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heighten us, purify us

July 12, 2007

I just watched one of the most powerful visual images of occupation that I think I’ve ever seen. A Palestinian fruit grove in the village of Ertas, near Bethlehem, was destroyed a few months ago to make way for a new sewer system for Efrat (a Jewish settlement). The first half of the video shows some of the village’s inhabitants camping out on their land, discussing the IDF plans for the confiscation and razing of their land. There is an interaction between a Palestinian and a soldier that has an almost friendly tone to it. The second half of the video shows protesters being dragged off and apricot trees literally being uprooted while their owners look on from the side. It is so unbelievably heartbreaking. Part of the drama of the second half of the video is the melodramatic music playing in the background. For the unfamiliar, the song is from the Friday evening (sabbath) prayers. The translation of the lyrics:

Please, with the might of your right, untie the bundle:
Accept your people’s prayer song, heighten us, purify us, Mighty one:
Please hero, your uniqueness worshipers, guard them closely:
Bless them purify them, your rightfulness mercies, always reward:
Immune, proud, with your good will, manage your people:
Single, proud, address your people, who remember your holiness:
Accept our plea, and hear our cry, he who knows histories:
Blessed be his kingdom’s honor forever: (source)

Via Jewschool.

Posted in israel/palestine, judaism | 2 Comments »

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redefining the settler movement

June 6, 2007

In my mind, Jews moving to the West Bank because of religious fervor were the lowest of the low. During the time I spent in Israel, I learned to despise settlers. Where do they get off thinking that this is what God wants them to do? How can they justify this behavior with religious rhetoric?

But then, I find out that there are many American Jews who are moving to the West Bank to cities that are commuting distance from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for purely economic reasons. And then I throw up a little bit in my mouth. I am disgusted by American Jews who make sense of this unethical decision by citing how cheap it is and how they can have an even more lavish home than they had in the US.

Settlements near Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have become a suburban paradise for North American religious Jews. They offer large homes with yards, lawns and swimming pools, and prices are low compared with those of the cramped apartments not only of Israel’s main population centers but also of such smaller cities as Beit Shemesh and Modi’in.

For the record, there is a water shortage in Israel. Israelis, settlers specifically, consume far more water than their Palestinian neighbors and Palestinians are frequently denied access to water that falls in the West Bank. (google ‘palestinian water crisis’ and you will find an endless number of hits). This new generation of settlers define their personal happiness not by God’s commandment to settle the land but by how many valuable public resources they can waste and how short their commute is. In a way, it is even more disgusting to me than religious settlers - at least the latter think they have God on their side.

Beyond that, I cannot even get into the rest of the ironies of this trend - the fact that these communities are “safer” than the ones they left in the US; that they have more security than cities in Israel proper; that the Israeli government cannot offer US olim (immigrants) economically comparable options within Israel proper; that these new communities are popular because they are “gated” communities, giving the olim a feeling of being part of an exclusive community for much less money than gated communities in the US.

Thank you, olim from Teaneck, for making it so clear that this occupation goes beyond religious rhetoric. At its core, this 40-year old occupation is about economic opportunities and natural resources.

““The take-home message is that whatever living standard you could imagine or dream is possible here.”

Right. As long as you’re Jewish and come from an upper-middle class community in the US and therefore feel entitled to all the land, space, and resources you like.

Posted in israel/palestine, judaism, social justice | 4 Comments »

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Do middle-class people have to play poor to make poverty newsworthy?

May 2, 2007

To prove how absurdly low $3/day is for food, a rabbi and his family in Portland, Oregon took on the challenge of eating on this budget for Shabbat. (I believe that $3 a day is what eligible Oregonians receive in foodstamps.). Rabbi Daniel Isaak was inspired by Governor Kulongoski’s Hunger Awareness Week challenge (p.s. Kulongoski’s challenge, and his shopping list, made it into the NYTimes last week). I think it’s a great lesson that this rabbi was trying to teach his congregants, and perhaps this is a lesson for all middle-class folks to learn. It might have even reached legislators. Beyond that, it’s kind of insulting that poor people in this country deal with these issues every day, without taking it on as a choice or an experiment, and their stories are not news- or blog-worthy.

