Beliefs & Practices
A Southern Jewish Woman’s Story from 1879 Asks Questions Still Lingering Today
I recently came across a short story titled Miss Magdalena Peanuts, published in the Atlantic Monthly in September, 1879. It ...
Strangers and Black Crabs
My husband and I just returned from vacation, which included a stop in the Bahamas. Lucky for us, it rained. ...
The Mikveh: Bringing Purity (Even To Tazria-Metzora Sermons)
This time of year, we read a very infamous Torah portion: Parashat Tazria-Metzora, a double Torah portion, which is widely ...
The Mezuzah & The Magnolia
The door to my apartment is pretty distinct: It just might be the only one in this city that welcomes ...
Claiming Our Spiritual Ancestry
In the year 2000, I was still a newly-minted Jew, having completed my conversion in March of 1999. As Passover ...
Free Will Quiz
The paradox of human free will and God's infinite knowledge and power has troubled Jewish thinkers at every point in ...
Can Modesty Be A Feminist Choice?
By the time I finally bought my first bikini, I was sixteen years old. As a chubby kid who had ...
My Second Trip to the Mikveh
June, 1997, Cincinnati, OHIt was the end of a journey. It was the beginning of a transition. I had spent ...
He Lived Long, Prospered… And Spoke Yiddish
Like so many others, I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy last week.One of my friends, ...
Where Have All the Women Gone?
I subscribe to a variety of listservs, Facebook groups, and news outlets across a wide range of the religious spectrum, ...
“Southern & Jewish” Does Not Mean “Less Jewish”
My family flew to Los Angeles two weeks ago to attend the funeral of my father-in-law, z’’l. We had been ...
Is There Such a Thing as a Feminist Dress Code?
In December, the New York Times printed an article about the new fashion guidelines for state legislators in Montana. In ...