Boy on HBO’s ‘Girls’ is also a ‘restless’ filmmaker

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 6, 2013

Purim’s other woman: Vashti, the queen who kept her clothes on

Published on February 20, 2013

When it comes to the story of Purim, Queen Esther has received lots of attention. All the little girls want to play her in the Purim spiel. She’s brave, beautiful, loving and heroic: the quintessential female biblical role model.

Dunham doubles up at Globes, Israeli docs’ double Oscar nomination, Sandler’s countless Razzies

Published on January 15, 2013

The 70th annual Golden Globe Awards kicked off the Hollywood awards season on Sunday, and it was in television that the Jewish people stood tall -- notably Lena Dunham, the new queen and unchallenged ruler of television comedy.

In Antwerp, a Charedi pariah forces school to go coed

Published on January 8, 2013

With a soft smile and two young boys in tow, a mild-mannered Moshe Aryeh Friedman appeared undeserving of his reputation as the scourge of the local haredi Orthodox community as he walked his sons to school on Monday.

Lena Dunham book leaks

Published on December 11, 2012

The book proposal that landed "Girls" creator Lena Dunham a $3.7 million publishing deal was leaked online on Monday.

‘Girls’ writer lays bare women’s insecurities

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 25, 2012

Is HBO’s ‘Girls’ about young women’s struggles, or some women’s privileges?

Published on April 19, 2012

“Girls” begins with the conversation that many parents of 20-somethings dream of having someday real soon with their floundering children: No. More. Money.

Should ‘Girls’ just get married?

By Danielle Berrin
Published on April 18, 2012

From the mouths of the babes…

By Julia Bendis
Published on February 22, 2012

HOOTERS, children and me being the greatest parent that ever lived…

By Julia Bendis
Published on January 3, 2012

Boobs & Bras Should Be Mandatory Like Driving & Seatbelts

By Ilana Angel
Published on November 30, 2011

Boys and their animal instincts

By Julia Bendis
Published on September 5, 2011

The New Yorker’s Bruce Eric Kaplan on His New Book and Judd Apatow TV Series

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on August 3, 2011

Anorexia and the new values of courtship

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Published on April 22, 2011

The New York Times article last week about the explosion of anorexia and eating disorders in the orthodox community highlights a tragedy that has long been buried. About four years ago I published a column about an eighteen-year-old girl my daughter knew at seminary in Jerusalem who died of anorexia. The seminary denied it was the cause and cited some other illness, even though the girls at the seminary watched her wasting away with the administration seemingly oblivious.

Words of Wisdom or something like it.

By Julia Bendis
Published on March 21, 2011

Valentine’s Day Peep Show!

By Julia Bendis
Published on February 14, 2011

VIDEO: Girls of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Published on August 3, 2008

Girls of the IDF. Video photo montage plus music

Dear Abby of Cyberspace

By Leda Siskind
Published on November 1, 2007

For a while this past year, several thousand girls between the ages of 10 and 14 read my words every day by logging on to Allykatzz.com, an Internet site for "'tween" girls that provides a safe alternative to MySpace and Facebook.

VIDEO: Israel tries to sex up its image

Published on September 18, 2007

Britains' Sky News reports from Tel Aviv on an Israeli advertising campaign to sex up its image.

Choose Grrl Power over beauty pageants, grrlz

By Rabbi Rona Shapiro
Published on March 1, 2007

By many measures, Jewish girls are thriving. They are leading extracurricular activities, bettering the world around them, excelling in sports and studying at elite universities. At the same time such success often comes at a cost for girls.

Shoah lessons drive curriculum

By Julie G Fax
Published on October 5, 2006

Community Briefs.

Orthodox youth not immune to high-risk lifestyles

By Julie G Fax
Published on September 28, 2006

Some kids aren't cut out for academic rigor. Leaving them in a mismatched environment often leads them toward self-destructive paths to failure

My True Best Feature—My Crazy Charm?

By Carin Davis
Published on August 31, 2006

Could it be that my looks only complement my true best feature -- my crazy charm?

