Israel Flying Aid still fighting the good fight in Haiti

Gal Lusky is fearless. She has faced Islamic fundamentalists, hostile armies and a variety of other life-threatening situations all for one goal: to bring rescue relief to the people around the world who most need it and are least likely to get it. And she does it on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.

That is why Lusky, the founder and director of the non-profit organization Israeli Flying Aid  (IFA), spent nearly two months in post-earthquake Haiti behind the scenes with her teams of volunteers - staying on even after many of the international aid organizations had left - providing shelter, food and medical assistance to some 300 orphans, including 75 girls who were literally left out in the cold. Today, she's back in Haiti with a group of Jewish and Israeli teens who are volunteering their summers to help the Haitians, long after most humanitarian groups have gone.

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How skinny is too skinny?

"Warning: The model in this photograph is fatter than she appears. Photography enhancement software has been used in the making of this advertisement. Attempting to replicate this woman's body may be hazardous to your health."

As bizarre as this sounds - bizarre, and yet, surprisingly comforting - this kind of warning may indeed be seen on Israeli billboards some time in the indeterminate future. Last week, the Cabinet Committee for Legislative Issues decided to support a proposed bill that would require warning labels on publicly-displayed Photo-shopped images of women. The bill would also prohibit companies from hiring under-weight models.

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'A hole in the sheet' - the life of a woman who escaped from Gur hassidut

Sara Einfeld, 25-year old mother of two, ran away from her Gur Hasidic life. In the process she began a blog, called “Hor Basadin,” which attracts many struggling haredi women. Yediyot Aharonot exposed her story in last weekend's newspaper, and has since caused a buzz in haredi and secular circles alike. I blogged about it in this week's Forward Sisterhood. You can read the whole post here. In the meantime, though, here is a heart-wrenching poem that Einfeld posted last week in response to the hubbub (translation mine):

I still cry when I remember
Me
A young women who tried to explain to a yeshiva scholar
Who sat across from her
Next to the dark wooden table in the living room.

Who made charts and asked, So what's bothering you?

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Shame on you, Gila Katsav

I have my own Moshe Katsav story. When Katsav, then Israel's president, visited Australia in March 2005, and I was working at JNF in the Israeli-professional hub of Beth Weizmann, I was asked to join the president's local support staff for those few days. At the time it was a big thrill, and of course all of Jewish Australia was abuzz over the impending Israeli presidential visit Down Under.

Well, I had an even greater thrill when one of Katsav's senior staffers came into the back room and said, "The President would like a massage. Does anyone know a good massage therapist?" Well, I knew one! My husband, Jacob, was working as a massage therapist - and was a die-hard Zionist who would undoubtedly jump at the opportunity to serve the State of Israel in whatever manner happened to be available.

The massage required some logistical maneuvers: Katsav was staying in the city and was giving his big speech to the community on Saturday night (a speech which turned out to be a dud - he was thereafter noted for being an exceptionally boring orator, and that was before the three-hour flop we witnessed last week). So anyway, Jacob had to rush to the city as soon as Shabbat was over in order to get the president's massage in before the Big Speech. Jacob prepared his stuff on Friday, and the second Shabbat was out, he grabbed his table and jumped into the car. Within five minutes, however, the call came. "Forget the massage," the senior staffer said. "The President does not get massages from men. Only from women."

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The next big thing: Orthodox women rabbis

I received a message last week congratulating Sara Hurwitz on the "historic event" in which she is being conferred the title "spiritual leader" of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, following her completion of the "required course of study in Yoreh Deah." In other words, the synagogue is making her a rabbi without the title. [Hat tip: Matthew Maryles]

First of all, I wish Sara Hurwitz a hearty congratulations on this terrific achievement, and I wish her well in her new role. HIR, under the leadership of the courageous and visionary Rabbi Avi Weiss, has always been a place that is willing to buck trends and break new ground on behalf of women. Sara Hurwitz has done some important work on gender and education in the Orthodox community, along with scholar and educator Dr. Chaya Gorsetman, also of Riverdale. I wish Spiritual Leader Hurwitz, Rabbi Weiss, and the entire Riverdale community a hearty mazal tov on this auspicious event.

