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Spirituality and Religious Life

Content type
Collection
Collage of a kippah and a rainbow

How My Kippah Affirms My Trans Identity

Murphy Slater

I feel most sure of my gender identity and presentation when it melds with my Jewish cultural identity.

Collage of a computer and Star of Davids

Why I Delayed My Bat Mitzvah

Sylvie Simmons

After that initial Zoom bat mitzvah, it became clear that my own celebration would look the same.

Collage of a Star of David necklace

Connecting Across Generations Through My Star of David

Jess Shapiro

Aunt Barbara gave me the opportunity to forge my own Jewish identity, with the help of a simple, silver, Star of David.

Collage of a compass and a heart

My Jewish Feminist Journey in Israel and the US

Ruth Pollin-Galay

I was dubbed “femenistit masricha,” a smelly feminist, on the first day of seventh grade. I kind of liked it. 

Collage of tallit, a kippah, and other Jewish ritual objects.

The Question that Sparked My Jewish Journey

Yona Pianko

I hadn’t thought much at all about why I engaged with Judaism—or even why I was Jewish beyond having been born that way.

Collage of two hands reaching out with stars in between

Encountering Feminism and Sexism at Jewish Summer Camp

Zoe Moore

Feminism does not require that all women are the same and should react in the same manner to misogyny.

Collage of painted Stars of David

Finding Spirituality Through Art

Margaret Lockman

Religion and art are both about turning individual experiences into community ones.

Collage of maps with a Star of David

Balancing Identities: If Hanukkah Harry and Elf on the Shelf Were From China

Sophia Kurtzig

Being Jewish, Chinese, and American has fed my aspiration to ensure that more non-traditional Jewish people feel comfortable with their identities.

Collage of protest with a sunflower and a megaphone

How Judaism Fuels My Commitment to Reproductive Rights

Amia Kaplun

As we progress and amend our traditions, we can take wisdom from past rulings to benefit the Feminist cause.

Collage of a globe and stars of david

Confessions of a Super Jew

Meital Fried

I lead a life filled with Jewish meaning, and I shouldn’t have to untangle that from the other identities I hold.

Collage of Jewish texts

Reclaiming my Spiritual Freedom

Lea Davis

I realized that my faults with Judaism stemmed from men’s interpretations of how women should behave, not actual law.

Collage with a megaphone

Marrying Feminism and Judaism in Pluralistic Spaces

Maya Braiterman

Women can only access Judaism's power when we enter a space that allows us to engage with tradition in the way we see fit.

Analía Bortz

Analía Bortz is the first Latin American woman ordained as a Conservative rabbi. Her approach to spirituality and religion combines with her medical training. As a doctor specializing in bioethics, she has also helped women and couples with fertility issues. 

Collage of woman reading in nature

Lessons from "Miss Rumphius"

Talia Richmond

Twelve years later, "Miss Rumphius'" message of exploring faraway places to find community still resonate with me.

Sofia Isaias-Day 2024 Cropped

Where Are They Now? RVF Alum Sofia Isaias-Day

Sarah Biskowitz

JWA talks to Rising Voices Fellowship alum Sofia Isaias-Day for our series marking the 10th anniversary of the fellowship.

Collage with a Jewish star in the center surrounded by pieces of paintings.

Embracing the Mosaic of Pluralism

Sydney Burgess

This is the beauty of Judaism: when one connects with others from different denominations, merging can be amazing.

Collage of nature landscapes, sheet music, and a star of David

Expanding Spirituality through Inclusivity

Frieda Belasco

Nothing is lost by encouraging and enabling different ways of accessing spirituality. If anything, people will learn a new tradition along the way.

Collage of jewish text, a woman reading and a star of david

How My ADHD Connected Me to Judaism

Sara Weinstein

My ADHD gave me a constant desire for emotional escape, which allowed me to enter a world where I learned about my Jewish foremothers.

Julie Johanna Engel

Julie Johanna Isner Engel dreamed of becoming a professional opera singer in Germany in the 1930s, but the rise of the Nazis interrupted that dream. Escaping to the United States, she trained her voice in synagogue choirs and local opera performances. In the 1970s, she took a cantorial position at a synagogue in Queens, one of a pioneering generation of women cantors.

Collage of Golems

Finding Meaning for a Golem in Unlikely Places

Sydney Burgess

The one thing all traditional golem depictions have in common is their sanctity. However, this most important facet has practically disappeared from the media.  

Collage of "The Believer"

Wrestling with God and Neo-Nazis

Ava Cohen

What’s frightening about 2001 film, "The Believer,"  is that struggling with the idea of God as all-powerful is far from a unique experience.

Portrait of Lauren Tuchman smiling in front of a stained glass window wearing a maroon top and gold necklace

7 Questions For Rabbi Lauren Tuchman

Sarah Groustra

JWA chats with rabbi and disability justice advocate Lauren Tuchman.

Priscilla Golding

Project
Ga’avah: LGBTQ+ Jews

Nicole Zador interviewed Priscilla Golding on November 9, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts as a part of the Ga'avah: LGBTQ+ Jews project. Priscilla recounts her family history, upbringing in Boston, higher education experiences, her brother's AIDS battle, her coming out journey and its reception, involvement with Am Tikva and outreach to synagogues, memories of the International Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jews, and reflections on the changes within the queer community, including her relationship and marriage to Barbara Berg.

Drawing of male and female holding basket and looking at each other

Maraviglia's Fifteenth-Century Prayer Book

Evelyn Cohen

The British Library shares a fifteenth-century prayer book commissioned by a father to his daughter, Maraviglia, a testament to women’s participation in fifteenth-century Italian Jewish ritual life.

Collage of black and white butterflies and snapshot of prayer shawl

Praying for Permanence: Finding My Connection to Faith

Halleli Abrams Gerber

Slowly, I have come to understand that my connection to Judaism doesn’t need to be a linear path. I experience days of doubt, times of radiant joy, and moments of deep guilt.

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