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Lilith Magazine

independent, Jewish & frankly feminist Lilith Magazine charts Jewish women’s lives with exuberance, rigor, affection, subversion and style.

The magazine features award-winning investigative reports, new rituals and celebrations, first-person accounts both contemporary and historical, entertainment reviews, fiction and poetry, art and photography.

07/07/2024

Menstrual blood, in terror and glory.

The period that lasted, and lasted, as the weeks rolled on.

07/07/2024

"In camp, we joked that the infirmary doctor was Mengele, the dining hall food our rations. Every authority figure with a stick up his ass was a N**i, every unpleasant setting a labor camp, every tiring activity a death march, every shower a gas chamber."

Competitive Consequential Taboo

07/06/2024

In one summer, can you create the tefillin revolution of your dreams? Originally published in 2020, Elana Rebitzer takes us to camp.

That summer, and every summer since, I’ve been one of the only women to wear tefillin at prayer services every morning.

07/05/2024

Shabbat shalom—wish we could be enveloped in a tart pomegranate.

Illustration by Jessica Tamar Deutsch from Lilith's Spring 2021 issue.

07/05/2024

We love any story that’s nutshell is “it’s complicated!”

…and her previously overlooked N**i connections—in 2024

07/05/2024

The Lilith Magazine team is always seeking out ways to nourish—and delight—our hearts and heads. Here are three things we're loving this week! This week's picks are from Justine Orlovsky Schnitzler, Lilith's social media coordinator.

Reading:
I always have a few books in rotation at one time. Right now I’m toggling between “Savage Anxieties” by Robert A. Williams—a really fascinating treatise on the construction of the “savage” in Western civilization—and “Romancing Mister Bridgerton.” I’m not typically a romance reader, but Julia Quinn is beloved by Lilith staff for good reason.

Listening:
I saw Vampire Weekend play the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks ago, and I’ve fallen even deeper into their newest release, “Only God Was Above Us.” OGWAU is not their most Jewish record (that remains “Modern Vampires of the City”), but I got a real thrill out of screaming “beneath these velvet gloves I hide the shameful crooked hands of moneylender” alongside thousands of other fans at the Bowl.

Watching:
Every summer I get a burning desire to rewatch Mad Men, which is precisely what I’m doing right now. I believe it is the greatest show ever made, and I cherish every moment Rachel Menken is on screen.

07/04/2024

“I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies… if I came here to talk good fellowship… The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred…. I know from my own experience it is up to the working people to save themselves.”

Finding role models—-from the turn of the century to last week—-in Jewish women who have tried to change the world.

07/04/2024

This Independence Day, we're looking at freedom through alternative lenses--and meditating on those who have put their lives on the line to bend the arc toward justice.

Women in the civil rights movement integrated bus terminals, taught in Freedom Schools, registered black voters and served time in Southern jails. Now they talk frankly about the danger, their moth…

07/03/2024

Aspiring to these summer vibes.

This beautiful art by Hannah Lupton Reinhard was featured on the cover of Lilith's Summer 2023 issue. Read about this season of heat & heartache: https://buff.ly/3ztKHKu

07/03/2024

"For 259 days, these hostages have felt so horribly far away. Their distance at the root of our despair. And here I was, standing next to one of them! She was home! Alive! With her mother!"

Ariele Mortkowitz on her transformative meeting with Amit Soussana at the White House.

For 259 days, these hostages have felt so horribly far away. Their distance at the root of our despair. And here I was, standing next to one of them! She was home! Alive! With her mother!

07/02/2024

"But well before October 7, when empathy was exposed as a luxury, Rabinyan’s novel already marked the limits of empathy, particularly literary empathy. The novel’s Hebrew title, Gader Haya, Border Life, is telling. No end of listening to each other, no amount of affection, love, belief in one another can overcome the border between Liat and Himli (symbolized late in the novel in the construction of the concrete barrier between the West Bank and Israel). No one can fully see the world through the eyes of another."

Whether seen through an Israeli or a Palestinian lens, can Palestinians in fiction be more than symbols?

07/01/2024

What is your solace?

In Lilith's spring issue, Yona Zeldis McDonough shares the story of family distress and finding refuge in the familiar ritual of thrifting.

