Hypocrite secular woman calling herself "religious" while almost showing her breasts. The halachos of modesty demand that a woman not show anything below the neckbone, thereabouts (don't ask me for the details). What I see in your picture is NOT tznua. Please don't call yourself religious. You are *not*, and you insult real religious people. Have to note that I have female colleagues at work who are 'secular' and who do not almost show their breasts like that.

Q - Is there such a thing as a religious feminist? A - No. All else is commentary....

Maybe we need to redefine both words -religious- and -feminist. There is a lot to say about jewish observance not being a religion and maybe feminism is not the same to everyone. Both words and worlds maybe yet not at odds with each other and if it is important to people that they meet I am sure it can be done.

:) in Short ; The God (G-d) created women for MAN. as a special friend (Man is kind of boss :) sorry ! What feminism WHAT :) wash dishes :) do that thing everynight for the husbund ! Nor once for 15 days :) when husbund comes home wash his foots. and some massage for foot fingers :) and DONT GET FAT. KEEP YOUR BODY NICE ! and DONT GET LIE SICK EVERY TEN DAYS :) I never understand what days they are women sick :) *** forget about what I wrote above. Those are all joke. I am supporting femminism :) Efrat Shapira-Rosenberg ! YOU HAVE BEST SMILE I HAVE EVER SEEN on Jew Web Sites ! How your boy friend let you go out :) Damn it ! what a hell this, I didnt know Jews ladies this beautifull :) Tali farkash and this Lady Efrat Shapira-Rosenberg ! I have to find out If I am Jew :) I should be Jew :) I will divorce my Wife go to Israel :) Hey I cant be married with some other religion :) I must be a Jew :) I have to :) *** I was in hospital again one hour ago. They took My Brain Photo (EMAR) Lets see what is wrong with my continuous headaches on my head ? *** I real respect women. I do. I wish everyman treat their Ladies as me. no joke. Love Atilla Liman Karagözoğlu

Maybe now and then, a system needs to be torn apart and re-assembled in a more improved form, regardless of how long it's worked for one segment of humanity and how well the other part has been bamboozled, intimidated or just plain worn down into going along with it. Any "system" that sets a human being apart or limits its potential for no reason other than for being of one gender or the other is, in my opinion, wrong. The only exception is anything pertaining to the protection of pregnant women, the key word being "pregnant," which is, already, geared more towards the protection of future children than of the women. Given what a miserable experience that can be and if that weren't so, the human race might have died out a long, long time ago. If one chooses not to go along with Gen 1: 27 but subscribes to Gen 2:22, it's obvious that even back then men needed women and not the other way around. In other words, ladies, we've been had long enough :-) Lest anyone starts to get on my case, substituting "race, religion, color" for "gender" is just as valid.

You obviously are not one of those men who swear up and down that they always and only notice women's eyes. Your honesty is appreciated :-)

The definition of a feminist has changed. Originally the term meant a suffragette, a woman who believed in the right of women to vote and equal pay for women. These original members of the women's movement were wives and mothers and took traditional stances. For example, they viewed pornagraphy as destructive to women. Today, if you are a "traditional" feminist" , you have to loudly distingush yourself from the newer branch of feminism. This "new" form is made up of lesbians and pro porn advocates. They in no way resemble the original ideals of the women's movement.

As someone whose been a feminist all her life, and is now observant, I would say its not an easy path to walk, but since life is always a narrow bridge anyway, so what. I prefer to use the word "observant" as I am trying to "observe" the mitzvot, whether I am "religious" or not, is up to Hashem to decide. I haven't become a different person since deciding to become shomer shabbat 7 years ago, if anything I am more myself than I ever was before. We are all on a path, the main thing is whether we are going somewhere or just running around in circles, chasing our own tails. Since being a feminist is so much part of my self, I could no more ditch it than I could cut off part of my body, and since I find being "observant" gives me more of a sense of who I am and belonging, if only to myself, I am of necessity both. Of course there were no organised groups of "religious feminists" or "feminist religious" at the demo, there was no time for us/them to organise or get there for a demo on motzi shabbat as we were all observing shabbat. However I bet there were a few of us in the crowd as individuals - those of us who live in Tel Aviv. Next time -ask us to come and hold it on a Thursday night or a Sunday night and we'll be there. And yes I have had a hard time covering my hair, but its a spiritual thing, not a patriachal thing -after all a "frum" man also covers his head.

How comes you still enjoy abomination sites at the internet ???

