Primrose Road

Two ultra-Orthodox newspapers in Israel have digitally altered a photo of Israel's new cabinet, blacking out the two women in the cabinet because viewing a picture of a woman would constitute "a violation of female modesty."

The Passover Haggadah, told in Facebook.

(I like God's "25 Things You Didn't Know About Me" list and the random Bernie Madoff appearance.)

This week's G-dcast presents a nice lesson about caring for others and not being narcissistic, but I'm a little put off by the idea that Rebecca was THREE YEARS OLD when it was decided that she'd marry Isaac.


Parshat Chayei Sarah from G-dcast.com.

Ah, the things we don't learn in Sunday School.

Chabad.org offers up an not-really-posthumanist argument in one writer's attempt to engage with the "Can You Prove You're Not a Machine?" question:

we can't *prove* we're not machines ---> wait a second, we do operate kind of like machines ---> ............
----> but we're just *not* machines, we can't be ---> the difference between people and machines is the possibility for embracing God and meaning ---> you should embrace God and look for meaning and holiness in everyday life.

An argument with slightly fewer open spaces but more open questions might be:
we can't *prove* we're not machines ---> wait a second, we do operate kind of like machines ---> but aren't meaning, and God, and consciousness what make us human? ---> then ...????????

For me, it's an interesting insight into Jewish mythologies and the ways in which the tradition associates consciousness with light, imagining that consciousness is primary in terms of knowing and creation.



It's G-dcast, which will be posting a cartoon parsha (Torah portion) every week this year. Secular Jews / those of us who don't buy into the supernatural elements of the culture may nevertheless find these interesting for the stories that they tell.

From The Guardian: Some Haredim in Israel are extremely vocal (and physical) about women following their sect's specific moral and dress codes. For example:

"Signs warning women not to enter if they are wearing trousers, short sleeves or a skirt above the knees, hang in the neighbourhood. One is affixed outside Kreus's two-room house where he lives with his wife and 11 children. 'Every week there's a complaint about the way women dress,' said Kreus.

Extraordinarily, he admitted to slashing the tyres of women who have driven into the neighbourhood who, he said, were indecently dressed. 'There was a mess with the police,' he said. 'Now I'm trying new creative methods, not using violence. Now I make a small hole in their tyres and the air deflates slowly. I'm not destroying their car.'"

The article doesn't do enough to explain that this is one specific sect and that not all Orthodox (and not all ultra-Orthodox, even) Jews engage in these disgusting acts, but, yes, the sect is all-too-vocal about the way secular and slightly-less-observant Israeli women dress:

"He maintained that separation was necessary beyond the boundaries of the neighbourhood. 'Having secular people on the buses is a problem. They go like animals, without clothes. Non-religious girls don't dress properly. They encourage me to sin,' he said.

With the demographics skewed in their favour, government authorities are acquiescing to the growing demands of the ultra-orthodox. The transport ministry, which regulates and funds bus transport through private companies, has allowed operators to provide 'kosher' or 'pure' routes, where women are required to sit at the back and cannot board unless appropriately dressed.

More than a dozen women have filed complaints after being verbally or physically attacked on the buses. 'Sometimes it's an official group but often it's one or two men who start to complain and the other men follow,' said the Israel Religious Action Centre's legal director, Einat Hurvitz. 'The drivers allow them to intimidate the women.' Haredi women also participated in the bullying."

In Israel, these small groups have a (rather loud) political voice, which is one reason why forming coalitions in the Knesset can be so difficult.

Aish New York, a branch of kiruv organization Aish HaTorah (which basically aims to bring young Jewish people "back" to Haredism, one mitzvah at a time), is offering "gender wars" workshops later this month. These workshops are intended "for young Jewish professionals in their 20s and 30s with limited to no Jewish background":

We all know that men and women are different- but how do you learn to use those differences to engage in a successful relationship with the opposite gender?

What A Man Wants
For Women Only (Join for part II on Sept 24th)

Ziva Kramer is a matchmaker and a dating mentor with attitude. Her delicate and brilliant assessment of relationships will give all women the power and strength to take each step in the dating process with grace and wisdom. With the wit of her stories and vast matchmaking experience, Ziva will shock you while simultaneously opening up your eyes to all the truths which she has learned over the years.

What A Woman Needs
For Men Only

Rabbi Yitz Greenman, husband and father of nine, has over 15 years of experience presenting no-nonsense wisdom on relationships. An accomplished executive in the field of Jewish outreach, his combination of humor and relatable life experience have made him a sought-after counselor by singles, couples, and some of the most senior New York executives.

I love love love the subtle difference between the titles.
I also love how some of these outreach organizations -- I've encountered quite a bit of this in discussions with members of SigOther's temple -- basically prey on lonely single Jewish people and convince them that God will send them their bashert if and only if they (1) take on a couple of extra mitzvahs and (2) lose some of the feminist attitude.

(Or, in some cases, men and women in these organizations will argue that tznius (modesty) is in itself a form of feminism. Though "Mom with a View" Emuna Braverman offers up some insightful points about first- and second-wave feminisms here, there's definitely an assumption at work here that when it comes to dress, women have a choice between Torah-dictated modesty and sluttishness, and that there's nothing in between!)

God is a "dual-gendered deity," according to one rabbi about to publish an article entitled "Who is He? He is She: The Secret Four-Letter Name of God."

(The Hebrew word for "he" is "hoo" and the Hebrew word for "she" is "hee," hence the puns in the article title. Most of us already came up with that clever bit of wordplay in Hebrew school.)

His argument is as follows:
- The Tetragrammaton (secret, unpronounceable name of God) is spelled yod-hay-vav-hay in Hebrew.
- Backwards, that reads hay-vav-hay-yod.
- Hebrew word for he: הו, or hay-vav; Hebrew word for she: הי, or hay-yod.
- God's name backwards is "He-She"; therefore, God is dual-gendered.

(My name in Hebrew spelled backwards (הרף) means "to leave alone".)

Language: ur doin' it wrong.

This week's Parshah (Torah portion):

Moses' great-nephew is rewarded for his zealotry; he receives a "covenant of peace" because he killed a prince and princess from two non-Hebrew tribes who indeed posed a serious threat to Moses and his people.

In the Torah, the vav (ו) in the word "shalom" (שלום) is broken.

This story is followed by a story of five women who, facing an injustice, ask the question, "is there another way?"

Interesting study, open to everyone:

You are invited to participate in an interesting and entertaining survey about language. Essentially, we're asking about the spread of Yiddish (and some Hebrew) among English speakers in North America. We're turning to both Jews and non-Jews to answer questions like these: Who uses Yiddish words like "shmooze" and "daven" and phrases like "Money, shmoney"? Why do some people say "temple" while others say "shul"? Who prefers biblical names for their babies? Your responses will help us answer these and other questions, and you might learn something about yourself in the process. Please set aside 15-20 minutes, and click on this link to participate:

Survey of American Jewish Language

Please forward this request to your friends and family. We are hoping to get thousands of responses from people of all religions, ages, and regions of the United States and Canada. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Prof. Sarah Bunin Benor (sbenor-at-huc-dot-edu) or Prof. Steven M. Cohen (steve34nyc-at-aol-dot-com).