Help wanted: Men to serve on the rabbinic court to supervise immersion of conversion candidates. Producer Nirit Yaakovs-Yinon, a religious Jewish woman, got interested in the concerns of female conversion candidates after hearing about the job description above from a friend who worked in the Israeli government. Both male and female converts to Judaism are required to immerse in a mikveh, or ritual bath, as the final step toward becoming a Jew. When women immerse before their weddings and monthly thereafter, another woman supervises to ensure that the woman immersing is completely under the water. But according to Jewish law, the three members of the male-only court must witness … [Read more...]
Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich: Expanded Space for Women at Western Wall
May 4, 2013 by 2 Comments
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the rabbi in charge of the Kotel (Western Wall), said last week that he intends to enlarge the women's section of the Western Wall. Photographer Rahel Jaskow documented the poor conditions for women in two photo essays, Separate and Unequal at the Western Wall and Return to the Western Wall, Passover 2013. Rabbi Rabbinovich brought up the plans at a joint meeting with the committee on internal affairs and the committee on the advancement of women at the Knesset, during a discussion of the Women of the Wall. "The reality is that the women's section is narrow and does not manage to contain all of the female worshippers. We are checkout out a solution, and there … [Read more...]
Revisiting the Misgeret, or Is Preschool Necessary
May 3, 2013 by 57 Comments
This post was originally published in 2008, but is still relevant for many parents. Sadly two readers who commented here, Helene and RivkA, passed away within the last few years. It's bound to happen at one time or another when you are out with your toddler. Your neighbor asks you the question you were wondering yourself earlier that day, as you tried to talk on the phone while your son climbed the bookcase: "Isn't he bored at home with you all day? How old is he again? [Insert any age here.] Shouldn't he be in a misgeret?" In honor of my 4-year-old starting gan in a few weeks (we did have an informal two-child playgroup, technically a misgeret I suppose), I share my answers to the … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding in the Hospital after a C-Section
May 1, 2013 by 7 Comments
A reader writes: Hi Hannah, I had a question in response to your last post about the formula options promoted by the Ministry of Health. I'm due to give birth to my third child in the next few weeks (in Jerusalem, G-d willing) by elective c-section. I exclusively breastfed both of my older children for over a year, but I remember from past experience that right after my c-section it was very difficult for me to get up in the middle of the night to go get my baby for breastfeeding, so, feeling left with no alternative, I told the nurses to give the babies one bottle during the night and the rest of the time I would only breastfeed. After a c-section, the nurses are willing to bring the … [Read more...]
New Mothers Get Choice — Between Two Brands of Breastmilk Substitutes
April 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I once heard a bit of sales advice, let's say for shoes. After a potential customer has tried on two pairs, you shouldn't ask if he likes one or the other. Instead say, "Which pair of shoes do you prefer?" With luck, the customer will accept your assumption that he has already decided to buy at least one pair. This advice came to mind when I read that the Israeli health ministry, as stated back in June, will now be requiring maternity wards to offer two competing brands of breastmilk substitutes for newborns. Shoes and powdered milk are very different products, but both are sold using manipulative marketing tactics. Until now, the companies paid huge sums for exclusive distribution … [Read more...]
Reader: Should We Make Aliyah in the Middle of the School Year?
April 17, 2013 by 3 Comments
Please check out my blog post at Times of Israel, in honor of Yom Haatzmaut: The Good, the Bad and the Fantastic: 65 Surprising Things about Parenting in Israel. The post below also makes use of crowd-sourcing via the Mother in Israel Facebook page. A reader writes: Hi! I'm wishing to remain anonymous since we have told no one of our aliyah plans yet. I'm wondering if you or your fans would have any advice for making aliyah mid-school year (December 2013), or if it would simply be better to wait it out until next summer (2014). I don't want our children (ages 8, 5, 4, 2) to have a harder time adjusting than they have to. Thanks! Rachel M.: I just came this past summer, and I say come in … [Read more...]
Fallen Soldiers with No One to Remember Them: Esther Koifman
April 15, 2013 by 1 Comment
Connecting with Yom Hazikaron, Israel's memorial day for fallen soldiers and terror victims, can be difficult for immigrants. Unlike most Israelis, immigrants may not know any families who have lost loved ones. So I was intrigued when my friend Deena Levenstein wrote about participating in a project to bring attention to the sacrifices made by early immigrants to Israel. It's a way of connecting families with no one to remember, to heroes who have no one to remember them. Deena writes: Today, as part of the MyIsrael project, I am going with my mother and sister to visit the graves of three young people (early twenties) who were each lone Holocaust survivors, made it to Israel and were … [Read more...]
Return to the Western Wall, Passover 2013
April 12, 2013 by 3 Comments
Rahel Jaskow's photo essay on equality at the kotel, Separate and Unequal at the Western Wall, prompted much commentary. She decided to return with her camera over the Passover holiday to document any differences. Here is her report. Return to the Western Wall: Passover 2013 by Rahel Jaskow Every time I visit the Western Wall, the first thing I notice are the changes. Between the excavations, the construction and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky’s new proposed plan to expand the Western Wall area to include egalitarian prayer (if the plan should actually be carried out), the area is in flux, a work in progress. Over the past few years, I’d noticed that the Western Wall … [Read more...]
The Last Night before the Hurban of Ozerow
April 7, 2013 by 1 Comment
In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, I am sharing this excerpt from my father Ben Zion Wacholder's memoir of the days before the deportation of the Jews of his town of Ozarow, Poland: No decision was taken by the family as to whether or not I should leave them until the eve of deportation. The lengthy discussions about what ought to be done always ended inconclusively. My parents and brother and sister, together with the great majority of the town’s people, continued to cling to the belief that life would somehow continue. Mother was certain that if death overtook her and her husband, she would be seated at his footstool in the Gan Eden. Her husband would be seated near the head of the … [Read more...]
Modern Israeli Baby Girl Names, April 2013
April 4, 2013 by 9 Comments
G. writes: I love your blog! especially the baby names sections but I wanted to ask for myself specifically. I am due to have a baby girl B'H at the end of the month and I am thinking of baby girl names that have a nice meaning, sound nice in English (I am from Australia), are a little unique/uncommon and are acceptable in Israel. We are dati leumi so something that would fit in when we make Aliya please G-d one day. At the moment my favourites are: Lee-Elle Lital Anael Talya Maytal Halel Will these names be ok in Israel? I am afraid of naming her the equivalent of Eugine or Gertrude. Be-shaah tovah! You have an ear for good names--all of these are in the top 50 or so for … [Read more...]
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