Author Archives

Jewish feminist scholar, activist and professor living in Prague, Czech Republic.

• The Israel-Palestine Conflict and Ecofeminist Insights for Lasting Peace By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on December 9, 2012 • ( 3 )

  

  On Thursday, November 29, 2012, the United Nations officially recognized the Palestinian Authority as a sovereign state and granted its petition for observer status within the international decision-making body.  Sixty-five years before the United Nations had approved a two-state solution… Read More ›

• Building a Bridge toward the Future: Will You Meet Me in the Middle? By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on November 11, 2012 • ( 5 )

  

  On Tuesday, President Obama’s acceptance speech included the following statement about coming together as a country across differences of opinion.  He said, “We will disagree, sometimes fiercely about how to get [toward the future we hope for]…by itself, the recognition… Read More ›

• “From Teshuvah to Justice: Jonah’s Call to Change” by Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on October 14, 2012 • ( 5 )

  

  (I offer here an abridged version of the sermon I gave on Yom Kippur (5773) at Temple Emanuel in Lowell, MA.  The full version will be available on their website soon.  The book of Jonah is always read on Yom… Read More ›

• Alcohol is a Feminist Issue Too. By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on September 9, 2012 • ( 8 )

  

  Sex sells.  The sexual objectification of women is used in advertising to sell anything from auto parts to cologne to alcohol.  Despite the myriads of feminist critiques of women’s sexual objectification to sell products, it still exists.  Open a Vogue… Read More ›

• How literal is too literal? My Experience with Tallit Katan. By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on August 15, 2012 • ( 12 )

  

  I tried a new spiritual practice yesterday.  I wore a tallit katan.  It is commonly worn by Orthodox, Hasidic and other Ultra Orthodox men and boys from the age of 3 onward and usually not worn by women within these… Read More ›

• Why a Kippah Reminds Me that Rationality Should Not Be Our Only Imago Dei By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on July 8, 2012 • ( 5 )

  

  Neil Gilman in his book Sacred Fragments writes, “Since our faculty of reason is G-d-given, since it is the quality that distinguishes us from the rest of creation, and since all human beings share that same innate faculty, what better… Read More ›

• The Transformative Power of Daily Practices by Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on June 17, 2012 • ( 5 )

  

  My simple daily rituals and spiritual practices are what keep me mindful of G-d and G-d’s presence in my life.  They also remind me of G-d’s call to justice, care, compassion and love.  “I find by experience, not by reasoning,… Read More ›

• JUDGES 19: A BRIEF PAUSE FROM JUSTICE-WORK TO BE WITH HER IN THE SILENCE BY IVY HELMAN

  By Ivy Helman on May 19, 2012 • ( 4 )

  

  Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and renowned Jewish thinker, believes that no one can ever truly understand the profundity and tragedy of the Shoah unless one experienced it.  For him, silence is the best way to express the events since words… Read More ›

• The Need for a Positive Counter-Narrative of Religious Involvement in Feminism by Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on April 21, 2012 • ( 33 )

  

  I’ve admired JC for years.  That’s Joan Chittister, OSB the Benedictine nun of course.  I first saw her speak when I was in graduate school and she visited Yale.  I’ve also read a number of her books.    Her life… Read More ›

• Reflections on My Spiritual Journey: Claiming Judaism By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on April 13, 2012 • ( 19 )

  

  “Is Ivy Helman Jewish?”   This question and knowing that eventually I’d have to respond one way or another to it has caused me many sleepless nights.  At the same time my faith journey has become integral to who I… Read More ›

• On Being in the Moment By Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on March 24, 2012 • ( 5 )

  

  Time.  We mark years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. We mark seasons.  We mark life events.  We live our lives in time: both circular and linear.  Time began before we did and time will continue after we cannot experience… Read More ›

• On Cooking and Eating by Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on February 26, 2012 • ( 19 )

  

  In patriarchal heterosexist societies women do most if not all of the cooking for their families.  Women are also usually assigned the tasks of cleaning, raising children, tending the family garden, gathering water and anything else that is considered part… Read More ›

• RE-SOULING ON SHABBAT BY IVY HELMAN

  By Ivy Helman on February 1, 2012 • ( 5 )

  

  I attended a service at Congregation Shalom in Chelmsford, MA two Fridays ago.  During the service, Rabbi Shoshana Perry spent a few minutes addressing the last word of a Hebrew prayer found in the Reform siddur, Mishkan T’filah.  It was… Read More ›

• Motherhood: Still Women’s Most Valued Creative Contribution to Society? by Ivy Helman

  By Ivy Helman on January 18, 2012 • ( 15 )

  

  I’m expecting… The stork is delivering as we speak!  I hope you can join me in celebrating this joyous news  – although you should know, the stork is the United States Postal Service, and I am expecting my first book,… Read More ›