Shana tova!

Rosh Hashanah 5780 has just finished in Australia, and we are now in the thick of the Yamim Noraim — the Days of Awe or 10 Days of Repentance.

In service of this period of inspection I have been deeply considering how I can best serve my community and how I can work on growing Jewishly over the coming year and beyond.

As a feminist historian, my training is in finding and analysing texts, writing engaging history and, most of all, elevating the stories of women, which are so often forgotten, ignored or maligned.

And so, in 5780 I’ve decided to take on a project that does just that. I’m calling it Feminist Yomi, of course a homage to the Daf Yomi (page a day) Talmud reading cycle. My goal is to read (or watch, or listen to) something by a Jewish woman each day. Sometimes this might be an article or podcast, other times I might be working through a book, or Torah commentary. At this stage I’ll be keeping it fairly open as my goal is to explore a wide array of authors and topics.

While I am committed to reading each day, blogging will likely be less regular than that, although I will aim for as often as possible. This is primarily a project for myself — I want to read more Jewish women and contribute to a strong Jewish feminist tradition.

Today I am reading commentaries on the story of Hannah, which features in the Haftarah for Rosh Hashanah morning. Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah, along with Penina. While Penina had given birth to many children, Hannah had none. Penina would torment Hannah, who would become depressed and stop eating in response.

One day after a meal Hannah went to the temple to pray for a son. She whispered her prayers so that the high priest thought she was drunk and chastised her. Hannah, understandably offended, explains to the priest that she is in fact praying, and the priest blesses her. Hannah conceives soon after and gives birth to the prophet Samuel.

As I hone my own prayer practice it’s empowering to know that women such as Hannah have shaped Jewish prayer and gained so much out of it. It’s worth it go out of your way and whisper those ancient words.

.שנה טובה ומתוקה — שנה טובה היא שנה פמיניסטית

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