This reminds me of the Oprah I caught a few months ago about Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame) and his fiancee’s challenge to live making minimum wage for 30 days. Spurlock went all woe is me on Oprah and I was thinking, couldn’t we get some people who actually make this amount of money as guests on this show? Why are their stories not newsworthy? The story makes some important points, though I would venture that they are points that poor people who don’t have a choice in the matter have thought about many times.

The Jewish piece of this also makes me uneasy. The article swallows whole the assumption that all Jews are middle- and upper-class when we know that this is far from the truth.

Thank you, Governor Kulongoski. I think your challenge is a very Jewish exercise. Many reasons are given as to why we fast on Yom Kippur. Among them is to remind us as we stand before God on this most solemn day in the Jewish calendar of those who have nothing to eat. And then when our stomachs begin to growl just after noon on Yom Kippur we read the words of Isaiah that I quoted two weeks ago calling on us to “Share your bread with the hungry, Take the wretched poor into your home, When you see the naked, clothe him, And not ignore your own kin.” Similarly we sit in the Sukkah in order to remind us of the innumerable people who do not have proper shelter and are exposed to the elements. On Passover we begin the Seder with an invitation to those who are hungry to join us in our celebration.

I shudder at the distance created between “we Jews” and “those poor people out there.”

I am committed to the notion that blogs and web 2.0 can be used as a tool for social change. But as I’ve learned in my community organizing, social change cannot happen unless, in this story, folks getting $3/day in foodstamps or working poor making minimum wage unite and speak out in their own voices, telling their own stories. Telling the world that their stories are what matter. I just wonder what good it actually does to tell stories about middle-class people “slumming” to learn (and subsequently teach) a lesson. It creates an incredible distance between people. Whose stories are worth telling and whose voices are silenced? Aren’t we just continuing a cycle that we think we’re breaking?

Via JSpot and Jewschool

Posted in food, judaism, social justice | 2 Comments »

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The JTS Decision, part 1: On Pluralism and Foucault

April 8, 2007

Yesterday I called my parents’ house and interrupted Shabbat lunch. “Good shabbos!” my dad exclaims, “we were just talking about queer theory!”

Excuse me? I had apparently called during a discussion of Einat Ramon’s comments on chancellor-elect Arnold Eisen’s recent significant decision to allow out gays and lesbians into the JTS rabbinical school. You can read Dr. Eisen’s full statement here.

There are a few parts of this momentous decision and the discussions that have followed since it was made that have interested me in particular. The first is the debate about the significance of pluralism in the Conservative movement. Since the comparisons to JTS’ 1983 decision to ordain women as rabbis are so obvious, I appreciate that there are some bold leaders who are wondering aloud if pluralism is really a useful value for the Conservative movement. There’s this assumption that the more left-wing/ progressive/ whatever you are, the more you tout values of tolerance and pluralism above all others. How can you teach a girl that she is as worthy a member of a community as her boy peers if her participation in that community is “optional”? (thanks to Rabbi Ayelet Cohen’s wonderful drash, which I was lucky enough to hear during Pesach in my hometown synagogue, wherein she asked many of these important questions). And as Rabbi Jill Jacobs states plainly and strongly: “this type of pluralism cannot coexist with an ethic that values egalitarianism (both as related to women and GLBT Jews).”

Pluralism apparently also means that we have to respect homophobic bigots in our community, leaders in our community. Feh. Rabbi Einat Ramon, the dean of the Conservative movement’s rabbinical school in Israel, doesn’t even pretend that her disgust towards gay and lesbian life has anything at all to do with Halakha (Jewish Law). Unlike many of her colleagues, Rabbi Ramon doesn’t even bother dealing with the beloved Leviticus verses.

“Jewish theology regards the union between a man a woman who are sexually and emotionally different from one another as a complementary covenant of friendship and intimacy, which forms the basis for procreation and childrearing. This is why Jewish law has so fervently opposed sexual relations between members of the same sex”, she explained, “and why the heterosexual family has played such a vital role throughout the ages in the transmission of Jewish values and the survival of the Jewish people.” (source)

By Rabbi Ramon’s own logic, then, shouldn’t she be at home, raising her children and keeping a home for her husband? Hypocrisy aside for a second, Ramon seems to be using the word “theology” in place of “personal discomfort and homophobia.” Here’s where my family’s queer theory discussion comes in – Ramon has been doing her queer homework and reading up on her Foucault, as most deans of rabbinical schools should be doing.