Why, in a time of acute distress, the discount racks of the Salvation Army offer comfort and control.

06/30/2024

For decades, Fran Goldin carried her sign, “I adore my le***an daughters: Keep them safe,” written in gracious script, enhanced with glitter, to New York’s Gay Pride Parade. After she died, her friends found her beloved sign in her apartment. Learn what a literary left-wing legend left behind: https://buff.ly/3W9oFpn

06/30/2024

Gorgeous portrait of Joy Ladin for our Winter 2009-2010 issue by Joan Roth.

Ladin writes in "Standing Again at Sinai, Again: Jewish Feminism and Transgender Jews": "When we realize that neither God nor humanity fits within the terms of gender, we recognize that being male or female is not essential to being human, an insight that helps us see that transgender people too are created in the image of God."

A must-read this Pride weekend: https://buff.ly/3KZbi4r

06/29/2024

These q***r elders paved the way. Now we're looking out for them. In 2023, Carmel Tanaka, founder and executive director of JQT Vancouver, wrote for Lilith about "The BC Jewish Q***r & Trans Seniors Resource Guide," created to help Vancouver’s older adults navigate a challenging landscape of care. Learn more about this amazing resource here: https://buff.ly/3Rpvikt

06/28/2024

🌈 Shabbat shalom & Happy Pride weekend🌈 . Art from the cover of Summer 2021 by Art Lush.

06/27/2024

Found in the Lilith office: Jewish Women and Their Salons. This 2005 book from The Jewish Museum is all about the long history of Jewish women’s salons where “women of intellect resolved that neither gender nor religion would impede their ability to bring about social change.” You too could channel your inner Gertrude Stein by hosting or joining a Lilith salon! (Check out the link in our bio for how to get involved.)
Image 1: The cover of the book with the title Jewish Women and Their Salons: The Power of Conversations
Image 2: A photo of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas taken by Man Ray (1923)
Image 3: “The Cathedrals of Art” (1942-44) by Florine Stettheimer

06/27/2024

Summer camp season is upon us. Time to play Holocaust games?

From Winter 2017-2018, Rebecca Brill on playing out our trauma at camp.

Competitive Consequential Taboo

06/26/2024

Have you checked out our book reviews + recommendations from our spring 2024 issue yet? Find them HERE: https://buff.ly/3IJrhCs

06/25/2024

"My grandmother is a limestone temple;

she is a titanium rod, she is an iron lung.

She is not just flesh and blood that will wilt and blacken

over fire, she is the flames;

Tall and hot, dancing in every color,

and impossible to contain. She is the lightning strike

and the brimstone, she is the forget-me-nots

scattered across the prairie. She wrestles with God

and his entire misguided army. She is mistaken for smoke

rising over the treetops when she is really the clouds

that have been there since sunrise.

She is not a star hung on a silver chain

or pinned to a lapel, she is the full moon.

God looked back at Adam and hung his head

after he watched her spin her own self out of heaps

of ashes on the floor; For she is not unclean or untouchable,

she is the lamb for the sake of creation,

she is an emblem of the resilience of her people.

She is not a pilgrim, she is not tied to a holy land

or cursed to wander, she is the soil.

She beckoned Israel to her bones,

and though she lies in Israel today,

she is, she is, she is."

-Kendra Karen

https://buff.ly/4bib1o2

06/25/2024

Women's Rabbinic Network's Executive Director Rabbi Mary Zamore today called on the American Jewish University and it’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies to “publicly release, in its entirety and without emendation, the external report concerning complaints by former students of sexual harassment and discrimination.” As Rabbi Zamore rightly says, "There can be no meaningful healing without accountability, and there can be no true accountability without transparency."

06/24/2024

This prayer—addressed in the feminine—came to Deborah Eisenbach-Budner while she was on the abortion table.

Published in Lilith's Fall 2013 issue, she writes, "The first time I went to the abortion clinic, I couldn’t go through with it and left with my pregnancy still intact. During the six days that followed, I came to terms with the awesome charter of my choice. Okay, this is inescapable, I told myself. I can’t pretend I’m not doing it. “Pro-choice,” “pro-life” — I was taking responsibility for my power." https://buff.ly/3OEY13x

06/24/2024

What are the anti-Semitic roots of the current anti-abortion rhetoric? We may have more to lose than our right to choose. Read this classic Lilith from Summer 1990:

What are the anti-Semitic roots of the current anti-abortion rhetoric? We may have more to lose than our right to choose.