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A new vision of Israeli society: A safe environment

Saving the environment is not just a noble cause; it is a religious imperative. That is the message coming from an intriguing new political initiative of Rabbi Michael Melchior and Prof Alon Tal, who have recently joined forces to form a counter-intuitive and seemingly unlikely political merge between a religious and a green party. Tal's environmentalist Green Movement and Melchior's religious-liberal Meimad have decided to unite in order to lead the country not only towards intensive environmental and social activism but effectively towards implementing an entire vision of what it means to build a Jewish society.

"What kind of Jewish state are we if are not looking after our environmental and social needs?" Tal asked. "The answer is, we are not a Jewish state. We are not embodying Jewish values."

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Homework, high school and other headaches

All these years, I thought I was alone. I thought I was the only one who struggled nightly for hours on end, letting go any hopes of having some relaxing time with my family after a long day of school and work. I did not realize that everyone else who has school-age children in Israel also spends every evening battling homework.

I really did not picture parenthood this way. Before the kids enter school, nighttime is often a time of bath, books, stories, and play. At 8PM, all gets quiet and my spouse and I can have some quiet breathing time to remember what the other one looks like. But as soon as school starts, the dream of creating a family life slowly fades into the distance. My kids are doing homework until way past my bedtime, and there is never, ever a release from pressure. I find myself telling young mothers who are deliberating over work and home balancing that the balance is easy when the children are little. It's when they get into school that they really demand your time. That's when we have to teach them all the subjects that teachers drop in our laps.

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Vindication for rape victims

When "Aleph," one of the rape victims of then Israeli president Moshe Katzav, went on national television during prime time last year and told her story about how Katzav forced himself on her in his office, the nation was riveted. It was the first time many Israelis heard a graphic first hand account of how rape happens. This was not in some alleyway with a street criminal on drugs. Katzav did not hold a gun or a knife to her head. His main weapon was his position of power, and with that he had the incredible ability to control the world around him and destroy her life.

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Hip Hop, Lipstick and Orthodox feminism

Beyonce Knowles may be leading a gender revolution through her music. Beyonce, known primarily for the shimmying body accompanying her spectacular voice, and for the way she taught Oprah how to booty dance, is hardly an anticipated source of feminist activism. Yet, check out some of the lyrics on her newest single, "If I were a Boy:"

If I were a boy
Even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
And throw on what I wanted then go
Drink beer with the guys
And chase after girls...
I'd put myself first
And make the rules as I go
Cause I know that she'd be faithful
Waitin' for me to come home

No, this is not Feminist Theory 101. This is Beyonce protesting that women have a double shift at home, while men continue to live carefree lives, that men put themselves "first" while women take care of everyone, that women are "faithful" in relationships while men can sleep with whomever they feel like it, and that women continue to wait by the window while the men are out gallivanting. That's a lot of stuff!

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A whole new kind of mikva

"Eyes, ears, navel!" is the typical drill that naked Orthodox women are subjected to seconds before their dip in the mikva, or ritual bath. In most mikvas, the attendant inspects the woman's body from head to toe, checking and picking off specks of dirt or hair under nails, between eyelashes, and on the torso. Women deemed free of all interference are then observed descending and dipping, while the attendant cries "Kasher!" The woman ascends, clean from menstrual impurity and ready for intercourse with her husband, and wraps herself in a towel, as the attendant calls out, "Who's next?"

All this may be about to change. In April, a new mikva opened up in Givat Shaul, Israel, which is unlike any other mikva in the world. "Ivriya: Spa Boutique, Bridal Center and Kosher Mikva," replaces the cold, sophistic factory-like mikva with an environment of care rather than compulsion. Ivriya, literally "Hebrew woman", offers an array of massages, manicures, hairstyling, waxing, and holistic treatments, thus taking a whole new approach not only towards mikva, but also towards the needs and desires of religious Jewish women.

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