Is Sex Expert Dr. Ruth Westheimer Jewish?
Yes, sex expert Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a Jew, a holocaust survivor and a former Israeli Haganah scout and sniper. Wikipedia reports: Westheimer was born Karola Ruth Siegel in Wiesenfeld (near Karlstadt am Main), Germany, the only child of Orthodox Jews Irma (née Hanauer) and Julius Siegel. In January 1939, she was sent to Switzerland […]
Am I Really Being Honored
I got an email from the shul last night, informing me that I was to be honored with gelilah for the second Torah on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Being the cynical conspiracy theorist that I am, I immediately called Harav Eliyahu Fink to ask whether this required me to sit through long periods […]
City Faces Balancing Act as Hasidic Community Grows
Needing to abide by their traditions of modesty, Hasidic women want the city to post a female lifeguard during a women-only swim session at a municipal pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and have lobbied a local councilman to take up their cause. On another front, Hasidic matzo bakeries, citing ancient Jewish law, have insisted on using […]
Top Rabbi Backs Elon Despite Conviction
Less a week after he was found guilty of indecent assault by force on a minor, Rabbi Mordechai Elon is receiving significant support from one of the most prominent religious Zionist rabbis. Ynet has learned that Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the leaders of the national-religious public, invited the convicted rabbi to deliver his weekly […]
Religious Jew is Devout Gay Drag Queen
Just shy of midnight, Shahar Hadar trades his knitted white yarmulke for a wavy blond wig and a pink velvet dress. Cheers greet him in a packed gay bar as he starts to swivel to a Hebrew pop song, his shiny red lips mouthing lyrics that mean more to him than the audience knows: “With […]
Pope Says He Won’t Judge Gay Priests
Pope Francis reached out to gays on Monday, saying he wouldn’t judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returned from his first foreign trip. “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Francis asked. His […]
Conan O’Brien Teaches Halacha (Jewish Law)
As the founder and director of a kosher certification agency, people often send me anything and everything having anything to do with kosher certification. So last week when the Rabbinical Council of California first certified a sexual lubricant product as kosher and then rescinded the certification, you can imagine I received several articles about the […]
Camp Care Packages or Parcels of Dysfunction?
The Yenta children are off at Jewish camp for a few weeks, where they are presumably learning a rock ‘n’ roll version of the birkat hamazon and the finer points of a gaga slam. Of course, I am handling this terribly, roaming around their empty rooms looking for things to clean and carrying the dog […]
Stop Teaching Students That Sexual Assault Is a Potential Consequence of Drinking
Probably the only thing better than reading a thought provoking piece in a major publication is realizing it was penned by a colleague. Leah Berkenwald, the former editor of our blog, wrote a fantastic article about sexual assault and responsibility. Her message veers away from the traditional, and unfortunate, message of placing blame on women […]
Are Personal Lubricants Kosher?
The Guardian reported (“Kosher lube puts oral sex on the menu for Orthodox Jews”) that yes, now some personal lubricants are kosher. The US-made Wet range of lubes now has eight lines that have been given a religious stamp of approval, including its “Ecstasy” product. This means that rabbis from the Rabbinical Council of California have inspected Wet’s 52,000 sq […]
White House Taps New Jewish Liaison
The White House is set to name Matt Nosanchuk, a lawyer who has been prominent in advancing the Obama administration’s gay rights policies, as its new full-time Jewish liaison. JTA learned Wednesday that Nosanchuk will replace Zach Kelly, who has held the job part time since the last full-time liaison to the Jewish community, Jarrod […]
I Stand with Texas Women
It’s hot in Texas. As someone who has lived above the Mason-Dixon line almost her entire life, it’s easy to forget how hot it is in Texas. Especially in July. When my plane landed Saturday night, the pilot’s voice boomed on the intercom, “howdy, y’all, welcome to Texas. Local time is 7:02pm. It’s 106 degrees […]
Jewish War Vets: U.S. ‘Seriously’ Understates Sex Abuse in Military
Jewish war veterans are calling for meaningful action to be taken to combat sexual abuse in the U.S. military. “The Jewish War Veterans of the USA (JWV) condemns the continued prevalence of reported and unreported male and female sexual misconduct in the military and calls for an independent process to review and prosecute these cases,” […]
But Why Do They Have to be Rabbis?