Ramon stressed that her conclusion was based in part on the importance of the heterosexual family unit in traditional Judaism. She said that a discussion of “why people are feeling disenchanted and alienated by the heterosexual family today” should be undertaken in order to ensure the family unit’s survival. Ramon further contended that homosexuality is a choice, a position, she said, that is taken by “gay thinkers,” including Michel Foucault. (source)

Both of her quotes deserve some unpacking, I think. I find it hilariously ironic that Ramon is reading queer theory. Here’s some clarifying points that might shock and frighten Ramon and her camp:

-People feel disenchanted by the heterosexual family because marriage’s original purposes, which were mostly economic, are becoming obsolete. Love does not a marriage make, apparently.

-Like secular and Christian marriage, traditional Jewish marriage has historically had less to do with “friendship and intimacy” than it does with economic security. Read the text of a traditional ketubah (marriage contract) lately? This is not to say that Jewish marriages now are not based on love – the point I’m making is that she cannot talk as if Jewish theology has dictated marriages based on love and friendship throughout all of Jewish history. BS.

-Queer theory is not about gay sexuality per se, it is about the history of sexuality as a whole, about giving names and legitimacy to structures already in place.

-Queer theory, if you’re reading it in context and not to pull out key points to throw back at the evil gays, will tell you that the whole question of whether homosexuality is inborn or a choice is asked with a whole set of problematic assumptions behind it.

In the History of Sexuality, Foucault argues that “sodomy” (a behavior) only became “homosexuality” (an identity) when it was named as such by psychiatrists and doctors in the 19th century. We can pick at this theory forever, but for the moment I’ll just say that there are a million ways to track the history of gay identity – Foucault, for me, is one of the less useful ones. What is certain for me is that this identity developed historically and not genetically. The whole idea of choice is complicated by the powerful roles of historical and contextual forces. If we are reading queer theory (and we are, apparently), then we understand that the nature/nurture dichotomy is bunk.

Beyond Ramon’s vitriol, pluralism continues to rear its ugly head in the form of complete silence from Conservative leaders on Ramon’s conflation of Jewish history, theology, Halakha, and her own personal paranoid opinions on homosexuality. I have yet to hear a single strong voice of public condemnation of these statements. So this is how it’s done: we make a careful, painstaking decision based on many factors. We say that we stand by that decision, we respect The Gays, we want them as rabbis, they are wonderful leaders, etc. But the moment that this decision is tested – another leader speaks out in pretty clear opposition, homophobia, and bigotry, sounding more like a Christian fundamentalist than a Jewish leader – we remain silent, and all for the sake of pluralism (i.e. we are too scared to actually make a strong, critical point so we will stand behind a big sign that says “pluralism.”). Why hold on to pluralism, above other values, so tightly?

___________________________________________

In part 2, I’d like to delve a little deeper into names and categories and their significance in this decision – particularly on the nominal and ideological exclusion of transpeople and queers. I’d also like to talk about why Dr. Eisen’s long statement about opening JTS’ doors to gay and lesbian rabbinical students is mysteriously void of any language of sexuality.

tags: Judaism, LGBT/Queer, feminism

Posted in judaism, lgtb/queer | 2 Comments »

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Let’s talk specificity, shall we?

March 7, 2007

(this is a long one, so decide now if you want to read it. Topics: anti-religion progressive feminists aka women stuck in the 70’s, people who should STFU, the Haredi sex-segregated bus issues. The rant-y part is separated by that bold line about halfway down.)

Maybe it was the freezing cold weather last night, or the snow I woke up to this morning, or maybe it was the infuriating Jesus preacher woman who thought that 8:30 in the morning on a snowy, cold day would be just a perfect time to command all of her fellow commuting subway riders to accept Jesus as our personal savior.

Or, perhaps my morning got off to a bad start because of a bunch of “feminists” waxing self-righteous about Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews in comments section of a Feministe post. A decent post reporting on an awful situation in Israel brought on comments from all kinds of brilliant folks. The situation: pockets of Haredi Jewish men in Jerusalem are attacking women on buses (city, not private) who refuse to conform to the sex-segregation imposed by the men. You can also read a personal account of a woman who experienced this last November (a different woman than the one mentioned in the NPR story linked above).