Growing Girls Whole

By Rabbi Zoë Klein
Published on November 24, 2005

Less than a 100 years ago, the average age of menarche for American girls was almost 16. Today, 12 is considered late. Theories for such early onset range from the amount of growth hormones injected into the food we eat to the amount of electrical light we absorb. Regardless, it creates a dangerous duality in girls which I often see when working with a bat mitzvah.

Prop. 73: The Devil’s in the Details

By Angela J. Davis
Published on October 27, 2005

Much of the literature against Proposition 73 correctly emphasizes that many teenage girls will seek underground abortions, rather than have their parents (or guardians, foster parents or other legal designees) learn that they are pregnant.

Barbie Meet Gali

By Emily Pauker
Published on June 23, 2005

For generations, Barbie's hourglass "perfect" figure has confounded experts in anatomy, while giving girls a role model of debatable merit.

Now there's a doll whose appearance is more modest, who looks like kids and whose values are distinctly Jewish.

Created by Aliza Stein of Teaneck, N.J., Gali Girls wear clothes that are not made to accentuate their bodies. Accessories include a matching Magen David bracelet for the owner and the doll, a Hebrew and English birth certificate and a separate wooden Shabbat kit that can be painted.

Gali Girls are designed to encourage girls to bring positive Jewish values, such as kindness, respect, and charity, into their doll play, Stein said.

Public Bat Mitzvahs Come to Orthodoxy

By Rachel Sarah
Published on March 10, 2005

Traditionally, Orthodox girls wanting a bat mitzvah have had intimate ones with close family and friends, complete with candlelightings and blessings.

Unlike the Reform, Recostructionist and Conservative movements, which have embraced and formalized the bat mitzvah in the synagogue (the Recostructionist movement had the first bat mitzvah in 1922), Orthodox shuls and schools tend to take a more varied, low-key approach.

While many Orthodox girls still have private coming-of-age rituals, others are opting for more public and creative ceremonies, perhaps more closely aligned to a bar mitzvah. Most choose to study extensively with parents, teachers or rebbetzins, and many seek out chesed projects -- acts of loving-kindness -- to help those less fortunate.

Emek Breaks Fundraising Record

By Julie G Fax
Published on February 10, 2005

The middle school girls of Emek Hebrew Academy-Teichman Family Torah Center in Sherman Oaks raised almost $35,000 (yes, that figure is correct) for Chai Lifeline, a national organization that provides support, services and programming for families with seriously ill children.

YM for the Bais Yaakov Set

By Gaby Wenig
Published on February 26, 2004

Teen magazines like YM or Seventeen are usually aimed at young girls who can spend hours contemplating the deeper questions of life like "How can I tell if he likes me?" or "Is 50 Cent hot or not?"

A World of Makeup, Midriffs and Mirrors

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 4, 2003

"Girl Culture" began while Lauren Greenfield was perusing pictures she had shot in Las Vegas for a German magazine. She kept returning to an image of a 30ish showgirl primping at her dressing table at the Stardust Hotel. Taped to her mirror were magazine cutouts of models and a note, "I approve of myself"; the surrounding area was cluttered with the beauty tools Greenfield first encountered at sleepaway camp. The photographer suddenly realized she had something in common with the showgirl.

Girls’ Schools Get New Home

By Gaby Wenig
Published on June 20, 2002

In 1988, when Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, was sitting shiva for his wife, Chaya Mushka, West Coast Director of Chabad, Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, decided that the best way to comfort the mourner was to show him that there was still hope for the future. So Cunin purchased a property on Pico Boulevard and flew to New York to present the property deed and a photograph to the Rebbe. "This property," Cunin told the Rebbe, "is going to be the site of Bais Chaya Mushka [the House of Chaya Mushka], a Chabad school for girls."

Jewish Girls Rule

By J.D. Smith
Published on May 2, 2002

It never occurred to me that there was some kind of tacit competition going on, pitting the home Jewesses against the visiting teams from the other major religions.

Jewish Girls Rule

By J. D. Smith
Published on July 26, 2001

I have a pint-sized Jewish ex-girlfriend named Lori who once asked if I thought that Jewish girls were better lovers.