The Power of Tamar

Dec 16, 2022 By Aaron Leven | Commentary | Vayeshev

Parashat Vayeshev begins our four-week journey through the story of Yosef. Yosef’s narrative, perhaps the most developed and detailed character arc outside of Moshe’s, is one of growth, reconciliation, and redemption. And yet, in the very middle of our parashah, we confront the deeply problematic story of Yehudah and Tamar. For many readers, this is a challenging story. Why is it placed in the middle of the parashah? How are we supposed to feel about the characters? Does the story have anything to teach us?

Can We Be Empowered by Patriarchal Texts?

Dec 9, 2022 By Alison L. Joseph | Commentary | Vayishlah

I have long been bothered by the story of Dinah in Genesis 34. This narrative, often referred to as the “Rape of Dinah,” is difficult to read, not only because sexual violence against a young woman is employed as a plot device, but also because I’m not sure why the story is included in the Torah in the first place. My concern with the story is more acute when I read it within our liturgical calendar as just another episode in the Jacob cycle (Gen. 25–35).

In a Human Voice: In Conversation with Psychologist Carol Gilligan

Nov 3, 2022 By The Center for Pastoral Education | Public Event video

Psychologist Carol Gilligan revolutionized her field’s understanding of gender with her 1982 book, In A Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Her work in the field focused on the human voice and inspired and informed a feminist-oriented movement in philosophical ethics known as the ethics of care.

Rabbi Naomi Kalish is be in conversation with Professor Gilligan. The two talk about her background, reflect on the influence of her Jewish upbringing, and discuss her groundbreaking work and its implications for today, forty years later.

What Does the Torah Really Say about Cross-Dressing?

Sep 9, 2022 By Joy Ladin | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

Every year, Ki Tetzei returns us to the only verse of the Torah that seems to speak about transgender and nonbinary people, particularly about those like me who used to be known as “transsexuals,” people born physically male or female who identify so strongly with the opposite gender that we can only live authentically as that gender: A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to your God. (Num. 22:5)

The Gender of God in Ancient Israel

May 2, 2022 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How did the biblical authors, and other Israelites, view the gender of God? Did they perceive God to be male? Did any of them perceive God as female? To answer this question, we examine both several biblical texts as well as archaeological evidence.

The Art of the Jewish Family: A History Of Women In Early New York In Five Objects

Jun 22, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

An online discussion with Dr. Laura Arnold Leibman about her recent book.

Expanding the Circle of Revelation

Feb 12, 2020 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Yitro

Are women Jews? This shocking question, first phrased by the feminist scholar Rachel Adler, is linked by Judith Plaskow to our portion in her 1990 book, Standing Again at Sinai. When Moses descends from the mountain to prepare the people for revelation, he tells them, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman” (Exod. 19:15). Sexual contact makes one temporarily impure, and God wanted the people to receive the revelation in a state of purity. As Plaskow notes, Moses could have said, “men and women do not go near each other,” but instead he addresses only the men. She writes, “In this passage, the Otherness of women finds its way into the very center of Jewish experience.”

Blood, Water, and Desire

Aug 30, 2019 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Re'eh

These days most observant Jewish women in North America do not soak and salt their own meat. What was once a common and familiar marker of Jewish kitchens, and a deeply gendered rite of passage for young Jewish women, has been professionalized and sequestered away from the eyes of most of those who cook and eat kosher meat. In the United States, the act itself is often performed by mostly non-Jewish workers under the supervision of Orthodox rabbis—a largely male caste. The sounds, sights, and smells of this “kashering” process as performed today would seem strange, unfamiliar, and perhaps even repulsive to most Jewish North American women.