Just to get this out of the way: this is totally fucked, brings up a whole host of questions about the tenuous relationship between religion and democracy there; the increasing power of the Haredim (pl. for Haredi); the ways that religion can be completely bastardized by its supposed most devout (i.e. to protest the woman’s lack of “modesty,” they kicked her to the ground and pulled off her head covering); and the general violence that seems to permeate every corner of Israeli society; among many other questions. The last time I checked, this news piece does not involve:

-How Haredi Jews in Brooklyn are weird freaks who don’t understand pets or birdfeeders and who are in desperate need of your pity for their backward lifestyle.
-How religion, as a whole, is perverse and how the women who fall victim to it are helpless and in need of our (read: white-, middle-class, and American) feminist rescue.
-Questions of are there any religions out there in the world that love the wimmins, really and truly? (nothing like a completely nonspecific question to spark some real discussion).
-And a complete and detailed response to that question: I would find it hard to imagine a sect of Dianic Wiccans with fundamentalist extremists like that. And Haredi Judaism in Israel has what, exactly, to do with Dianic Wiccans?
-How Haredi Jews are just incredibly annoying (although their payos [sidelocks] are real cool!).
-Umm…I have no response for this one: Sometimes it seems, ironically given the history of the Jewish religion, that today’s pagans and Jews have so much in common ;)
-Factually incorrect statements like my friend’s sister’s mother’s great uncle married a Haredi, so I am therefore the expert: “they also refused to teach the kids how to read and write in English — only Hebrew.” (here’s a clue: if you can’t tell the difference between Hebrew and Yiddish, perhaps you should wonder what right you have to drop your opinion in this thread).

I could go on but I might seriously lose it. I feel like there are some basic rules that people seemed to just throw out the window here. First of all, if you do not know what you’re talking about, DO NOT SPEAK. Seriously. Ask specific questions. Second of all, stay on topic. The big underlying problem with second-wave feminism is that it lacked specificity (or should I speak in the present, lacks specificity, since sometimes I think we’re still in the 1970’s).

But I thought we were beyond that. Right? Because when you think about it, logically, a Haredi woman living in a Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem doesn’t want your feminism, white American college-educated woman! Hello? Why is that so difficult?

“Stop taking your value system completely out of context” rant ends here. Below, for any interested parties, is my own take on this issue.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The way I see it, we have here a situation that calls for a tremendous amount of tact and complicated thinking: two things that are, apparently, foreign to many. The problems here, as I see them, are twofold: one within the Haredi community and one with their relationship with the larger mainstream Israeli society (and a piggyback off the second question: how “religious” should Israel be as a democratic country?).

Haredi women seem to be fighting some part of this battle within their communities and their homes. It is not up to us (including me – and when I say us, I’m talking about women who live in the US, non-Jewish women, non-Orthodox women, even Israeli women who are not Haredi) to decide exactly how that battle should play out, what is at stake for these women in fighting against sex-segregation on buses. Our concern is not whether these women are oppressed in their marriages and their birthing of 12 babies or how in the world they wear those heavy black tights in 90+ degree sweltering desert heat in the summertime in Jerusalem or why they don’t just get on the train/bus to the secular part of town and see the (secular) light! If you’re all about autonomy, how about letting them speak for themselves, hmm? You may wonder about it, but it is completely irrelevant to this discussion. It starts to concern Israeli society at large if it comes to making high-court decisions regarding the permissibility of sex-segregated public buses – and indeed, it does. From the NPR story:

The bus company released a statement saying they let the ultra Orthodox enforce their own rules. The company says its own surveys show that the general public wants “to respect the Haredi-religious sector that uses public transportation and to let them behave in a way that is convenient to them.”

(one aside: Egged’s supposed “live and let live” attitude here is a total farce: Egged buses don’t run on Shabbat, for one – what about “live and let live” for all the secular Israelis who can’t travel on Shabbat?)

What I find really interesting is that Egged (the bus company) has some weird notion that the buses in question move between Haredi neighborhoods, never entering anyplace else, which is not true. The Haredim can’t live their lives isolated from the rest of Jerusalem 100% of the time, and we see the disastrous consequences of this fact when they react to gay pride parade in riots (and the riot police, who are quick to pull out rubber bullets in Bil’in, are strangely nowhere to be seen, but I digress). Egged, like many other bodies in the state of Israel, are completely scared of Haredim, and for good reason: they vote in blocs and they have tremendous political pull.

