about it until arriving at college where, in the way of such things, various religious groups made overtures to incoming freshmen. I remember one guy coming up to me and asking if I wanted to join Hillel House; when I explained that my mother wasn't Jewish, his face darkened. "It's people like your father who are ruining the Jewish religion," he said angrily. And in the years since, I've heard that a lot, which seems to me rather unfair, if only because it's shooting the messenger if ever I've heard it. (Also, such a distinctly Jewish name is enough to earn one quite a few ungenerous sallies along the way, most recently, in response to my mild critique of Alex Jones, which several irate gentlemen ascribed to some sort of vague Zionist conspiracy.) "Well, it's true," said my father, when I brought up his role in the destruction of his faith. Perhaps the result of growing up amidst Communists, he didn't seem very concerned by his treachery.

Matrilineality, so the Jerusalem Post tells us, was not always the Way, and Biblical precedents bear out both schools of thought, but has been codified for so many centuries that to many such a change would be unthinkable. As the article explains it, "the certainty of maternity must be set against the possible doubt of paternity. Even in nature the mother's bond with the child is firmer than the father's. And the mother has the superior influence on the child's religious development. So matrilineality is here to stay." Well, that settles that, I guess; so much for dads. And frankly it's hard to know how we'd suddenly feel if the rabbinate suddenly let us second-classers in; the truth is, when one is raised without a single creed, committing to it is a far more serious business - and, counterintuitive though it may seem, a tacit rejection of one of my parents' non-religions. In effect, this more inclusive policy might well precipitate a low-level identity crisis for many of us - which, at least, is one credo most of us are well versed-in.

Matrilineality Is Still Best For Jewish Identity [Jerusalem Post]
Related: Speidi: "9/11 Was Definitely An Inside Job."

["Ljubelj South", Slovenia; June 5. Image via Getty]

A woman explores on June 5, 2009 the chamber of former World War II nazi concentration camp 'Ljubelj south' where the names of all nazi concentration camps were engraved, some 100 kilometers from Ljubljana. Slovenian President Danilo Turk and his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer visited the tunnel and the entrance to the 'Ljubelj south' World War II nazi concentration camp at Slovenian side of the border with Austria. Between March 1943 to May 1945 Ljubelj south in Slovenia and Ljubelj north in Austria were a branch of notorious WWII Mauthausen nazi concentration camps, from which thousands of political internees, the majority of whom were French, were transported to Ljubelj from there. AFP PHOTO/ HRVOJE POLAN (Photo credit should read HRVOJE POLAN/AFP/Getty Images)

A psychotherapist who converted to Judaism 20 years ago, Stanton will be ordained in Cincinnatti, where she attended HUC-JIR, the rabbinical school of the Reform movement. Although raised in a Pentecostal family, Stanton says her mother encouraged her to pursue her own spiritual path, and the social and community, as well as spiritual, aspects of Judaism appealed to her from an early age. When she joins Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, North Carolina in August, she will establish another landmark by becoming the first African-American rabbi to lead a majority white congregation. Says Stanton, "My goals as a rabbi are to break down barriers, build bridges and provide hope...I look forward to being the spiritual leader of an inclusive sacred community that welcomes and engages all."

There has always been a small African-American Jewish community, although it's hard to quantify since, says Lewis Gordon, founder of the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University, black Jews have historically practiced in private, or in segregated communities where neither blacks nor Jews were particularly welcome. In the past 15 years, the black Jewish community has grown substantially. The Institute for Jewish and Community Research estimates that at least 20 percent of American Jews "are racially and ethnically diverse by birth," an increase due largely to growing rates of intermarriage, and the increasing prominence of the Reform Movement, which emphasizes diversity in the community.

It's not always an easy path. African-American converts can face prejudice from both communities. As Stanton puts it, "My Christian friends disowned me and Jews questioned." Stanton speaks of the racial bigotry her daughter experienced while she was studying in Israel, and Latesha Jones, who since her conversion in Atlanta now goes by Elisheva Naomi Chaim, says there are always congregants "that will look at me strangely because I'm black." Chaim also talks about the confusion of some members of her Christian family, including an aunt who declared she was going to hell. For some converts of mixed background, there's a definite sense of coming home, redisocvering distant roots. And for others, there's a natural kinship. One rabbi talked to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the conversion process:

He asks every convert: "Why would you ever want to be Jewish? Don't you know how many people hate us?"...The black converts respond differently, he said. They look at him as if to say: "Welcome to my world."

Stanton's ordination faces disapprobation from the Orthodox community - but due to her sex. Female rabbis are still not accepted by more religious Jews, although the first Reform female rabbi was ordained in 1974. However, for the most part, she speaks of the acceptance and openness she's experienced. Particularly moving is her account of receiving her acceptance letter to rabbinical school. Recounts the Jewish Journal, "she immediately went to pick her daughter up at the black Pentecostal church where her mother was playing the piano for choir practice. Announcing her achievement, Stanton received a standing ovation from the choir." Says the head of her new congregation, "Rabbi Stanton energized this community in a way that was really impressive, across all lines. I think that she's a special person."

Alysa Stanton Becomes First Female Black Rabbi [ABC]

A Black Woman's Journey To The Rabbinate In North Carolina [CNN]
Judaism Drawing More Black Americans [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Rocky Road To The Rabbinate [Jewish Journal]

The school was founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss of New York's Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, who is an advocate for the expansion of women's rights in Orthodox Judaism. Earlier this year, Sara Hurwitz completed eight years of training under Weiss and passed her rabbinical ordination exams, just as male rabbinical student would. Even though she has been performing rabbinical duties, she uses the recently-invented title "Maharat" from "Manhiga Hilchatit Ruchanit Toranit," meaning, Jewish legal and spiritual leader and Torah teacher. The brief announcement about the new school only said it will "train women to become Orthodox Spiritual Leaders– full members of the Rabbinic Clergy– in Synagogues, Schools, and on University Campuses."

In an essay about Hurwitz on The Huffington Post, Leora Tanenbaum wrote, "I suppose, 'Maharat' will cease to sound silly and gobbledy-gooky, and we will accept it as a legitimate title. But it will continue to belittle the women who hold it — and, by extension, all women — because it will always signify 'she who is not fit to be called 'rabbi.'"

Breaking News: Yeshivat Mahara"t [Jew School]

A Rabbi Is Not A Rabbi [HuffPo]

[Djerba, Tunisia; May 11. Image via Getty]

A woman lights a candle in the Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba on May 11 2009. Some 3,000 Jewish pilgrims are expected, including 1,000 Israelis, during the annual two-day pilgrimage to the oldest synagogue in Africa. Most pilgrims will come from France, while others are due from Italy, Britain and Canada. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)