I never considered myself a misogynist, but several years ago, during my senior year of college as I headed to yeshiva, I began taking on a number of wonderful Jewish observances. It was at that time that I learned about shmiras eynaim, the responsibility of Jewish men and women to treat their eyes and ears as […]
For far too long, too many men in the secular world have been using women’s bodies for their own pleasure without having any consideration about the needs or wants of the humans being they are with. Since the Aziz Ansari scandal broke, the #MeToo movement is no longer just about rape and sexual assault. People […]
Recently, I received an inquiry from someone who was researching transgender issues in halacha. The first thing I told them, before suggesting some sources, was that this issue is far above my pay grade. I am not qualified to comment on the permissibility of any course of action and I can make no recommendations. All […]
“Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16). As an Orthodox Jewish woman, the first time I saw this verse in the Torah, where Eve is cursed with her husband ruling over her (as a result of having eaten from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), […]
Forced modesty clearly subjugates, but what about the pressure to uncover? With summer nearly upon us, newsstands are replete with magazine covers instructing women on how to get the “perfect beach bod,” but this is not a seasonal phenomenon. In an age when gender equality is on everyone’s mind, there is a discrepancy between the […]
Several years ago, I was at a conference, and a guy at my table started up with me after he found out that I was observant. “I’m not religious,” he began, “but I get Shabbat. I see the value in kosher. But that whole no touching before marriage thing that you Orthodox Jews do – that […]
