Tag: women

Last year, Rabbis Ethan Tucker and Micha'el Rosenberg released an updated edition of their influential 2017 work, Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law. In this review, Steven Gotlib outlines the book's core halakhic arguments and assesses its reception by contemporary Jewish thinkers. He concludes with a consideration of the relationship between halakhic egalitarian practice and mainstream Orthodox Judaism, including potential paths that this relationship may take in the future.

Asher Oser In contemporary Orthodox life, modesty has become one of the most visible markers of religious observance. For married women, and to a lesser...

Dena Rock reviews the new book of responsa on women's issues by Rav Yehuda Henkin (z"l).

Sarah's conspicuous absence from the dramatic Akeidah narrative is the subject of both traditional and scholarly interpretation. Michael Wolff offers an approach through the lens of gender roles.

Ariel Goldstein expands on the hardship of being a Jewish woman and attempting to live up to impossible standards.

Rabba Wendy Amsellem reviews Gila Fine's new book, "The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic."

The biblical figure of Esther is often interpreted by traditional and modern commentators as a heroine of active leadership. Naama Sadan offers a novel perspective, according to which Esther confronts national crisis in female-coded ways, triumphing and saving her people through internally-focused activism.

Chaim Trachtman shows how a careful examination of debates between Shammai and Hillel challenge our preconceived notions about them.

  Rebecca Cypess As the only musical instrument used in modern Jewish liturgy, the shofar possesses a humble form. Halakhah forbids the modification of the shofar’s...

Kate Rozansky explores the life of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai through the prism of the women in his life.