The documentary 93Queen tells the story of Judge Ruchie Freier and her all-women ambulance corps, an unlikely story of women’s empowerment coming from an even more unlikely quarter: the hasidim of Brooklyn. Chochmat Nashim sits down with the film’s creator, Paula Eiselt, to talk about the hurdles and downright nastiness the women overcame, as well as what it means to enter the hasidic world with a video camera.
Local elections in Israel brought a record number of women to positions of authority. With the Rambam saying women can’t be in charge of just about anything, it sounds like a lot of people who care about Halakhah might need to move. Join Chochmat Nashim as we discuss just what is “serara” anyway, and the question of a dominant leadership in contemporary society.
*Chochmat Nashim’s podcasts are for informational purposes, not piskai halacha. Consult your local Orthodox Authority for specific psak halacha.
Artificial Reproductive Technologies have made all kinds of things possible – starting with children who would not have been born. With innovation, comes halakhic response. And, in the case we discuss, rabbinic overreach, thanks to Israel’s lack of separation of religion and state. Shoshanna, Rachel, and Anne consider what it means to be a parent when the state wants to taint your child (as well as define some terms and issues that the Knesset has been using incorrectly).
*The Chochmat Nashim podcast is informational and does not offer Piskai Halacha. For a personal questions or concerns, please consult your local Rav.
The Haredi world has a 70% lower incidence of breast cancer than the general population, but a 30-50% higher mortality rate from the disease. How is this possible? What can be done to reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer among the Haredi population? Join Shoshanna Keats-Jaskoll, Anne Gordon, and Rachel Stomel to discover the reasons for the problem, the ways that it can be confronted, why some Haredi leaders are – shockingly – resisting any solutions, and what Chochmat Nashim is doing to help.
Shoshanna, Anne and Rachel make use of the popular conversational technique (that’s what it meant in our high school) to dissect the “Kavanaugh effect,” the discourse leading up to his Supreme Court confirmation, and how it has reflected on the Jewish community.
In some ways, it’s a cause for celebration: an aguna for 18 years is finally released by a religious court. On the other hand, despite the fact that an Orthodox beit din has annulled the marriage, that decision has no effect whatsoever – none! – upon her legal status in Israel. Doesn’t that violate the principle that the decisions of a valid beit din are accepted, even if other rabbis disagree with the ruling? What does this tell us about the pitfalls of the religion-state mix in Israeli law? And what can each of us do to fix these problems? Join Anne, Rachel, and Shoshanna to find out.
