When The Women Sang Shema
One of the oldest Jewish prayers takes on a new unified meaning early in the morning, with Women Of The Wall
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
In Which the Wall Spits Back My Prayers
In my hollowest moments I wish my mother named me after a breathing thing a name with a voice to choke it over I pray for RachelRebeccaLeah, nice Jewish girl names that never die bonded to a land we bulldozed to make our own, but a man calls me the new Josephus curses me…
The Western Wall Taught Me a Lesson – And It Wasn’t What You’d Expect
There it was – the Western Wall, hakotel hama’aravi. The sun was hanging over the top of the wall, reflecting off the stones at my feet. As I stood in front of the holiest sight in Israel, I realized I was waiting for something, some reaction to the realization that I was finally at the…
Let’s Make Yom HaAtzmaut About the People
Every year, even if I celebrate it differently and even as my perceptions of Zionism and the Jewish State become evermore complicated, Yom HaAtzmaut always evokes in me a certain special nostalgia. It was only once I was no longer forced to celebrate the holiday like I did in elementary and high school—with Israeli dancing,…
Want to Reform Israel? Vote for the Reform Movement
Most Jews have at least heard of the World Zionist Congress. They know that it had something to do with Theodore Herzl and played a critical role in creating the State of Israel. What many don’t know is that the World Zionist Congress still makes very important decisions affecting Israel and the Jewish community around…
Is a 10-Day Trip to Israel Really My Birthright?
Israel has always been a concept — a country, a culture, a history, a memory —I was always intimate with, but it remained aloof. I grew up surrounded by Hebrew and Israeli culture, singing “Hatikvah” alongside the “Star Spangled Banner.” I’d been to Israel only one time before going on Birthright, and since then, my…
Growing Up an American Jew – 2 Poems
2 Poems by Sophie Katzman: Descendant’s Blessing Zadie. Zionist. Yellow stars. Young and old yearning for years passed. Yahrzeit. Yiddush: lyb, sholem. War. Woody Allen. Leaving notes on the Western Wall. The V’ahavta. U-blessed by the Orthodox Union. Torah. Tzedakah. Tikkun Olam, we repair the world. Shabbat. Sternberg Sewing. Samuel’s Metal Shop. Schlep. Shylock….
Can You Trust a Woman in Tefillin?: The Truth About Women of the Wall
Women of the Wall (WoW) was founded 25 years ago as a women’s minyan at the Western Wall to meet on the first of every Jewish month. A few years ago, some of WoW’s leaders started getting arrested for wearing non-“feminine” (read: colorful) talitot and tefillin in violation of a 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling….
What Modern Orthodox Jews Think of Women of the Wall
It’s clear from recent changes that the mission of the Women of the Wall is gaining traction. The Jerusalem District Court ruled recently that the Law of Holy Places does not require “local customs” to be Orthodox practices, that police had no reason to detain the Women of the Wall earlier this month and that…
From Cats to Hamas: an Interview with Jenna Gang
On the first day of Ulpan, Jenna Gang showed us the tattoo of her Hebrew name printed on the back of her neck. From then on, we called her Yosefa. We lived together in a cramped apartment in Jerusalem, she the established New York City photographer and I the aspiring California writer, both participating on…
Arresting the Victim (Again)
Anat Hoffman does good work for the Jewish community. As the head of the Israel Religious Action Center, she directs an organization that is helping to build the civil society devoted to liberal democracy that Israel desperately needs. Yet many in the Jewish world have never heard of her. She doesn’t even pass the does-she-have-a-Wikipedia-article…
The Reading List: Take that, Haredim.
The Masorti (Conservative) movement in Israel stands up for its values and goes on the offensive against government subsidies for yeshiva students. [Jewschool] Stream the Western Wall live on your iPhone! [WaPo] Cholent is so tasty. [Forward Jew and the Carrot] The pros and cons of finishing college a semester early. [Her Campus] The Chinese…
…Let My Right Hand Wither
Bailey Spagat is participating in Career Israel, one of Masa Israel’s 180 programs.
If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem…
Bailey Spagat is participating in Career Israel, one of Masa Israel’s 180 programs.