Spring/Summer 1977

Happening

happening

Publications Siddur Nashim, a Sabbath Prayer Book for Women, emphasizing the tender, nurturing aspects of God, has been written by Naomi Janowitz and Maggie Wenig of the Brown University Women’s... Read more »

How to Save Your Own Life

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How to save your own life by Erica Jong Holt, Rinehart & Winston, $8.95, 310 pp. including appendix of love poems. Part of the process of liberating ourselves as women... Read more »

The mothers we’ve had and the mothers we are

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Her Mothers by E.M. Broner Hardcover, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, $7.95, 245 pp.; Paperback, Berkley Medallion, $1.75, 240 pp. Reviewed by Susan Hersh Sachs “Mother, I’m pregnant with a baby... Read more »

How was this Passover Different from All Other Passovers

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Looking back on the Seders, most women remember cooking and serving. ("For this we came out of Egypt?") But a growing number of women have gone beyond merely enabling their men to conduct the Seder.

The Crippler

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Years later we hear of The Healer Some never reach her and for Five years I search

Crimes Against Woman in Israel

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The Israeli rabbinate has control over divorce-—and thus over the country’s women. Extortion by vindictive husbands whose wives want a divorce is but one of the abuses under this system.

Jewish Divorce Law

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Life lessons from the mythological Lilith. Betty Friedan on her feminine mystique & being Jewish. Those thorny Jewish women's organizations.

Circumcision Is No Insurance

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Jewish women have had lower rates of cervical cancer than women in other ethnic groups. Myth has it that the reason is their circumcised partners. But research on cervical cancer shows that a woman’s sexual behavior is a far more important factor than her partner’s circumcision—and Jewish women’s sexual behavior is changing.

Gentlemen’s Agreement at the Seminary

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The men who make the decisions at the Jewish Theological Seminary keep turning away women who want to become Conservative rabbis. They say Conservative Judaism isn't ready for women in the pulpit, but women aspirants are determined to take the male mystique out of the Conservative rabbinate.

Beruriah: Her Word Became Law

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In the second century, when women were secluded, subordinated and subservient, one woman—-Beruriah—-gained a towering reputation as a scholar, teacher and arbiter of Jewish law. Read how she argued with wit and conviction against the prevailing attitudes towards her sex.

“In a coma! I thought she was Jewish!”

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There are countless jokes about how sexually "unresponsive" Jewish women supposedly are. Who’s laughing—and why?

Letters

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Dear Sisters, Mazeltov and toda raba [thanks]. Your (no, OUR) new publication is beautiful. When I finished reading the magazine —every morsel—I felt as if I’d been embraced. Reva M.... Read more »

Celebrating 300 Years of Jewish Journalism: Where Are The Women?

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Gloria Averbuch “300 Years of World Jewish Press” was commemorated by a three-day conference in Jerusalem in January. From a Jewish woman’s point of view, the conference might well have... Read more »

Israeli Report Exposes Foreign Ministry Discrimination Against Woman

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The Israeli Prime Minister’s Committee on the Status of Women has called Israel’s Foreign Ministry the second worst ministry in its employment of women. (The worst in terms of the... Read more »

NRP Women Reject Remaining “At the Mercy of the Men”

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The women’s affiliate of Israel’s National Religious Party is determined to form its own faction before the party’s next convention. Tova Sanhedrai, who heads the National Religious Women’s Organization, stated... Read more »

WUJS Supports Women’s Rights in Jewish Organizations

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The 17th Triennial Congress of the World Union of Jewish Students, passed in December this resolution on feminism, presented by the American and Italian delegations. The 17th Triennial Congress of... Read more »

Fate of Israel’s New Abortion Law Uncertain with Begin Victory

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The Israeli Knesset (Parliament) passed in February a liberalized abortion bill that had generated a good deal of controversy. The measure legalizes abortion in the early stages of pregnancy upon... Read more »

Southern California Task Force Wants Room at the Top For Women in Jewish Organizations

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Mara Kochkba If a man presents something, it is taken seriously. I am not listened to with anything other than politeness. Outside the Jewish community, I am respected and heard... Read more »

Hadassah Endorses ERA

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The National Board of Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment at the closing session of its annual Mid-Winter Conference in February, as follows: “Hadassah, an... Read more »

UJA New Women’s Cabinet – Separate But How Equal?

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In the second issue of LILITH, we reported that the United Jewish Appeal’s men-only Young Leadership Cabinet was torn over whether or not to admit women, despite its Executive Committee’s... Read more »

“New” Naming Ceremonies for Girls a Sephardic Tradition

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Ruth Koffler In LILITH’s second issue there appeared a description of a new naming ceremony for girls—”Ceremonial Welcoming for a Newborn Jewish daughter.” A centuries-old Sephardic birth ceremony for girls... Read more »

First Jewish Women’s Conference Explores Personal Growth and Institutional Change

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Bryna J. Fireside “The Changing Role of Women in Judaism: The Cherished Rose or the Thorn in the Side of Tradition” was the title of the first Jewish women’s conference... Read more »

From the Editor

from the editor

Our minds/our bodies Who LILITH’s readers are Jewish women have, for centuries, been conditioned to forego the development of two aspects of life: our capacity for intellectual growth (exclusively the... Read more »