06/24/2024

Read Days of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt (Algonquin Books), a gripping story of motherhood and love that blossoms in the least expected places. https://buff.ly/3VC4I9c

06/24/2024

Today is the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade across the United States.

Here at Lilith, we’re mourning, remembering--and, as always, organizing. We are proud to have been on the forefront of abortion reporting and writing over the last forty-nine (!) years through a Jewish, feminist lens. Our reporting + storytelling has expanded in inclusiveness as social/political contexts around abortion have evolved--and we’re proud to have been on the pioneering edge of this front, too. We invite you to peruse our abortion archives, linked on our website through our bio. You’ll find galvanizing stories of resistance, rabbinic approaches to halacha and abortion, interviews with those working on the front lines of abortion access today, and essays about abortion care and experiences that transformed the lives of our writers and readers.

06/23/2024

If you want a book that will make you laugh out loud—and reconnect with your loved ones— "Worry" by Alexandra Tanner (Scribner Books) is for you. As Kate Schmeir writes in her review for Lilith, "This search for genuine human connection—however impossible it may be in our modern, screen-obsessed world—is at the heart of Worry." https://buff.ly/3VC4I9c

06/22/2024

Despite boys’ clubs, gaslighting and discrimination, Babs persisted. Read Lilith's review of our beloved Barbra Streisand’s memoir, "My Name is Barbra" (Viking Books), where she discusses her fame, herself, and how she did it all. https://buff.ly/4cupu1f

06/22/2024

For your weekend: sharing the incomparable words and art of , from her debut "As a Burning Flame: The Dream of Regina Jonas." Mishkin's novel explores the life and impact of the first female ordained rabbi in Ashkenazi Jewish history--interwoven with Mishkin's own spiritual path. We can't recommend this book enough. ❤️

06/21/2024

🥝 🍓 Shabbat shalom 🍓🥝

Published in Lilith's Summer 2017 Issue, "Look Not Upon Me" by Tamar Messer is inspired by Song of Songs.

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Lilith's spring issue has landed at Lilith HQ and it's bringing some much-needed sunshine on this cloudy day! Between the covers you'll find: Accessibility for synagogues, Shabbat and disability perspectives, an ostomy "bag mitzvah," "Mom Rage," Israeli and Palestinian Novels, an investigation of gender-toxic workplaces, and much more! Subscribers: Your copy is on it's way! Online readers: Check Lilith.org in the next few days!

It’s almost Purim— join us to get a head start on the celebrating! At Savor Purim on Sunday, March 10, 1-2:30 pm Eastern : ⭐️Hear how cookbook author @vivianebowell celebrated the holiday of Queen Esther growing up in Egypt. ⭐️Bake Persian Purim cookies with chef @susanbarocas ⭐️Be inspired by the Purim traditions of Rhodes including a bureka-making demonstration with @bendichasmanos ⭐️Sing along with Ladino recording artist @saraharoeste Brought to you by @lilithmagazine and @savorexperience , in cosponsorship with @wrj1913 this virtual event is made possible at no cost to participants—it’s our mishloach manot (traditional Purim food gift) to you. ⭐️RSVP at link in bio.

Lilith's fall 2023 issue has arrived! Between the covers you'll find: 💜 Fiction contest winners 💜 Borscht Belt reflections 💜 Friendship and relationship stories of all kinds 💜 Family history, trauma, and secrets 💜 Books, books, books Check it out at the link in our bio -- and for exclusive content and opportunities, subscribe at Lilith.org! Gorgeous cover art by @Rebecca Katz Note: This issue of Lilith was at the printer before Israel was attacked on October 7, 2023. For first-person voices on the horrific violence, the terror that followed, and the peace we all yearn for, find our writers at Lilith.org.

As we find ourselves in this terrible moment of shock and grief, we’ve turned to our poets for their words. Hear Hila Ratzabi read “How to Pray While the World Burns.” Published in Hila Ratzabi, There Are Still Woods (June Road Press, 2022)

Lilith’s Summer 2023 Issue has arrived in the office. #NewIssue #Summer2023

Proofs for Summer 2023 Issue are in the office! Gorgeous cover art by @hannahmontana12346789. Get ready to dive into a season of heat and heartache with Lilith.

