_ The name Blanche Bendahan is not well known to western readers, but after the recent translation (by Yaelle Azagury and Frances Malino, and the first in English), of her fascinating novel, Mazaltob (Brandeis University Press, $29.95) it no doubt will be. Bendahan (1893–1975) was born in Algeria to a Jewish family of Moroccan descent and moved to France as a small child. She wrote poetry as well as fiction, and Mazaltob, her first novel, was awarded a prize from the Académie Française in 1930. Called the first feminist Sephardi novel, Mazaltob tells the story of a you ..read more

Families around the world have just been sitting at their Seder tables and retelling stories of oppression, liberation, and freedom. We’re taught that even if everyone at the seder is a learned person or knows the story, we are still obligated to tell it and to hear it; to serve as witnesses to a journey fraught with uncertainty and challenges. Coinciding with Passover this year, April 21st-27th was National Infertility Awareness Week in the U.S., where one in six people struggle with building their family. In my practice, RVT IVF, where I support people emotionally, spiritually, and ritually ..read more

Miriam sets her alarm at 8.30 a.m. every morning even though she is dying.  “Why don’t you just wake up naturally with the sun?” I say pointing to her corner bedroom windows overlooking the New York City skyline. “Hmmm, I don’t know,” she says, head on pillow, arms flopped over the white quilt. “It’s what I’ve always done.” We stare at each other for a while. “Oh, Lise, this is hard.” “What’s hardest about it?” “It’s going in one direction and not a good one. I’m worried about how fuzzy my head is getting. I like being in control,” she says, smoothing out the quilt in front of her. A pile ..read more

My dorm room was cold as I sat on the phone with my mother, my knees perched up against the desk as we had another conversation about her childhood. We were talking during her free moments, when my father and brother weren’t at home. It was just a few months since Roe v Wade got overturned. I was no stranger to my mother’s early-life experiences  in Russia’s Southern region, Kavkaz. Growing up, I both craved and dreaded hearing my mother’s stories, because they brought me closer to her and to the severity and horror of her childhood community. Now in  adulthood, I try piecing togethe ..read more

As it does for many an ardent feminist, Purim  holds great importance to me.  I love Queen Esther’s story so much, in fact, that when I converted to Judaism several years ago, I took the titular character’s name in homage to her bravery in the face of adversity. Well, to be precise, I took what is believed to be Esther’s given name: Hadassah. Though generally supportive, my Rabbi seemed a little surprised by this, and – in a tone that suggested genuine curiosity – inquired why I went with Hadassah over Esther.  I don’t remember exactly what I said to him, but I do remember havin ..read more

These flaky, gluten-free cookies are eaten for Norouz, the Persian New Year, and by Persian Jews for the holiday of Purim since both holidays often fall close together on the calendar. The story of Purim takes place in ancient Persia, so it is wonderfully appropriate that these Persian treats include rose or orange blossom water to evoke the floral-scented air of the royal palace gardens where Esther so often walked. And, of course, the poppy seeds are part of many Purim dishes with various meanings including the destruction of the murderous Haman as we crunch the seeds with our teeth. Nan E ..read more

I really wished our embryos were kids. But not because an Alabama judge has decided they are. The day before the first of many uterine surgeries, our fertility doctor called with the results of our first IVF cycle. After twelve days of twice daily injections burning and bruising my body, 10 eggs were retrieved from my ovaries. For a healthy 38 year old with normal labs this was a true success. And we had privilege: as a heterosexual couple with good enough health insurance near the best medical care in the world, we had all the genetic material we needed. Those 10 eggs were fertilized through ..read more

Not all who wander are lost. In fact, JRR Tolkien’s adage is an apt metaphor for memoirs written in essays, where wandering (and wondering( is exactly how the author makes the attempt—for the essay, after the French word “essai,” is just that—an attempt at expression and an effort in finding answers to a conundrum or preoccupation. S.L. Wisenberg’s endeavor in The Wandering Womb: Essays in Search of Home (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023) is to show the reader (and herself) how the yearning to belong and feel at home has haunted her from her childhood, always acutely aware of her differ ..read more

There is a modern legend that in the early days of women’s ordination as rabbis, a rabbinical school professor stood up and said: “Judaism has a bracha for every single human experience we undergo.” The women in the room—knowing the incredulity of that statement—laughed. Because while it’s true that while Judaism has blessings for after using the bathroom or for hearing thunder, we don’t have that kind of ritual content for the myriad of experiences specific to women.  Now, decades later, I cannot help but remain frustrated at the lack of imagination in mainstream Jewish ritual ..read more

Two Jews, three opinions: it’s one of those stereotype-meets-truths attached to Judaism, a tradition, as we so often hear, that holds back-and-forth discourse as paramount. The Torah begins with two different versions of the creation story, and of course the Talmud is rife with Rabbinical discussion, debate, and even disagreement.  In short, Jews are a people famous for intelligent debate. Why, then, are we so eager to tear each other apart when it comes to the war in Gaza and all issues related to Israel in particular? Hamas’ violent attacks against Israeli Jews on October 7th was a terr ..read more