Religion is tricky – it pushes the public/private boundaries like nothing else that I know of, and in Israel this debate has a tremendous amount more weight. All Israeli Jews have complicated relationships with Judaism (not to mention Palestinians and Palestinian-Israelis, who have a differently complicated relationship with Judaism!); with negotiating their secular identities and the religious country that governs so many parts of their personal lives. I just beg that we keep the discussion in the context where it belongs: in Israel, on the topic not just of religion but of Judaism, and not on Judaism generally but its relationship with the (mostly secular) Israeli mainstream and the laws that govern the state of Israel. Just a little specificity is all I ask.

Posted in feminism, israel/palestine, judaism | 1 Comment »

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queer Purim

February 26, 2007

Purim is coming up, and I know that Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) always holds a fantastically queer and social justice-oriented Purim celebration. I also know that folks have been finding saltyfemme by googling ‘queer Purim’ but haven’t been finding anything satisfying (disappointed googlers find a post about growing up in a Havurah and why I hate gay marriage). Give them what they want, I told myself. First I must tell you that Purim is very very gay. Queer Esther and her ‘coming out’ as a Jew? The holiday where everything is turned upside-down, everything you take for granted is suddenly shaken loose from its foundation? Drag. Debauchery. Hello? Queer holiday if I ever knew one. You just have to be around the right crowd.

Which brings me to my announcement. If you live in New York City, I strongly urge you to get out your costume and join JFREJ for what I believe is their biggest social event of the year. It promises to be queer, so I’m told. I didn’t go last year because I was a hermit. I will hopefully redeem myself this year. I’m especially excited because the organizers themed the celebration in conjunction with JFREJ’s domestic workers justice campaign.

Saturday, March 3rd, 8pm-2am

Roti and Homentaschn: The Palace Workers Revolt!

A Purim Carnival Spectacular
Come see the hidden story of Shusan’s domestic workers revealed!
Location: Workmen’s Circle, 45 E 33rd (between Park and Madison)
RSVP: to Nicole at info@jfrej.org or 212-647-8966 x10

Details: $12 at the door, No one turned away for lack of funds or costume
A raucous Purim carnival featuring outrageous performances, traditional Jewish and Caribbean food and drinks, and dancing to the sounds of klezmer, calypso, and marching bands! Revellers are encouraged to come in costume and see the Purim story as they’ve never seen it before! This event is co-sponsored by JFREJ and Workmen’s Circle in partnership with Domestic Workers United and Great Small Works.

Other resources on Purim as the homo holiday:
-Gay Jews Connect Their Experience to the Story of Purim (From the Washington Post, two days ago)
-Wrestling with Esther: Purim Spiels, Gender, and Political Dissidence (from Zeek, March 06)
-High Healing: A Purim Message (From Jewish Mosaic, March 06) - This is a really fantastic piece - quick excerpt:

Some Kabbalists…taught that in the future days, the only two holidays to remain on the Jewish calendar will be Yom Kippur and Purim – two days that are complete opposites but are both days of sacred transformation. Our ancestors understood that the only way to live with laws is to break them from time to time – or nothing will ever change.

Posted in events, jfrej, judaism, lgtb/queer, social justice | 11 Comments »

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debunking "JAP" is like pulling teeth

February 20, 2007

Interesting stuff happening over at Jewschool – my virtual ears perk up whenever I see a discussion relating to feminism and Jewish women (among other things, of course) in a mainstream-ish Jewish space. The majority of Jewschool’s contributors are men (I get the sense that this is also true for the overwhelming number of commenters). So when I see a post about the reappearance of the word JAP (‘Jewish American Princess’) and why it is incredibly problematic, I start listening.

It started with the linking of some random youtuber’s videos wherein she models various stereotypes – the purpose is beyond me, it’s hard to tell what her point is, whether she’s pointing out how easy these different personalities/stereotypes are to imitate, thus poking holes in their authenticity or just having fun or what. I watched it, I was kind of over it after 10 seconds (wow, you’ve got the JAP stereotype down pat. What are you going to do with that incredible talent?). The weird thing about blogs is that it’s possible she was just having some random fun and decided to post her vids on youtube, but once some blogger picks it up and posts it, suddenly people start theorizing and pontificating about it. But I digress – the discussion was kicked off, and so it (mostly) stops being about random youtuber and starts being about something else.

