Joining the sisterhood: young Jewish women write their lives

238 Pages·2003·0.63 MB·English

by  Tobin Belzer, Julie Pelc

Joining the Sisterhood
SUNY series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture
Sarah Blacher Cohen, editor
Joining the Sisterhood
Young Jewish Women Write Their Lives
Edited by
Tobin Belzer
and
Julie Pelc
State University of New York Press
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2003 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, address State University of New York Press,
90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207
Production by Judith Block
Marketing by Jennifer Giovani
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Joining the sisterhood : young Jewish women write their lives / [edited by] Tobin Belzer
and Julie Pelc.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in modern Jewish literature and culture.)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5861-X (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5862-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. American literature—Jewish authors. 2. American literature—Women authors. 3.
Jewish women—United States. 4. Young women—United States. 5. Jewish
Women—Poetry. 6. Young women—Poetry. I. Belzer, Tobin. II. Pelc, Julie. III. Series.
PS508.J4J65 2003
810.8'09287'089924—dc21 2002045256
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
With gratitude for their love and support,
we dedicate this book to:
Kayla Leah Jacobson Sanchez
and
Grandma Jean Belzer Simon Cohen
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I. Ruach: Ourselves in Relation to Others and the Environment
1. Bais Yaakov Girl (essay)
EVE ROSENBAUM 13
2. Questions (poem)
MELANIE LEITNER 25
3. Ground Contemplation Prayer (essay)
LEAH BERGER 26
4. Singing Praises (essay)
SHOSHANA M. FRIEDMAN 35
5. God Lives in the Himalayas (essay)
LEANNE LIEBERMAN 44
6. Yom Kippur in Ecuador (Me and the Virgin) (poem)
ALEZA EVE KAUFMAN SUMMIT 56
7. Where the Mountain Touches the Sky (essay)
VERED HANKIN 58
8. Sister (poem)
ALANA SUSKIN 71
9. Mazel: The Luck of the Irish (essay)
CHARLOTTE GREEN HONIGMAN-SMITH 72
Part II. Nefesh: Ourselves in Relation to Our Bodies
10. Blessings in Boxes (essay)
GABRIELLE KAPLAN-MAYER 85
vii
viii CONTENTS
11. At Home in My Own Skin (essay)
CLARA THALER 97
12. Boiled Beet (poem)
ANNA SWANSON 106
13. Who is a Jew? (essay)
LOOLWA KHAZZOOM 108
14. The Kibbutz (1989) (poem)
DEBORAH PREG 119
15. When You’re Looking for G-d, Go Home (essay)
JESSIE HELLER-FRANK 121
16. Orange (poem)
ANDREA GOTTLIEB 131
17. A Woman of Valor, Who Can Find (essay)
JULIE PELC 133
Part III. Neshamah: Our Emotional and Intellectual Selves
18. Chutzpah and Menschlekeit:
Negotiating Identity in Jerusalem (essay)
CARYN AVIV 147
19. Passages (poem)
LEAH BERGER 163
20. Meeting in the Middle (essay)
LYNNE MEREDITH SCHREIBER 164
21. Secret Weapon (poem)
AMY ELISABETH BOKSER 175
22. Ira Glass, Where Are You? (essay)
TOBIN BELZER 177
23. Stepping Eastward (essay)
DAVEENA TAUBER 189
24. Making Love on the Deutsche Bahn (essay)
RUTH A. ABUSCH-MAGDER 199
Glossary 211
Contributors 223
Contents ix
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge Sarah Blacher Cohen, whose support
has been invaluable in all areas of our book’s production. Thank you
to James Peltz and Judith Block at SUNY Press, for their vision to see
this project through to the end. Thank you to Chanel Dubofsky, Neil
Keikover, and Riqi Kosovske, for helping with the essential details.
And thank you to the gifted young women whose writing graces these
pages.
We are extremely appreciative of the financial support this project
received from the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation. We also want to
express how much our lives have been enriched by wonderful rela-
tionships at many institutions and organizations during the process of
creating this book: Brandeis University; The Hadassah International
Research Institute on Jewish Women; Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish
Campus Life; Joshua Venture: A Fellowship for Jewish Social Entre-
preneurs; Kol Isha Leadership Seminar of the World Union of Jewish
Students; Tufts University; Washington University in St. Louis; and
the Wexner Foundation. Finally, thank you to our mentors, friends,
sisters, parents, and allies, whose love has kept us in life, sustained us,
and enabled us to reach this joyous occasion.
Julie Pelc and Tobin Belzer
Los Angeles, CA
ix