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.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (10)

The F Word (It's not what you think)

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'.....

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (9)