In the wake of the Yeshivat Maharat graduation on June 16, many of my right-wing friends have approached me, The Feminist, about Orthodox women entering the rabbinate. “But why do they have to be rabbis?” is one of their frequently asked questions. “Why can’t they just be rebbetzins, or do something else with their lives? I just don’t understand […]
U.S. Jews Laud Supreme Court Ruling in Favor of Gay Marriage Movement
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday handed a significant victory to gay rights advocates by recognizing that married gay men and women are eligible for federal benefits, paving the way for same-sex marriage in California. The court, however, fell short of a landmark ruling endorsing a fundamental right for gay people to marry. The American […]
Queer Identity: More Questions than Answers
I didn’t realize it would be so hard to be queer after I got married. Seems like it should have been obvious to me, right? Marry a heterosexual cis-man, turn in queer club card, do not pass go, still collect hundreds of dollars of apparently-straight privilege. Is that how it has to be? I had […]
Hot Dads, Privilege, and Fairness
Let’s be honest: fair or not, I’m a pretty privileged parent. True, being a single gay Jewish dad in a relatively gay-less and Jewishly deprived region occasionally makes me feel like an exotic animal at a religious petting zoo or some interactive exhibit at a sexual orientation museum. But moments like these pass quickly and […]
AllJewishLinks.com Newsletter Issue # 80 – June 12, 2013
Shoppers have been outraged over the discovery of an Amazon seller’s newest line of baby apparel: Jewish baby bibs. The bibs may be in possible violation of the online giant’s policy prohibiting products that glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance. Following the criticism, Amazon pulled several variations of the products. Two years since […]
Whatever Happened to the Shidduch Crisis?
They say that the shidduch crisis is only as bad as your personal life, they say that once you get married you begin to realize that the shidduch crisis you faced was only your own crisis. If that’s the case, where have all the forums, articles, bloggers, blogposts, interviews, and videos gone? It seemed like […]
Finally, a Chillul Hashem Caused by Modern Orthodox People
In a rare moment of achdus, Ultra-Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews rejoiced at the news that a Modern Orthodox group had finally made a chillul hashem. Apparently, the Yeshiva of Flatbush class trip took a detour when the students and chaperone were kicked of the plane to Atlanta for not cooperating or listening to the general […]
Jinkx Monsoon, the Narcoleptic Jewish Drag Queen
Jerick Hoffer, also known as Jinkx Monsoon, is the most recent winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Logo TV’s reality competition in which contestants compete to become America’s “Next Drag Superstar.” Originally from Portland, Ore., Hoffer, 25, has been performing in drag for 10 years. He configured Jinkx Monsoon as “the hardest working single mother in […]
Amazon Removes ‘Jewish Baby Bibs’
Shoppers have been outraged recently over the discovery of an Amazon seller’s newest line of baby apparel: Jewish baby bibs. The bibs may be in possible violation of the online giant’s policy prohibiting products that “glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance.” Following the criticism, Amazon pulled several variations of the product, the U-T […]
Sex Ed Book in Hebrew for Israel’s Haredim
A how-to book translated into Hebrew aims to teach Israel’s Orthodox Jews about sex, targeting an audience typically mum on the steamy subject. The book, “The Newlywed’s Guide to Physical Intimacy,” was published in English more than a year ago in the United States. The Hebrew version is set to come out this month, meant […]
Michelle Bachmann Warns us that Minneapolis – St. Paul are the New Sodom – Gomorrah
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann threatened to leave Minnesota today if the state goes ahead with its plans to legalize gay marriage. In an interview with a local television station, the conservative firebrand said she believes God will destroy Minneapolis once the legislation is enacted, and wants to be far away when the reckoning happens. “The Bible […]
Jewish Boy Scouts of America Support Gay Rights
Jewish Scouting leaders are taking a vocal role in efforts to pass a historic resolution that would partially lift a ban on gays in the Boy Scouts of America. In a meeting of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting in February, members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution lifting the BSA’s longstanding ban on […]
Thousands Join London’s Parade of Jewish Unity
Over 2000 people joined the 54th annual Lag B’omer parade in Stamford Hill, organized by Lubavitch UK. Groups from Scotland, Manchester, Nottingham, Cambridge, Watford, Essex, Wimbledon, Southgate, North-West London, joined the many local families and children from Stamford Hill. Shloimy Gertner’s beautiful singing accompanied by three musicians, Marching-bands by the boys’ school, Rabbi Dubov’s encouraging […]
Reclaim the J.A.P.
Like, oh my g-d! Like, like really…If it looks like a J.A.P. and sounds like a J.A.P., is it a J.A.P. (Jewish American Princess)? Maybe you knew this girl in middle school, or maybe you were this girl in high school: a naïve, airhead Jewess living in a bubble, with no regard for the world […]
Imagine an Off The Derech Utopia
Imagine a Neo Hasidic community, where you can believe in evolution, the Big Bang and the FSM, you can play basketball, football and hockey, wear a t-shirt, jeans and Rashi-gatches, unlimited masturbation, loads of kishka, kugel and cholent, you can eat lobster on Yom Kipur and pizza on Pesach, you can have premarital relationships and […]
Is Ryan Lochte, Olmypic Swimmer and Sex Symbol, Jewish?
No, we do not think that swimmer Ryan Lochte is a Jew. His national team bio does not specify his religion. We would guess from his last name that his family goes back to Dutch Protestant roots. The Times’ Style section had an extensive article about Lochte. Ryan Lochte, Olmypic Swimmer and Sex Symbol The U.S. […]
Sexual Violence and Judaism: As a Community, We Need To Do More
In 2010, the Center for Disease Control & Prevention found that one in five women and one in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime. These numbers are startling. I know what you’re thinking— why are you bringing this up on a Jewish blog? This sort of thing doesn’t happen in our community. It […]