Clik here to view.
Birthday Blessings
Post by Melissa Today is my 30th birthday, and a great blessing in life. A few days ago, I posted on twitter about my upcoming birthday, and a dear friend replied with “celebrate turning 30! So many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Connecting to Yitzhak
I spent the month of Elul learning the akeda (Avraham’s would-be sacrifice of Isaac) in much depth from the text, Rashi, and other commentators – and the entire time I had a nagging feeling about it. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Orthodox Feminist: Not an oxymoron
If you Google Orthodox Feminism, or some derivative there-of you will be initially greeted by JOFA, but after that things get dicey. For some reason, even amongst many modern women, the idea of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mel’s First “Quarterly” Review…
Post (and photo) by Melissa After three months in Israel, I find that people tend to ask about the same things, so I thought it might be nice to address the big picture of them quarterly. Both to keep...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Living History
I am still in shock over these experience, but knew that I needed to find a moment to actually write about it, so I am going to attempt to encapsulate two of the most amazing experiences of my life in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Headbands to Headscarves
As of this month, I have been covering my head in some fashion for five years! Those of you who have been paying attention are surely thinking “wait, Melissa hasn’t been married that long!” – and you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Which identity has the most influence?
How do you define your identity? Does your feminism influence your Judaism, or does your Judaism influence your feminism? These questions were posed by one of my mentors here in Jerusalem at a Shabbat...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On Being Frum and an Ally
Post by Melissa I initially wrote this post about two years ago and it has lived in draft form with periodic edits ever since. At the time I wrote it, “gay marriage” was a hotbed issue in CO and was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A different kind of holy water
Photo from tumblr – Post by Melissa Being in Israel, the prayers for rain feel so much more powerful and connected than they are in the US. They are timed here differently to perfectly coincide with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why is this year different from all other years?
Post by Melissa If I added a fifth question to the seder this year it would have been: Why is this year different from all other years? The simple answer is of course – because we’re in Israel! But...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why (not) Pardes?
Pardes Logo – Post by Melissa Since moving to Israel nearly nine months ago, I cannot count the number of times I have had the following conversation with people I meet once it has been established...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mel’s (not-so) Quarterly Reflections – Take 2 and 3 combined
May 1st marked 9 months of living in Israel. I’m not totally sure how that happened, but it did! So, since I missed the 6 month recap, here is one that covers both my second and third quarter here....
View ArticleClik here to view.
One of Four, but All for One
I had the distinct honor to be at the kotel for Rosh Chodesh Sivan. At least, that is what I believed as I left my house that morning and wrote this on Facebook: I believe that prayer is a communal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Getting to, and through, shloshim
You may have noticed the serious lack of posts from me over the past few months, and well, there is in fact a reason: I’ve been getting to and thus inevitably through shloshim. What follows is a bit of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life is a journey, God is the guide
Today in my Chumash class, we were asked to think/write about how we view or relate to God as part of a discussion about revelation. I had to (sadly) admit to myself that I don’t really think about God...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Continually opting in to Orthodoxy
There has been a lot of talk online over the past few months about Orthodox Feminism – ranging from how it is not possible, to how oppressed we are, to why we stay Orthodox. The posts on the latter...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review: Talmudic Images
Post by Melissa Anyone who has ever learned the Talmud, be it in daily practice of Daf Yomi or a single shiur, knows that the wisdom of our sages is vast and keeping track of the sages themselves is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life is a journey, God is the guide
Today in my Chumash class, we were asked to think/write about how we view or relate to God as part of a discussion about revelation. I had to (sadly) admit to myself that I don’t really think about God...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Cadence of Kaddish
I have been wanting to write about saying Kaddish for months now, but I always felt like I needed to tell a grand story, to find some way to encapsulate all the emotions and experiences in one cohesive...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Leading the Exodus
We read this past week about the moment at which three dynamic leaders stood at the edge of the sea, and how different their experiences were surrounding that moment. A mentor shared a bit about...
View Article
