“Parenting as a Religious Jewish Feminist” by Haviva Ner- David
Haviva Ner-David’s, the writer of “Parenting as a Religious Jewish Feminist,” talks about the tallit (prayer shawl) and the tefillin (little boxes strapped onto the arm and forehead that contain scriptural passages), both traditionally worn by only men for prayer, which she believes enhances her perception of God and the sanctity of her own body. She mentions that in the bible Michael the daughter of King Saul and the first wife of King David “Wore tefillin and Sages did not protest her action.” It was most commonly understood that the Rabbis exempted women from performing certain time bound mitzvoth, such as putting on tefillin, because women’s time belongs to others their children and their husbands.
As a mother of four with Michal being the oldest she talks about how she takes being a Jewish mother seriously. She introduces her children to Toraah and Mitzvot with love. She does not want Michal to grow up feeling as a Jewish female, resentful of her religion or marginalized and irrelevant all of which she often felt as a child and young woman. David goes on about how she would love to see her children adopt the values that she had chosen for herself meaning seeing her daughter pray with tefillin, and hear her son tell her that he refuses to say bracha thanking God for not having created him a woman. Michal and her other daughters may decide to follow in her religious feminist path or may not. As a mother she has to try not to let her own ego and ideology interfere with the need to let her decide.

Sexy Rabbi by Karen (Chai) Levy
This article is about how she resents and is troubled by all the sexist comments of men who have trouble with her physical attractiveness. As a feminist, she is aware of society’s sexualization and objectification of women, and has made conscious choices about her appearance. There is a difference between avoiding clothing that objectifies and degrades women and having to become asexual in order to be respected as a rabbi. Rabbis of both genders must be careful with their power. The difference though is that women serving as religious leaders are up against a tradition and society that has sexualized and objectified them for generations and those we still live in a world in which men are respected and women are harassed. In this article its pretty much saying a female can’t wear are do what she wants without someone harassing her are thinking of her in a different manner.

The next article that I thought was interesting was ‘I was a Cliché” by Dina Hornreich this article talks about understanding the difference between two labels Jewish American or American Jew. She also wonders when and how is she supposed to label herself. While aging she started puberty she lost most of her hair on her head, began having an awkward look adding on chubbiness, fully developed, and gaps between her teeth. She was considered a big target in school. No one understood her not even herself, but as she finished Hebrew school she started focusing on spiritual views instead of physical imperfection. As a college student music became her identity and she learned that feminists taught her that she had sacrificed herself to escape all the pain from the early years of not being girly. Being proud of her feminine body is not considered properly modest for a traditional Jewish woman. Learning self -love and turning it into love for other women is not appropriate. She chose to live her life as a Jewish sex positive, third wave feminist. What I like about this article is that she went through what most young female might go through. She eventually learned how to proud of herself no matter what religion, what color, or what style she may be enduring at that time.