About this item
THIS EYE-OPENING LOOK AT THE RISING OPPRESSION OF ISRAELI WOMEN OFFERS A RALLYING CRY FOR HOW WOMEN EVERYWHERE CAN FIGHT BACK. ACROSS ISRAEL-one of the world's most democratic countries-women are being threatened and abused as ultra-Orthodox Jewish factions seek to suppress them. In this stunning exposé, award-winning author and leading Jewish women's activist Elana Sztokman reveals the struggles of Israeli women against this increasing oppression, from segregation on public buses-in a move Hillary Clinton called "reminiscent of Rosa Parks"-to being silenced in schools and erased from newspapers and ads. This alarming patriarchal backlash isn't limited to Israel either: its repercussions endanger the rights and freedoms of women from Afghanistan to America.
About the Author
Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman, former Executive Director of JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, is a leading writer and thinker on topics of feminism, Judaism, Israel and Orthodoxy.
Elana holds a doctorate in education and sociology from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and wrote her dissertation on the identity development of adolescent religious girls in school. Her post-doctoral research, which examines the shifting identities of Orthodox Jewish men, is the subject of her first award-winning book. The Men's Section: Orthodox Jewish men in an egalitarian world, which won the 2012 National Jewish Book Council award in the area of Women's Studies.
Elana's second book, Educating in the Divine Image: Gender Issues in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools, co-authored with Dr Chaya Rosenfeld Gorsetman, (Hadassah Brandeis Institute, UPNE, 2013) , looks at the ways in which Jewish schools socialize into gender identities. The book won the 2013 National Jewish Book Council award in the area of education and identity.
Elana's third book The War on Women in Israel: : A story of religious radicalism and the women fighting for freedom, will be released by Sourcebooks in April 2014.
Elana's writings on feminist issues in Israel and Jewish life have been published in many forums: The Atlantic, Slate, The Forward, The Jerusalem Report, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, Lilith, The Australian Jewish News, Jewish Educational Leadership, and more. She has also written book chapters, book reviews, and academic articles. She has also taught these subjects in institutes of higher education: The Florence Melton Adult Mini-school in Melbourne, Australia, The Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, the Efrata Teacher Training College, the Bar Ilan University Gender Studies Department, and Young Judea.
Elana's Master's Degree is in Jewish Education from Hebrew University, and her BA is from Barnard College, where she majored in political science and received a New York State teaching certificate in high school social studies.
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, and a graduate of the Yeshivah of Flatbush Elana moved to Israel in 1993 and today lives in Modi'in, Israel with her ever-supportive spouse, Jacob, founding director of Gabriel Project Mumbai, and their children.
Some interesting factoids about Elana:
* Elana can count to ten in eight languages (English, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Hungarian)
* Elana played piano and Glockenspiel in her high school band.
* Elana's dog is a beige mix of Alaskan husky/white lab/golden retriever and is named Teddy.
