New Podcast: The Jewish Women's Roundtable!
July 13, 2010
New podcast from the Jewish Women’s Roundtable, a collaboration between Lilith and the Forward’s Sisterhood blog.
Here, the Forward’s web editor Gabrielle Birkner talks with Lilith editor in chief Susan Weidman Schneider, Lilith assistant editor Sonia Isard, and the Forward’s editor, Jane Eisner. Listen in on our conversation on everything from Jewish anti-choice organizations, to a new pitch for a reality television show, to our own “click” moments.
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Enjoy! And join in the conversation in the comments section below.
3 comments on “New Podcast: The Jewish Women's Roundtable!”
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i can’t find this podcast on itunes. is it on itunes? i wld like to subscribe.
We’re working on it! Glad to know you’re interested, Sandra. Hope you enjoy the podcast!
-Sonia
This is a great and needed collaboration!
During this Mother’s Day week, While we’re remembering amazing Jewish mothers with attitude, I’m excited to share with you the story of a remarkable woman you probably haven’t heard of. Combine Cleopatra and Hillary Clinton. You’ll have some idea of Salome Alexandra, the real-life Queen of the Jews. She was called by her grateful people Shalom-Zion, the queen of the peace of Zion.
After the Maccabees, Judea remained independent for only 77 years. Shalom-Zion was on the throne for 37 of those years. She was married to a grandson of the Maccabees. Imagine a woman ruling Judea when women had the legal status of slaves. Egyptians and Syrians invaded. Civil war broke out between the commoners, who were followers of the Pharisee rabbis, and the wealthy Sadducee nobles and priests.
Meanwhile, Shalom-Zion’s family life was a mess: 27 years of stormy marriage to the bloodthirsty alcoholic King Alexander Janneus. Her sons turned against her. Her brother, Rabbi Shimon ben Shetakh, head of the Sanhedrin, was sometimes her ally, sometimes her bitter opponent. Yet, probably because of her influence, R. Shimon made one of the earliest rulings granting increased rights to divorced women.
Together Shalom-Zion and Shimon ben Shetakh midwifed the Judaism of the rabbis – the Judaism that survived the destruction of the Second Temple and is still practiced today. You can read all about this genuine Jewish heroine in my new historical novel, Queen of the Jews, available on Amazon.com. Look under my name, Judy Petsonk. Thanks. And let me know your reaction to the book!