Winter 2008-2009

Daughters on mothers: the story that never goes away. The Sh’ma, Judaism's most famous prayer, radically rewritten for women. When a man you love is losing his mind. Italy’s only female rabbi.

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In This Issue

Lilith Feature

Daughters on Mothers

The Story That Never Goes Away

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Peace is the blithe distraction

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Peace is the dream you sleep for.Peace is a lily shared by two people with knives.Peace is prettier, but war has more to say. Peace may not be possible with... Read more »

The plague is the “to do” list

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Just for once, I am all caught up. And this should be the mantra,The brucha, the Haggadah; Freedom from our slavery isThe tearing up of lists. Let those errands go.The... Read more »

Fanny in Ottoman Palestine

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In 1914, she ran away from her Jewish home in Palestine with the Turkish governor, a Muslim. Turns out this forgotten foremother, a distant cousin, now fits beautifully into Alexiou’s own complex family mosaic.

Mother, I’ll Always Take Care of You

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Properly, I ought to begin this account by telling when I was born. But — I am ashamed to admit it — I do not know. You see, I was... Read more »

Left Behind

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I was about to have my hair trimmed. A new young woman replaced my usual hairdresser. It would be the first time I’d had a black hairdresser. “You needn’t worry,”... Read more »

Submergence

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I submerged. the warm water surrounded me in a velvety- smooth embrace and penetrated my skin, softening my clenched muscles. I had been braced for the icy cold swimming pool... Read more »

“If Hitler Didn’t Kill Me, You Will”

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I was aware, from a very early age, that my parents were survivors of the holocaust. My mother survived labor camps and Auschwitz, while my father miraculously lived through 14... Read more »

Only One of Us Can Wear This Dress, Ma

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The year was 1956. My family lived in a public housing project in Astoria, Queens, a working-class melting pot fifteen minutes and a thousand miles from Manhattan. It took all... Read more »

Fated To Be Ahead of Her Time

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My mother’s tallit rested heavy and lopsided around my shoulders, pink fringes tickling my knees. I was standing before the congregation, reading from the Torah for the first time in... Read more »

What Beauty Does

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When her husband suffers a debilitating brain injury, Shulman’s world, and her love, have to bend.

The Shekhinah Sh’ma: Six Little Words to Shake the World

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The Sh’ma, Judaism’s most famous prayer, radically rewritten for women.

Sima’s Undergarments for Women

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Sima would say, afterwards, that she didn’t come to the bra business — it came to her. “You need to keep yourself busy,” Connie told her. They’d run into each... Read more »

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