Category: Lilith Online

Spinoza and Cherry Ames

Rabbi Mindy Avra Portnoy

I could not believe my eyes. Cherry Ames, the quintessential Midwestern Gentile, was learning Hebrew from a New York deli owner.

Peach Fuzz Lishma (for its own sake):(“Peaching, Not Preaching”)

Rabbi Mindy Avra Portnoy

It’s a new way of living – but fortunately, as a Jew, I know a term for it – “lishma”. We are urged to study the Torah, for example, “lishma”, for its own sake, but not because we will derive some advantage – economic, professional, psychological – from doing so, but simply “for its own sake”.

Modesty and Desire

Tara Bognar

Linzer rebukes the ultra-Orthodox for hyper-sexualizing women and calling it “modesty” to police their dress and public presence. He cites Talmudic sources to correct the ultra-Orthodox understanding of Jewish law in this area.

Muslim and Jewish Marriage Contracts in American Courts

Tara Bognar

A recently published article, “How To Judge Shari'a Contracts: A Guide To Islamic Marriage Agreements In American Courts,” got me thinking about some of the parallels and common experiences between Jews and Muslims in interacting with secular American courts.

A Call for Civility for ALL Israeli Citizens

by Shari Eshet

This is not a new phenomenon. What is new is that now, finally, the secular population is realizing that such incidents are not only about what “they” do in their own communities, but rather a symptom of the political system that has allowed religion to become part and parcel of civil government and civil society.

A Conversation With Jane Lazarre

Yona Zeldis McDonough

In the summer of 2009, Lilith excerpted a section of Jane Lazarre’s harrowing novel, Inheritance. The book was recently published and Lilith’s Fiction Editor, Yona Zeldis McDonough, interviewed Lazarre–author of… Read more »

Independent, jewish & frankly feminist

Since 1976, Lilith magazine charts Jewish women’s lives with exuberance, rigor, affection, subversion and style.