Brand new tote bags arrived today! With gorgeous Lilith illustration by @lianafinck. Get them at lilith.org.

Caregiving & Creativity

How do we use creativity in the service of caregiving—and caregiving in the service of creativity? These essential roles as a caregiver and creator can feed one another—or exist in continuous conflict for time, energy, and resources. Four Jewish feminist artists and writers, Elliot Kukla, Sarah Lightman, Alicia Ostriker, & Marcella White Campbell, discuss how they navigate their responsibilities to themselves, their loved ones, and their art. These roles as a caregiver and creator can feed one another—or exist in continuous conflict for time, energy, and resources. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Studio Project.

Anita Diamant Discusses Lilith's Short Story Collection, FRANKLY FEMINIST

Earlier this month, Lilith's editor in chief Susan Weidman Schneider and NYT bestselling author Anita Diamant joined MAVEN (spirited by American Jewish University - AJU) for a conversation about Lilith's new fiction anthology, FRANKLY FEMINIST. In this clip, Diamant, who wrote the book's foreward, describes the featured stories as a "beautiful bouquet of [women's voices] that have now been made audible."

The Uterus Challah Recipe You’ve Been Waiting For

To celebrate #ReproShabbat this weekend (Feb. 17 & 18) with National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) & Lilith, make your own uterus challah to fuel the sacred work of creating reproductive justice. Watch Logan Zinman Gerber take you through each and every step. Once you take your beautiful challah out of the oven, snap a photo, share and tag it with #ReproShabbat @ncjw @lilithmagazine so we can reshare your gorgeous creation!

The right to pump!

"There has already been progress on transportation, infrastructure, and climate. But when it comes to initiatives to support working families, we’re still lagging. It’s devastating." Sarah Brafman, national policy director of @a_better_balance(ABB), and EJ Bader spoke in late 2022—just before the groundbreaking Pump Act and Pregnant Women’s Fairness act were passed and signed—about ABB’s work to promote a saner work-life balance and win better workplace protections. Link in bio.

The right to pump!

"Any man on the planet isn't free until I'm truly free as a Black woman"

Say "Pro-Abortion"

Lilith Fights Back

With our bodies under attack—how can Jewish feminists respond? Lilith writers Steph Black, SooJi Min-Maranda, Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler, and Dena Robinson, will look at reproductive justice and our precious bodily autonomy from many different angles: political, personal, collective, and individual. We’ll conclude the evening with a reading from Beth Kanter’s short story, “Paved with Gold”—published in Frankly Feminist, Lilith’s groundbreaking Jewish feminist short story collection. Join Lilith to witness, reflect, and envision what comes next.

A Hug of Comfort

Whoever said February is the shortest month of the year didn’t live in cold climate! Of course, there’s even been snow in Jerusalem recently, and wherever you live, we've been dealing with the pandemic for nearly two years now. Social isolation, disrupted holidays and special events, uncertainty about work and health…. We can definitely all use some comfort food! Join Chef Susan Barocas in her warm kitchen to talk about and cook comfort food from both the Sephardic and Ashkenazic cultures. Maybe we can even help February not seem like the longest month of the year!

A Sensational Seasonal Thanksgivukkah

With Thanksgiving and Hannukkah back-to-back this year, we're combining the best seasonal dishes with a deep appreciation for those who grow our food. Join Lilith magazine for a discussion with Chef Susan Barocas and Esther Siegel, co-owner of Licking Creek Bend Farm, about eating seasonally, growing sustainably and more. Then we'll move into the kitchen with Chef Susan to make delicious holiday food using Licking Creek Bend Farm's fresh produce.

From the Margins to the Center of the Cosmos

Join Lilith for an out-of-this-world evening with Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, theoretical physicist and author of “The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred.” Reaching from the stars to the very earthly matters of Judaism, gender, race, and dismantling the patriarchy, Dr. Prescod-Weinstein will be in conversation with Dr. Carolivia Herron, author, Classicist, Afro-Judaica scholar and Lilith contributor.