Monday Sep 01, 2008
Posted by Elana Maryles Sztokman
There is a running joke among parents this time of year: The kids' vacation is over on August 31, and the parents' vacation starts on September 1. Well, not for me. I really do not see the start of school as a vacation. For me, as a parent, school is a lot of hard work. It's the morning routine, the afternoon routine, the homework, the meetings, the endless notes, the forms to sign, the messages from teachers, the arrangements, the special events and extra instructions, the packing lunches and constantly buying rolls and on and on and on. I always manage to miss something, despite all my efforts, and someone always ends up upset. Honestly, I hate school.
Part of what makes my life as a school parent perpetually trying is the Israeli culture of education in which even the slightest deviation from norms is treated as sinful. From the time children are in preschool, they are expected to eat the same foods at the same time of day and in "correct" amounts - not too much and not too little. Kids are expected to sit when everyone sits, to listen when everyone listens, to speak when everyone speaks and to play in the sand when it's sand time. Rights and wrongs are absolute, like multiple choices about the interpretation of literary texts. School culture is all about creating and conforming to norms.
Thursday Aug 28, 2008
Posted by Elana Maryles Sztokman
What is it about the word "feminism" that makes some women squirm and some men shudder? Even people who believe in much of what feminism stands for - human dignity for all, repairing social injustices, offering equal opportunities and respect for women - often prefer not to call themselves feminists. Why is that?
I thought about this recently as I read a blog by 22-year old Kim Gouz, published in Haaretz recently, in which she describes her transition from American non-feminist to Israeli feminist. Her lovely essay, in which she chronicles shocking encounters with one injustice after another in Israel, the journey that has eventually led her to adopt this admirable pose, opens with a statement that is nonetheless jarring to those of us who have been there for some time already: "I was not the pro-choice pushing, anti-pornography ranting, condom-dispersing type."
So that is what I am? Ranting and standing on street-corners in a plastic costume resembling male genitals? The only epithet missing from this vivid description is the all-time favorite 'feminazi'.....
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About this blog
A Woman's Own
The Talmud says there are seventy faces to the Torah. I believe there are seventy faces to the person. I am a teacher, writer, researcher, activist, educator, thinker, organizer, fundraiser, feminist, parent, spouse, daughter, sister and friend. Or, if you prefer, I am an Israeli, American, energetic, opinionated, passionate, religious, determined and generally optimistic Jewish woman. It's not quite seventy, but we're getting there.
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Recent Comments
DALevit Palm Springs, CA USA: With all due respect, your post implies that the "separation" is indefinite, and yet it is only for the two weeks during the time of the female's flow. Is the morbid sentiment expressed really necessary, when all will all go back to normal soon? Is that 2 weeks enough to nullify everything else good about the relationship? Won't there be plenty of hugs and kisses in a few days, after the period of uncleanness passes? Anyone reading this with no knowledge of the Orthodox ways would get a terribly distorted view of things from reading this. DAL
Dr S McCosker Australia: I have a suggestion for Tal & Melchior. Google 'Peter Andrews' 'Australian Story' 'Natural Sequence Farming', 'Natural Sequence Association'. What Andrews does in arid infertile Aussie landscapes, to turn flash-flooding gullies into healthy streams, recharge aquifers, heal salinised soil, stop erosion, build soil fertility, restore biodiversity [& thus boost farm productivity & animal & human health]- ought to work in Israel. I urge Tal & Melchior: invite Andrews to Israel & show him the Negev & give him a wadi & an eroded hillside to work his magic on, for a demo project.
Joseph London: An interesting alternative interpretation of the saying of the Sages. Many of us understand it to refer to a chavruta in learning, i.e. a partner to share one's learning, not a marriage partner. There are, of course, many sayings praising marriage such as all the blessings a man receives are because of his wife, etc..
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