That was yesterday. Today’s entry was way more interesting. Kol Ra’ash Gadol writes in Can We Please Not Revive That Ugly Stereotype? on the resurfacing of the little nickname that could:

Let’s get at what’s really underlying the stereotype here: there’s an element of self-hatred (I - particularly if I’m a man- can differentiate myself from those Jews, I’m not like them) and there’s an element of misogyny (we know what women are about, don’t we, nudge nudge, wink, wink). But make no mistake, it is not an accident that this stereotype is rearing its ugly head again against not just any women, but Jewish women.

She links to Evelyn Torton Beck’s fantastic 1992 article From ‘Kike to Jap’: How misogyny, anti-semitism, and racism construct the Jewish American Princess. The article, in pretty amazing clarity, asserts why the use of the word JAP (and the normalization of its use) is the result of some combination of self-hatred, anti-Semitism, misogyny, racism, and classism, all in one tight little package called JAP. An excerpt:

The woman, the Jewish woman as JAP has replaced the male Jew as the scapegoat, and the Jewish male has not only participated, but has, in fact, been instrumental in creating and perpetuating that image. I want to show how some of the images of Jewish women created in American culture by Jewish men provided the roots of the “Jewish American Princess.”
…
Jews have been said to be materialistic, money-grabbing, greedy, and ostentatious. Women have been said to be vain, trivial and shallow; they’re only interested in clothing, in show. When you put these together you get the Jewish-woman type who’s only interested in designer clothes and sees her children only as extensions of herself. The Jew has been seen as manipulative, crafty, untrustworthy, unreliable, calculating, controlling, and malevolent. The Jewish Princess is seen as manipulative, particularly of the men in her life, her husband, her boyfriend, her father. And what does she want? Their money! In addition, she’s lazy — she doesn’t work inside or outside the home. She is the female version of the Jew who, according to anti-Semitic lore, is a parasite on society; contradictorily, the Jew has been viewed both as dangerous communist” as well as non-productive “capitalist.”

I highly recommend the entire article for anyone genuinely curious to know why the overly-sensitive feminists get whiplash every time they hear that word. KRG instructs her wise Jewschool readers to check out the article, as it is chock full of useful and enlightening information. Ever the patient and engaged readers, the brilliant comments and questions start pouring in (and all of them, clearly, reflect having read the aforementioned article and having understood the focus of KRG’s argument. Picking up on my sarcasm yet?). These are only as of today, I’m sure that more great ones will roll in tonight/tomorrow:

-Is the JAP unique in the spectrum of Jewish stereotypes?

-i dare you to spend one thursday night standing on ben yehuda street and tell me that this is a stereotype that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

-How do you feel about Sascha Baron Cohen pretending that Jews turn into cockroaches at night? Does that also assert negative Jewish stereotypes, or is it ridiculous enough that he gets a free pass? And finally, if you’re answer is that Cohen is a Jew, and thus has some permission to mock himself (since a Gentile doing the same over-the-top humor wouldn’t get a free pass) isn’t Maya a Jewish woman? Doesn’t she have the right to play with the stereotypes generally applied to her?

-Has the “JAP” stereotype ever included physical ugliness? Maybe at one point, but I think now the stereotype, as included in Escobar’s treatment, is of highly attractive women.

Miss the point much, folks? The discussion then continues to something a bit more substantive, but it stray further and further from the original argument of the post, which included very scary elements like feminism and self-criticism. The point of KRG’s post as well as Beck’s article is that JAP is different, unbelievably more complicated and worthy of some serious unpacking, not to be brushed aside. Certainly if we can’t talk about the misogyny/ racism/ classism, can we at least talk about the internalized anti-Semitism it takes for Jews to call each other such a term? Am I expecting too much if I think a self-proclaimed “progressive Jewish blog” should be able to have a simple feminist discussion? Granted, Jewschool readers do not necessarily equal Jewschool readers who comment on posts. But still. Come, on folks.

How about these questions. How does the JAP stereotype propagate the myth that all Jews are wealthy? What is the damage of such a myth? How does it unquestioningly accept the notion that Jewish women are controlling and manipulative? What lesson are we teaching Jewish girls when their only visible/public image of Jewish women paints them as vain and materialistic? How do we internalize and propagate the stereotype that all (or even most) Jews are rich when half a million Jews in New York City live below the poverty line? And perhaps the underlying question of this post - why are we so afraid to talk about these issues?