Daniel - it is not ur job to publicly humilate a woman on here - u sound like a fanatic. Fanatics are only into strict measures of law, whereas they forget how hatred and hte consequences of their extremism caused the downfall of Jerusalem

There simply is no contradiction between second wave feminism (as was alluded to earlier) and halacha. Period. Plain and simple. Third wave feminism does have its pro-sex and pro-porn elements, so obviously this would contradict G-d's Will. Has Mr. Ra'anana ever learned Masechet Ketubot? What is the ta'ana of "i efshi", what are "nichsei tzon barzel"? What of the Eshet Chayil that Mishlei describes, a woman who is making her own textiles and selling it to merchants - i.e., a wholesale distributor - who keeps her children decked out in the finest of wool while her husband sits and learns? Should we say that she is not to receive, for instance, an equal price for her "sadin" and her "chagor" that her male distribution counterpart would receive? Obviously, the ENTIRE feminist movement (as well as those who would apply its principles to the application of our holy halacha) isn't kosher - but then again, neither is any sociological movement or medium. As an aside, yeah, Ms. Shapira-Rosenberg does need to change her picture. But to call her chiloni just for this one picture (which we don't know if she was wearing an over-shawl 5 seconds beforehand in)? Whatever happened to dan l'kaf zechut? Ein lanu ela ha'Torah ha'zot (we only have one Torah), let's not attempt to "reform" it with sexism.

religiously observant women. I have met many non-religious "feminist" women who have been abused and used by their menfolk, and not given the respect a proper religious man will give to his wife and daughters. It is common to quote misogynic rabbis of old, but there are equal, if not more ancient sources which encourage men to treat their womenfolk with dignity and respect - beginning with the divine command to honour your father and your mother...... notice that mother appears first in the sentence............

You must be posting to YNet while looking at a porn website.

Here we have a beautifully written article and all we are trying to do is to look at Efrat's breasts, 'cause #1 sees breasts everywhere he looks at! As far as I'm concerned, feminism has already caused a great deal of damage to our society. We better keep it away from Religion, Efrat.

Please post the technical details of how some of you have managed to manipulate the pixels of Ms. Shapira-Rosenberg's picture to show breasts. Not that I'm into boobs, but, other than adding a virtual wonder bra configuration or worse by using Photoshop, I am very interested in the methodology of adding something to photos that the camera didn't capture but could be, was or is there in reality. Is that something new in Vista ???

Women have to mature to a spiritual level, where they are more concerned about how God views them, and live no more trying to be men pleasers. Because it is a fact of life, that you can not please everyone. And let me share with you the beauty of the Holy One of Israel, whose love and care for us in Christ trancends Governments angels and powers

Good on you! #1 is obviously a shmuck and should be embarrassed to print his name on the site.

I'm over 50 and have seen the effects of the feminist movement in the US. While feminism has done beneficial things for women, it has also done much harm to American families and to the sociey. Feminism encouraged American women to have few or no children, to treat men with disrespect (watch American films and tv commercials for examples) - leading to extramarital affairs, divorce and the collapse of the family. Kids are home alone after school getting into trouble because their mothers are working. And the physical stress on women who have children and full time careers has contributed to early menopause.

The article does a nice job of describing what the various camps have to say about whether or not religiosity and feminism can be reconciled. However, the article does not DEFINE FEMINISM, in the first place, nor does it DEFINE RELIGIOUS. For most of us, including the author and her community (I assume), these terms have become quite flexible and dynamic.

I also became religious many years ago. I was already a feminist then and still am. I know that rabbis and men don't want women to learn torah, gmara and kaballa because they are aware that women are more spiritual beings than men are and the same men are afraid that women will busy themselves with spirituality and therefore ignore the poor shmucks. G-d created women because He knew that men couldn't live without us. Women can live without men, thank you very much. I could say a lot more but there's not space enough here, let it be said that women can be both religious and feminists. We do not need men, they need us.

In a tb , posted some months ago , a religious person wrote that women HAVE to OBEY to the wishes of her husband . Is this honoring his woman ? Or do you think that bringing flowers for Shabbat is enough ? In another subject on this site i also wrote about the problems Orthodox women face . Read it . Shabbat Shalom

The religious world can thank secular feminists for improving society to where rapists do indeed go to jail, harassment in the workplace is now a crime, and the situation of agunot gets more publicity than ever. The secular feminists can thank their religious counterparts (of which there are a great many) for preserving and strengthening the woman's role in religion. If it weren't for feminists, you probably wouldn't see haredi women working in high-tech today supporting their families and society (through their taxes). Orthodox women staff rape crisis centers, shelters, and a myriad of other services to society that simply did not exist before the feminist revolution.

Well , my dear , i can only agree , but if you do'nt need men , who will bring you flowers for Shabbat ? Who will give you a "chibouk" ? And last but not least , do'nt you need men to have [ nice ] children ? We have also to know what you , and everyone , means by "feminist" ? You can be feminist by fighting for equal pay for the same work , or for have also the possibility to give a "get" to your husband [ you can , but it's easier for a man i think ] Do you think that this Rabbi was right when telling Orthodox women they have NOT to study ? Rights for women have to be egal to those for men , in all places and in every case possible . Shabbat Shalom

Nobody in these talkbacks seems to know about all those free as air and non-married women, who are economically self-supporting, and decide life issues for themselves without having to consult or obtain permission from male relatives. Are these ladies, religious or otherwise, the true Feminists?

thank you for this honest article, for naming contradictions and difficulties without claiming to have the solution. A truly feminist thing to do! Col ha'cavod!