No Talent? Stop Blaming Your Parents

New York Times. Most of us think of talent as an ability we’re born with and have fairly little control over. But increasingly, experts are questioning the notion that genes limit how far we can go.

Getting Fired Up over the Burqa Ladies

When I was in yeshiva, there was a guy there with darkish skin and a really big beard who used to always get stopped at the airport. Apparently, he bore a striking, but (as far as I know) purely incidental, resemblance to another guy halfway around the world who is even frummer than he is, but in a more... evil sort of way. This story is kind of the same, just a littler weirder. The nod to Islam was a bit more overt, and instead of an innocent yeshiva guy, it involved a follower of a convicted, violent child abuser, dubbed "Taliban mom" by the Israeli media.

This past Tuesday, outside of Kfar Saba, Israel, police officers spotted a suspicious-looking woman wearing what they called a "Taliban-like outfit" and carrying two suitcases. When officers called for her to stop, she ignored them and attempted to flee. At that point, the officers fired into the air, overpowered the woman, and took her into custody. (Kind of ironic that being too tznuah, modest, to talk to the male officers scored her a full tackle.) She's now awaiting a psychiatric evaluation. (Presumably it has something to do with the burqa, but it might also have something to do with the toy airport they found in her other suitcase. Just a guess...)

I've been following the veil tale for a while now (there's even been a spotting in Brooklyn! Tip of the abaya to Y-Love), but I still can't get my head completely around it. Especially in the current world context. Iran has its sights set squarely on Israel, women there and in the U.S. are fighting for more freedom, and Israeli women chose to restrict themselves even more with Persia's finest?! 

Elana Sztokman on Forward's "Sisterhood" blog sees this phenomenon as an extension of the existing rabbinically-imposed stringencies on women's dress, adding that it is difficult for one to "easily distinguish between extreme body cover that is 'normal' and that which is somehow extreme." She continues:

As if women – bombarded with radical messages of body cover supposedly in the name of God that claim the purity of the entire Jewish nation dependent on women’s invisibility – are somehow supposed to be able to know the difference between body cover that is “womanly” and that which is “crazy”. Given the predominance of this rhetoric in the Orthodox community, it was only a matter of time before women internalized the messages to the extreme. What is really infuriating is that none of the male “leaders” in Orthodoxy who rant and rave about women’s body cover now claim responsibility for the current extremism. It’s not their fault. Women have merely taken it “too far.” Right.

The problem with Sztokman's argument is that in defending the rights of the oppressively appareled Orthodox, she also sacrifices their intelligence. Besides, the leader of this veiled rebellion, Bruria Keren, does not seem the model of hegemonic submission (just ask her kids!). Nor do her followers who endure well-placed disdain and outcry in the name of their twisted notion of tznius.

No, I think that the burqa bonanza represents a more sophisticated phenomenon that R/M Horowitz and the Women of the Wall know well, but would likely not recognize underneath all those layers: feminism. 

In both of those cases, the women and their supporters are interested in the same, fundamentally reasonable thing (even if one's hashkafos don't agree with their specific arguments): finding a meaningful place for women in contemporary Jewish life. I believe the Burqa Brigade is motivated by the same drive. The only difference between the maharats and the muftis, between the rabbas and the burqas is the culture from which they emerged. 

In the relatively open Modern Orthodox society, dissent is tolerated, and even civilly engaged. The goals of the dissenting women reflect both the religious and social ideals of their community: scholarship, personal achievement, and spiritual self-actualization. The flexibility of Modern Orthodoxy’s religious boundaries also means that dissenters can envision their goals at just the borders of the movement, stretching just enough while remaining, they hope, within the fold. 

The female dissenters that Haredi Israel produces reflect equally upon that society's socio-religious makeup. There, where overt challenges to religious-political norms are not tolerated, dissent must be more subtle (even if the behavior is not). Where women have no voice, their protest must be without words. There, frumkeit is king (now queen), and individuality a nobody. In the monolith that is Haredi-brand Judaism, boundaries are binary, and there is no stretching; fighting at the margins only guarantees marginalization.   Women who grasp at power in that world cannot stage their battle at the periphery, they must fight at its core. 

The Haredi women who wear the burqa are not looking to be more eidel than your maidel; they're fighting the power. They keenly recognize that purloining power in their communities means reclaiming the reins of religiosity. So they’re really stickin’ it to the man by being frum in the only way he says they can’t. These women are reclaiming sexual repression and hegemony, holding halacha over their own heads as if to say "I'm the boss of me!" as much as "Grab it if you can!" 

Think of it this way... if Lipa is the Haredi Kanye West, and Yidden is the Haredi Stayin' Alive, then donning the Burqa is the Haredi bra burning!

"You Devil, Jew!" Vatican Blames Jew-Devils for Pope Missteps

New York Times. The Vatican and its PR team have beed putting a lot of effort into ducking the mounting accusations of mishandling of abuse reports by church officials that included the then future pope. Rather than beginning to heal the damage that pedophile priests have inflicted around the world, they have preferred to point fingers and (unsuccessfully) avoid shame. This Passover week, Vatican has gone "old-school," taking a page from the good ol' blood libels of Christians past.



In recent statements quoted by the Catholic News Agency, Father Gabriele Amorth, asserted that American reporting casting doubt on the pope's rigor in dealing with pedophile priests, was “prompted by the Devil.” “There is no doubt about it,” said the man Maureen Dowd calls "the chief exorcist for the Holy See." With Pope Benedict being the "marvelous pope" that he is, "it is clear that the Devil wants to grab hold of him.”




In his Good Friday service lat week, the preacher of the papal household compared the current criticisms of the church to the atrocities that the Nazis perpetrated against the Jews. Speaking to an audience that included the Heilige Tatte himself, The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa,  said that he was thinking about the Jews during this season because “they know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms.” 


Apparently, the preacher forgot his own church's implication in the "collective violence" that he's been thinking about of late. He also seems to have missed the irony in his trying to borrow sympathy from the Jews in the face of Italy’s La Repubblica's reports that “certain Catholic circles” have been  that “a New York Jewish lobby” was responsible for the outcry against the pope

---

But before we Jews gloat too much, let's not forget the bi'ur chametz (purging one's home from forbidden bread before Passover; symbolic of soul searching and repentance) that our own leaders have yet to do. Hopefully, a glimpse at how silly the "other side" comes off looking will turn up the heat (be a pitch-fork in the rear?) and push us all—leaders and critics alike—toward stepped-up action.

Permissive Dads Give Toddlers an Edge

We all know about the "mommy" part of early child development. According to attachment theory, the nurturance that primary caregivers (usually mothers) provide to young children provides them with grounding and support to venture out on their own.  A new study, however, shows that the "daddy" part might have been getting short shrift this whole time.

Ask any dad who's been chided by his wife for throwing Junior too high up in the air or letting him climb too high up a tree, and he'll tell you: fathers' wisdom says that being a little less protective is actually good for the kid. This study, by researchers at Université de Montréal School of Psychoeducation and the Université du Québec à Montréal confirms this by showing that "fathers are more inclined than mothers to activate exploratory behavior by being less protective." According to "activation theory, "the less the parent is protective, the more activated is the exploratory behavior in the child. Children who were optimally stimulated... were exploratory yet respective of the rules."

Also not surprising, boys were more likely have their development supported by this form of activation than girls, who were more often risk-averse.

Therapists and Social Networking: "In a Relationship"? Or "It's Complicated"?

As a psychologist, you know you've crossed a line when your Facebook status reads, "In session with Goldstein (OCD)." What about the more subtle issues? This Washington Post article offers some perspective on whether being a therapist and using social networking sites can go together.