Posted in feminism, judaism | 2 Comments »

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a little plug for the work on the ground

February 5, 2007

I’ve been an active member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) for the past year. It’s been an incredibly fulfilling experience, and not only because it provided me with a Jewish community when I first moved to New York but also because it gives me an opportunity to play a part in making concrete social change in this city. I’m especially proud to share some information about an event coming up this week – the community organizing we have been doing with the Shalom Bayit: Justice for Domestic Workers campaign, in conjunction with Domestic Workers United (DWU), is moving to new levels.

JFREJ has been advocating for change in employment practices of employers of domestic workers (nannies, housekeepers, and elder-care givers) on personal, communal, and legislative levels. Through community organizing in several synagogues and secular communities around New York City, JFREJ has begun a conversation in NYC Jewish communities about the status of domestic workers in our communities.

Next Friday, February 9th, two of those synagogue communities, Park Slope Jewish Center (PSJC) and Kolot Chayeinu, will host an event following Kabbalat Shabbat to launch these communities’ collaboration on the Shalom Bayit campaign. Join PSJC, Kolot, and JFREJ for a Shabbat evening of education and advocacy. Learn about the history of the campaign, the work of DWU, some context around the domestic work industry, and a chance to hear from both an employer and employee.

From the press release:

The more than 200,000 nannies, eldercare givers, housecleaners, and other domestic workers in New York City are currently excluded

from most state and federal labor laws. A recent survey of domestic workers by the Datacenter and DWU found that: (full report here)

  • 41 percent of workers reported low wages; 26 percent earned wages below the poverty line or below minimum wage.
  • Half of the workers worked overtime, often more than 50 to 60 hours a week
  • 67 percent did not receive overtime pay for overtime hours worked.
  • 33 percent of workers experienced verbal or physical abuse or said they had been made to feel uncomfortable by their employers.

“Justice for Domestic Workers is not an option for us but an obligation. As Jews and as human beings, we are obligated to insure that all those who work in our community and especially in our homes are treated with dignity and respect,” says Rabbi Carie Carter of the Park Slope Jewish Center. “Omissions in labor law allow domestic employers to ignore basic rights of workers, and we must change this. Workers rights cannot only be a distant demand we place on large companies. To make real change in our world, there is no place better to begin than in our own homes and in our own lives.”

The program will be hosted at PSJC (8th Avenue at 14th street in Park Slope). Kabbalat Shabbat will begin at 6:15 and the program will begin at 8:30. All are welcome! Email danielle at jfrej.org (or me! saltyfemme at gmail) for more information.

Posted in feminism, jfrej, judaism | No Comments »

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craftyblogging

January 31, 2007

I used to post more about my crafts. But then I sort of stopped crocheting, and so there was nothing more to blog about. But then a friend-of-a-friend in San Francisco heard about my upcoming visit and was in need of a new yarmulke/kippah and suggested that we do an exchange of crafts. Little did he know that I blogged back in September about a fantasy I had of some sort of exchange of homemade Jewish ritual objects among the queers. Mostly I wanted to knit my crafts for others and felt sort of weird and silly about selling them to strangers. Well, hurray. In exchange for a beautiful driftwood mezuzah for my new apartment, I knitted a yarmulke on the plane ride over.
OK, so here’s my call again folks. If you want a kippah, choose your colors, size, and name your trade. It’s as good as yours. Saltyfemme at gmail.

Posted in judaism, knitty | No Comments »

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Jewish philanthropists to Jewish 20-somethings: have more sex!

January 17, 2007

So everyone’s talking about this new marriage study with the absolutely *revolutionary* results: women need marriage less and less than the used to. I know, shocking. If you’ve never read John D’Emilio’s article, “Capitalism and Gay Identity,” you must. Now. If you don’t have access to it, please email me at saltyfemme@gmail.com, I will happily reply promptly with the article attached. I am dead serious. Do it.

Professor Stephanie Coontz, who wrote that fantastic NYTimes op-ed back in November about why marriage is no longer necessary and everyone should stop obsessing (OK, I’m paraphrasing a bit), is quoted again in the NYTimes article about the study:

This is yet another of the inexorable signs that there is no going back to a world where we can assume that marriage is the main institution that organizes people’s lives.

