Yentl was and is a milestone film because it gave voice, loudly and unrelentingly, to the frustrations and longings keenly felt by a generation of smart, mouthy Jewish women. Born of the old world, Yentl spoke to new world Jewish feminists.
As Earth Day rolls in this week, I’ll enjoy the extra attention devoted to the Earth and our environment. Likewise, each April we mark Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, timed to commemorate the active organizing and resistance of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
“I’m a little concerned that the bags under my eyes might be permanent, but more than likely, they’ll go away soon.”
A medium focuses on seeing the spirits of the dead. I’m more of a “nuts and bolts” psychic. I see a client’s relationships, finances, work life, health concerns, etc. But of course, the spirits are always around. As a psychic, I see in symbols. I get mental images such as the scales of justice signifying either that the client is a lawyer or in the midst of a lawsuit. It’s like walking around with a unique tarot deck in my head.
A synagogue in Stuttgart wants proof of our Judaism before inviting us to a seder.
I think a lot about questions around this time of year. Miriam, Yocheved, Shifra, and Pua', the heroic women of the Exodus story, are not the only reason that Passover can be called a feminist holiday.
I guess I can’t really take any personal credit for this, but I’m gratified that a chorus of protest, including mine, has prompted the Boy Scouts of America to re-evaluate its policy banning participation by gays and lesbians.
On Friday I attended a daylong symposium about adoption. The keynote speaker was Dr. Debora Spar, President of Barnard College. The topic of her address was “Adoption and its Critics.”
So begins Odette’s Secret, a lyrical and haunting tale that was drawn from an actual story and reimagined by children’s book writer Maryann MacDonald.
We loved hearing from so many Jewish women trailblazers (many Lilith authors among them) in MAKERS on PBS last night—including Alix Kates Shulman, who talked about her classic 1970 “Marriage Agreement.” It still jolts people after all these years!
