Jezebel: orthodox jews

In yesterday's post about Orthodox Jews...

Jessica — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:45:00 EST

In yesterday's post about Orthodox Jews and anorexia, I made some incorrect generalizations about the dress codes among the Orthodox. I was wrong. I have pants-wearing, high-powered job-having, New Orthodox cousins, and so it's especially bad that I spoke so sloppily. And I'm sorry! I'm not sorry about Tefillin Barbie, however. She rocks. — Jessica

Author: Some Orthodox Men Want Their Brides Below A Size Eight

Jessica — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST

In some Orthodox Jewish sects, women must wear sleeves past the elbow and skirts (never trousers) past the knees. Slits are verboten (those are for harlots!): kick pleats need only apply. Married women must always cover their heads; most shave their hair off and wear wigs. You'd think with all this covering up, many would have a healthier body image. You'd think wrong! Jewcy.com points us to a Jewish Daily Forward article about anorexia and bulimia among some Orthodox women. According to the Forward, a possible reason for eating disorders amongst ultra-religious Jews is the practice of arranged marriage. "Very often, young men looking for brides in the Orthodox community call a girl's parents and ask for her dress size." If it's over a size 8, says the Forward, she may be headed for spinster city.

Some men go so far to ask for the dress size of the mother of the prospective bride, says Abraham Twerski, author of a book about eating disorders called The Thin You Within You. (You know, so a future husband can rest assure his wife-to-be will be able to shed the baby weight - and there will be many babies: Orthodox Jews don't always believe in birth control). The arranged marriages may be causing eating disorders for another reason as well: Orthodox women are encouraged to wed at a very young age, and some teens who are seeking to avoid marriage develop anorexia to avoid menstruation. No menses = no babies = no marriage.

As many experts note, eating disorders are often about control, and eating disorder specialist Dr. Ira Sacker told the Forward that Orthodox girls and women often want to control their food intake because in such a regimented and ritualized society, what they eat is the only thing they have any power over.

Anorexia remains a taboo subject in the Orthodox world, and as a result, according to Jewcy, "Married and middle-aged women are also susceptible to anorexia and bulimia, and are likely to pass their eating disorders on to their daughters." This is increasingly true everywhere, says the Independent. Apparently the pressure to "age beautifully" like Madonna or Sharon Stone has sent some older women into a shame spiral of disordered eating.

The Orthodox Union is trying to raise money to produce a documentary about eating disorders within the community, tentatively titled, "Dying To Be Thin." Jewcy points out that most mainstream eating disorder films focus on the media's influence on body image, but in TV-free Orthodox households, those messages don't resonate in the same way. Personally, I doubt many Orthodox Jews will be reading about up-and-coming model, willowy Ali Michael, who wasn't cast in almost any runway shows at Paris fashion week because the 17-year-old had gained a whopping five pounds from last year.

["Tefillin Barbie" Image via Jen Taylor Friedman's Official Website.]

Eating Disorders Plague the Orthodox World [Jewcy]
Film To Break Silence Around Anorexia [Jewish Daily Forward]

Related: Wasn't Skinny
Supposed To Be Out Of Fashion? [Wall Street Journal]
Pressure To Grow Old Beautifully Drives Over-50s To Anorexia [Independent]

Celebrate The Season: Make A Toy Temple!

Jennifer — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:30:00 EST

My childhood was perhaps best defined by two things: My Jewish day school education and my love of playing with dolls. So it's no surprise that I am immensely fascinated by the blog Juggling Frogs, on which a woman named Carolyn chronicles her life as a "Torah-observing" wife and mother. Carolyn, you see, built her daughters a to scale dollhouse shul. (That would be 'synagogue,' to those of you not raised in Yiddish-speaking homes.) Carolyn's daughters had begged her for their very own Orthodox synagogue for their dollies, and so Carolyn got cracking. But there were many challenges she had to face!

I used fancier materials than we normally use for one of our standard doll houses, in order to show honor for the synagogue in the abstract, and for the Torah and its accessories. I gave up some of my real beads and fabrics, and spent more time on it than one of my 'normal' dollhouses. I wanted there to be room for a at least whole minyan (10 men) of men, and a comparable number of seats for the ladies. I wanted the Torah and its accouterments to be somewhat accurate for both educational and play value.

And how clever and crafty and successful Carolyn's venture was! And how many things we learned from her! Want to make strollers for the women to push their babies in outside while the men pray? Use a broken clothes hanger! Want the flowers in the faux-flower boxes to actually smell? Tape a cinnamon stick to the base of a box before putting your faux flora in them! Want to make a toy Torah? Get yourself some Tyvek [Isn't that the name of the guy in 'Fiddler On The Roof'? Joke. -Ed.], a paint pen, a glue gun, and some tooth picks! What to do for the Torah cover? Paint some duct tape, natch! Need a bookshelf for your prayer books? Coffee stirrers! (No, really, why didn't we think of any of this???)

Seriously, we have never been as terrified / inspired by something in all of our lives. We think even Martha Stewart would be impressed. Martha, if you're reading this — you need to book Carolyn from Boston on your show, stat. Just in time for Channukah! Bring the good lady on and make her recreate, like, The Second Temple using only household goods! This lady is like the MacGyver of the long skirt, hair-covering set.

Or better yet, have Carolyn do a cooking segment! Latkes and a pork roast, anyone? Bring your Barbies and say L'Chaim!

Rebuilding The Beit Midrash [Juggling Frogs via Boing Boing]