The article quotes a number of women, describing the myriad reasons why marriage is simply not at the top of their list of priorities. One woman (following the end of a 30-year marriage) remarked:

The benefits were completely unforeseen for me, the free time, the amount of time I get to spend with friends, the time I have alone, which I value tremendously, the flexibility in terms of work, travel and cultural events.

What I like here is that women aren’t supposed to be pouty and sad that they aren’t married – they can actually live it up and enjoy many other things in their lives. They can build community, enjoy their friends, travel, be flexible, do what they want.

I kind of ignored the article because frankly, nothing in it really surprised me, until I caught a glimpse of Michael Steinhardt’s little article in Contact Magazine (The Journal of the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation). Before I get into the article, the mission of the JLN/Steinhardt foundation is, according to its website:

to revitalize Jewish identity through educational, religious and cultural initiatives that reach out to all Jews, with an emphasis on those who are on the margins of Jewish life.

All well and good. But I’d like to paraphrase it as, “to ensure that more Jews are marrying other Jews and creating more Jewish babies.” Sounds a little different, yes? Check out On Creating Jewish Honeymoon Retreats (scroll down to page 3). If you can ignore the nauseating heart-shaped picture of the happy heterosexual couple surrounded by Jewish stars, you can read all about Steinhardt’s ‘dream’ to create what he is calling ‘Jewish Honeymoon retreats.’ Writes Steinhardt:


If we are seeking an equivalent experience that builds on birthright’s successes, one option is a four-day retreat for young couples. Why couples? It is no secret that I am deeply concerned about Jewish demography. Thus, I relish the union of two individuals who produce progeny on the level of the Orthodox.

Let’s not kid ourselves: the purpose of birthright israel is to encourage unaffiliated young Jews to meet, marry, and shtup (those last two are sometimes reversible) other Jews. The next logical step is to figure out what to do with all these (now married) birthright alums. Yes.

Assumptions made (and I like lists):

-You know what, actually? Don’t forget the photo: only hets are worth targeting, because clearly they are the only ones capable of making babies.

-Talk about criteria for enriching your Jewish life! Granted, the married hets targeted for this potential program would presumably have benefited from Steinhardt’s other programs for “pre-marriage” hets and would have already enriched their Jewish lives as much as it’s even possible to enrich your Jewish life if you’re not married.

-It’s all about the babies. For those with the money, for those benefiting from programs created by those with the money, for pretty much everyone involved, quality is pushed only when quantity can be the outcome.

-Non-Orthodox Jews should clearly want to emulate the Orthodox, at least in their baby-making ways. At least he’s pretty conspicuous about what he wants.

But wait, there’s more!


But more important, newlyweds are entering a period in which they are more reflective about life and are more open to spiritual and communal connections to a larger people. It is a period in which values are sought and refined. It is an excellent opportunity to present a new gift, that of a meaningful retreat.

He makes marriage sound like an experience that changes you fundamentally, that makes you have perspective on your life that you didn’t have the day before, etc. IT’S A PIECE OF PAPER, a contract, a document. A really problematic one at that. Why do we have to aim our enrichment of ‘spiritual and communal connections’ at married couples?


A Jewish retreat experience for a young couple would transmit a vital communication of Common Jewish values. It would also serve as a short training course — without the distractions of everyday life — on how to incorporate and practice Judaism in the context of a household.

One more time – why wait until marriage to transmit Jewish values and lessons on incorporating Judaism in the context of a household? Don’t I need that too, Mr. Steinhardt? Isn’t my household Jewish, even though I don’t have a husband and *gasp* don’t ever plan to have one?

What do I do with these two articles juxtaposed? Why did I even bother to put them together? I guess I just wanted to point out that if the Jewish philanthropists are interested in enhancing Jewish life, they should do just that, plain and simple. Steinhardt does it with a lot of their programs, for which I respect them. But it seems that there’s a huge discrepancy between the older generation’s dependency on the marriage fairy tale and what is important for young Jews and how they live Jewishness in their own lives. For me and for my friends, finding and creating community and spaces in which to learn, grow, and exchange information are key pieces to Jewish identity. Using marriage and babies as a cornerstone for Jewish identity is a farce, considering the statistics cited in the NYTimes article. And frankly, ‘dreams’ like this, even when they don’t come true, offend me as a queer person and as someone who would like to think of herself as more than a machine for Jewish babies.

Posted in feminism, judaism, lgtb/queer | No Comments »

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