Celebrating Jewish Womanhood

I wanted to celebrate the differences inherent in the sexes rather than diminish them; to unravel the mysteries of what it meant to be a woman... what it meant to be a Jewish woman...

It is complacency, not questions, that pose a threat to Judaism. Questions propel us out of the lethargy of our comfort zones to dig deeper and discover the greater truths hidden within our eternal Torah.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe understood that it is women who are the catalysts of change. Through empowering them, one hastens the social, psychological and spiritual revolution of mankind ...

There will come a time, blessed and welcomed by all, when the feminine will have greater access to transcendent consciousness, and when that happens, she will bestow and man will receive from her...

Torah does not support asceticism, the closed walls of a monastery and a life apart from the bones of the body. We are asked to eat the cookie – or kasha – but to ever remain the master of that act...

Within the context of our society, women are required to function on a more sophisticated level than ever before, occupying professional positions that require higher knowledge...

I'm often asked: Where are the feminine voices in Jewish history, the feminine role models? Why are they not leading the way?

The Torah's account of the petition presented to Moses by the daughters of Zelophehad is relevant both to women seeking Halachic support for change, and to the rabbis who are ruling on their questions

I would describe myself as a Chassidic feminist. The two terms are not mutually exclusive, though their combination is not without tension...

I had always been fascinated with tefillin (phylacteries), the two black leather boxes with Torah verses of parchment inside, worn on the head and wrapped around the arm. The basic explanation is that it is a way of connecting to our Creator and it is the binding of head, heart and deed...

You can’t do your job as a mother, as a wife, if you’re single, or as a member of a community, and live Jewishly, properly, if you’re not inspired yourself, if you don’t know what it is all about.

My girls were having a heart-to-heart with my friend about the role of women in Judaism, and seeing things through their eyes was just unbelievable...

The issue is even more baffling than you think. Most of the guidelines for prayer, we learned from a lady named Chana who lived about 3000 years ago. Yet all the dominant roles in communal prayer are given to men!

A woman must cultivate a relationship with her Creator and use her mind to its fullest capacity. Only then, asserts the Akeidat Yitzchak, can a woman fulfill her second role as Chava, 'mother of all life', a role which crowns the role of isha.

...I listened carefully to what Esther Kosovsky and Tamar Frankiel had to say as we talked about some provocative and pointed issues. Their unswerving conviction in their own rich experience as observant Orthodox women speaks for itself.

The opportunities for formal Jewish women's education today are unprecedented, and they have created far strides in the development or our communities, but I think they also indicate a need to compensate for what has been lost...

The innovations and increase in Torah study of recent generations connects to and is emphasized more in relation to women...

Torah learning for Jewish women has been revolutionized. No longer must women strive to learn as men, but rather women are now revealing and celebrating their own unique ability to learn as women.

A circle has no beginning or end, and every point is equidistant from its center; so it is for souls. Truly, it is impossible to rank them, for each is the most beloved in the scale of values that is its perfected virtue...

A personal account of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's attitude towards Feminism