Jewish Action
Letters
THE MAGAZINE OF THE ORTHODOX UNION www.ou.org/jewish_action
More on Kosher Comedy g
“Kosher Comedy: The Rise of the Orthodox Comic” by Steve Lipman (summer 2011) was an interesting article, but it left out the frum female comediennes out there, most of whom perform exclusively for female audiences. There are several in Israel and the greater New York area. MIRIAM DRUYAN Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
Steve Lipman Responds g
Although there are some Orthodox women doing stand-up comedy, my article concentrated on those doing it as a profession, in the United States or in Israel, before primarily Englishspeaking audiences. Many women, and men, do comedy as a sidelight to their careers in other fields, but I was showing the trend of those doing it full-time. One who came to my attention after I wrote the story is Danielle Jacobs, a trained actress, who, while not a full-time comic, appears frequently online in the guise of Rebbetzin RLZ (Rivka Leah Zelig), delivering humorous insights into Jewish life. Two other Orthodox performers who came belatedly to my attention are Avi Liberman and David Finkelstein, who do their acts at various comedy clubs. The fact that these comics turned up after I wrote my story—I trust that there are others—is another sign of the growth of Orthodox men and women working in the comedy industry.
Kudos for Tackling a Sensitive Subject g
The article by Dr. Yocheved Debow (“Why Do We Need to Talk to our Children About Sexuality?,” summer 2013) provides further evidence that our religious community has begun to recognize that we have too long denied the importance of dealing openly
with sexual issues. Credit must also be given to Ktav and OU Press, who jointly published Talking About Intimacy and Sexuality: A Guide for Orthodox Jewish Parents, and to Jewish Action, for giving parents the opportunity to gain the expertise and courage needed to tackle this sensitive subject. We live in erotically charged times in which no one is protected from the myriad sexual messages confronting us daily. Our children are at risk because most parents do not equip their children with the necessary coping tools to deal with sexual inputs, particularly prior to the emotional storms and confusion of puberty. Making the situation worse is the assumption some have that adequate sex education happens in the schools. Moreover, parents all too often feel gratefully exempt from talking with their children about sexual issues, since someone else is going to do it before they get married. It is for this very problem that Dr. Debow’s book provides a most sensible solution. At the risk of undermining my livelihood, I can safely say that a significant proportion of the cases that come to me for therapy would be eliminated if children were raised differently. Many sexual dysfunctions, physical and emotional, may well be avoided if the next generation could develop in a sex-positive atmosphere, where adequate information is readily available, where questions could be asked with minimal embarrassment and where tzeniut is balanced with openness and an affirmative outlook. DAVID S. RIBNER, DSW Chairman, Sex Therapy Training Program Bar-Ilan University Ramat Gan, Israel
Reporting a Molester g
Respectfully, Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer’s summary of Rav Elyashiv’s ruling on reporting a child
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Fall 5774/2013 JEWISH ACTION 3