The Feminization of Jewish Holidays

Many of those writing in these publications advocated looking at Jewish holidays differently, switching the focus from men to women. These writers did not proclaim their intentions as something novel, but presented their viewpoints in a taken-for-granted manner, just as they took male religious authority for granted. They did not see any contradiction between the old forms and the new ways of looking at them. After all, none of these publications called for displacing men as religious or community leaders. This novel approach manifested itself—not surprisingly—on the women’s pages and in Froyen zhurnal; Di froyen-velt concerned itself with fighting religious superstitions rather than celebrating Jewish holidays.