The Woman Who Smuggled Children From the Ghetto

When Nazi tanks rolled into Warsaw in 1939, a 29-year-old Catholic woman Irena Sendler made a decision: she would not stand by as her country's Jews were persecuted. Despite smuggling approximately 2500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, Sendler lived in relative obscurity until her death in 2008. But just 2 years ago, PBS released a moving documentary that brought her posthumous fame—including a Facebook meme.

Sendler and the women she organized gave each child a Polish name, taught them basic Catholic prayers to allay any suspicions about their provenance, and kept detailed records so they could reunite them with surviving family members after the war. And if these women's risk-taking actions weren't impressive enough, the children they saved marvel at the personal attention and devotion they each received. "They treated me like their own child," reflects Poitr Zettinger.

The makers of Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers sat down with Sendler for unforgettable interviews before her death, and the film features her and others' stories as well as archival photographs and footage. Her work remains an incredible, little-known story of bravery, not to mention interfaith cooperation.

Getting Drunk on Purim

Perhaps one of the more fascinating aspects of our religion is the strange requirement that obligates men to get drunk on Purim. Mostly we think that religion preaches self restraint and "clean cut, healthy family" type living. Well, obviously, Judaism is for all that, but, it also includes this one "let's blow it" type of holiday that traces it's origins to the Talmud.

The Rabbis of the Talmud said, "A person is obligated to drink on Purim until he can no longer distinguish between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordachai." This statement of the early rabbis who lived during the Talmud (about 1700-1800 years ago) had caused much concern by the later rabbis who concerned themselves with the codification of Jewish law (about 1000 years ago until today). (Exactly what the position of the rabbis in the period in between was can only been assumed that it did not bother them.)

Now some rabbis understand the words literally, and others understand the word to mean not really to get drunk. Those who understand the words literally, we don't have to prod our imagination to understand them. Yet other rabbis did not see this as an opportunity to get smashed in the sanctity of the Torah's teachings. They explained that the idea here isn't the drinking but the joy that is expressed when we realize the good that G-d has done for us. With the aid of a bit of wine, we are able to bring out more clearly our expressions of joy and gratitude to G-d, This thanks can be on a much deeper level when we ingest more wine than is our accustomed habit.

Others saw it coupled with the comparison between the cursing of Haman and the blessing of Mordachai. This they felt had deeper implications, such as the gematria (the mathematical equivalent of the Hebrew letters that comprise the words) of "cursed be Haman" which "happens" to be equal to "blessed is Mordachai". They reasoned that as long as one can reckon the gematrias, one may continue to drink, but once the mind becomes blurry, and the proper gematria can not be computed, then the drinking must cease.

Other later rabbis, to whom drinking is abhorrent, suggest that one may drink only a bit more than one is used to drinking, and then take a nap. In this way, the person drank a bit more on Purim, and since he slept, he did not know the difference between cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordachai. Hardly keeping in the holiday spirit, yet these rabbis were more concerned that no sins should be caused by drinking, therefore, it is better to sleep.

What seems to end up here is a watered down version of Purim which seems to void the holiday of all festivities other than ramming some food down the tubes.

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The Rabba Revolution Continues

Three years ago this month, Rabba Sara Hurwitz made history in the Jewish world by becoming the first publicly ordained female rabbi in the Orthodox community. Since then, the 35-year-old mother of three has been working as Dean of Yeshivat Maharat, an institution dedicated to training women Orthodox clergy, as well as working as Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. The first three women are set to graduate this June with the title of Maharat — an acronym for “Religious, spiritual, Torah leaders” — marking yet another important milestone for women in Orthodoxy. Rabba Hurwitz spoke to The Sisterhood to explain what this all means.

THE SISTERHOOD: What has changed for you over the past three years?

RABBA SARA HURWITZ: The biggest change is the flourishing of Yeshivat Maharat, and the continuation of Orthodox women serving in communities. The graduation of the first three students this coming June fills me a tremendous amount of excitement and gratification. I have students currently working in synagogues, one in a school, one in a JCC and one in a Hillel. That’s real movement.

What kind of feedback have you received from the Orthodox community?

I think there has been noticeable change since I received my title. I've been doing a fair amount of traveling around the country and I think Orthodox communities are much more open to seeing women as spiritual leaders. In fact they are beginning to want it, to request it, which I think is a real shift.

Part of the ability of women to lead relies on rabbis who have the courage to hire women as interns and graduates. I’ve been seeing a shift in the number of rabbis who recognize the importance of having women and who are eager to have women. I’m really grateful for these rabbis who are helping women carve out positions as leaders in the community. 

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Orthodox Jewish All-Stars, from the Senate to the Stadium

By Mayim Bialik

I've written about Jewinthecity.com here before. Allison Josephs, the woman behind Jewinthecity, is a one-woman dynamo machine of kiruv (outreach), making videos and speaking all over the country about her journey to Orthodoxy and how her life has been enriched and blessed from the changes she has made.

I know Allison because when she was working at Partners in Torah after I had my first son, she was “matched” to me as my study partner, and it was from our relationship that I made some significant and really rewarding changes in my life towards a better understanding of traditional Judaism. Allison has been my sort of Jewish go-to for everything from how to handle my grandmother’s funeral to my sons’ bris to the changing expectations on me as I have become more prominent on the red carpet.

Allison’s latest project is a really sweet video featuring some amazing people you may not have known were Jewish, or people who do jobs you may not have thought Jews could do… She has an incredible collection of such “All-Stars” and if you think you know a lot about Jews, check it out. You may be surprised. In addition, if you don’t know much about Jews, check it out and take note of Alex Clare (yes, the guy who sings “Too Close“), Senator Joseph Lieberman, and a bunch of particularly inspiring amazing women doing jobs that I honestly didn't even know religious women could do!

Enjoy and spread this little video far and wide. I think it’s a really lovely collection of experience, diversity, and perspective all in one video.