Tag: Orthodox Judaism

Now, following the latest publishing craze of themed Jewish anthologies comes "Bread and Fire: Jewish Women Find God in the Everyday" (Urim Publications, 2008), edited by Rivkah Slonim (with consulting editor Liz Rosenberg). The 400-page compilation features writings from 60 women on topics including modesty, faith, childbirth, prayer, family, community, feminism and, in one way or another, Orthodox Judaism.

Letters

Published on June 23, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Attack on Writers Verges on Ridiculous

By Ruth Andrew Ellenson
Published on February 3, 2005

This past week, the New York Times Book Review ran a lengthy essay by writer Wendy Shalit titled "The Observant Reader." In it,

Shalit harshly criticized books she deemed to be unfriendly to Orthodox Judaism. Even worse than the books, she asserted, were some of their writers, including such literary luminaries as Tova Mirvis ("The Outside World") and Nathan Englander ("For the Relief of Unbearable Urges").

Life of a Footsoldier

By Andrea Adelson
Published on April 3, 2003

Shmuel Marcus is a bit like the lucky son of an ambitious frontier storekeeper, who relies on family to staff a second storefront.

Since January, Marcus, 27, has operated Orange County's newest Chabad from a living room alcove of the second-floor Cypress apartment he shares with his 25-year-old wife, Bluma, and two young children.

Scion of an unusual family, Marcus has joined the equally unusual society of shluchim (emissaries). They are foot soldiers for a powerful ideology of outreach by the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Orthodox Judaism. Trailblazers like Marcus must solicit their own financial support and, with their wives, make a lifetime commitment to remain in often-remote areas, ranging from Armenia to Zaire. In not-so-remote California, 20 new sites are planned this year alone in places such as Calabasas and Monterey. The Golden State already has the largest concentration of Chabad centers outside of Israel.

Searching for ‘Esther’

By Mike Levy
Published on June 14, 2001

Wendy Graf's new comedy "The Book of Esther" focuses on a central character named Mindy, who, like Queen Esther, bravely declares her Jewishness in the face of opposition. Unlike Esther, Mindy doesn't save the Jewish people, but confronts her ardently secular family and friends when she discovers her religion.

Enthralled by Talk

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on August 24, 2000

Award-winning mystery writer Rochelle Krich, the "Orthodox Agatha Christie," has a confession: "I became a talk show junkie during the O.J. Simpson trial," sheepishly admits Krich, 52, the author of nine whodunits in as many years. "When the trial was over, I still needed my fix."

Film

Filmmaker writes from experience for post-Holocaust drama ‘Mighty Fine’

Filmmaker Debbie Goodstein has taken to heart the adage, “Write what you know.” Her 1989 Holocaust documentary, “Voices From the Attic,” recounts her mother’s years of hiding in a garret where snow descended through slats in the roof, a baby died and food was scarce.

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