Author: Helene Meyers

Helene Meyers is Professor of English and McManis University Chair at Southwestern University. She is the author, most recently, of Identity Papers: Contemporary Narratives of American Jewishness and is working on a book about Jewish American cinema.
Flying While Female on El Al

 I suddenly felt as if the most sacred parts of my being—Jewish, feminist, intellectual—were being tested. 

Serious Missteps in Dirty Dancing Remake

The overt Jewiness that we have come to know, love, and critique in such shows as “Transparent” and “Broad City” is nowhere to be found here. 

Shiva Ribbons, Not Safety Pins

This practice of kriah, of rending garments or wearing a cut black ribbon, would signify our hearts broken from loss and would allow us to identify ourselves as fellow and sister mourners to one another. 

Holy and Unholy Tweets

The close proximity of Jewish and Muslim holy days is a welcome counter to the close proximity of bigotry that has plagued Jews and Muslims during this past week.