‘Lilith’ editor still sees glass ceiling for Jewish women

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

When Susan Weidman Schneider helped found Lilith magazine nearly 30 years ago, the number of books written about Jewish issues by women “would hardly fill a two-foot bookshelf. Now, they could fill a library,” she said.

Still, “the big issues have not yet been resolved,” said Schneider. Her “overarching concern is to place a gender lens on every aspect of the Jewish community, not just for the advancement of women but for the advancement of Judaism.”

Schneider spoke to NJ Jewish News in a wide-ranging conversation from her Washington, DC, office ahead of her Oct. 17 speech at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills. The talk, “Jewish Women Today: Beyond the Stereotypes,” is the synagogue’s Women’s Association annual fall event and is open to the public.

Schneider expressed concern over the Jewish community’s ongoing inability to embrace or even groom women leaders. “Women are underrepresented in the pipeline for upper level promotions in Jewish organizations.” She added that if someone had told her 20 years ago, when she was writing her book Jewish and Female, that today there would still be no major Jewish federation with a woman as its executive, “I would have thought it absurd.”

“It’s horrible that we still do not take full advantage of women in the Jewish world. Women are grossly underrepresented on the boards of Jewish communal organizations. There is still a lot of attitudinal resistance to equality in Jewish life.”

In her opinion, the organized Jewish community ought to be breaking ground on providing a healthy work environment for families. “The Jewish community has an opportunity to showcase itself as a model, where families with two workers can be good earners and have a good family life. The Jewish community should offer flex-time, not burnout.” She thinks this shift is essential if the Jewish working world is going to be able to attract the best possible candidates.

She pointed out that motherhood hasn’t been sufficiently addressed in the Jewish community. “Jewish women are raised to make something of themselves and to be parents. It’s disappointing that all of the pressures are still on women…. It’s up to the Jewish community to make sure there is communal support in place for Jewish families.”

Schneider said that some agencies are, in fact, pushing for better practices such as flex-time and job sharing. “Issues around child bearing and raising need to be rethought.”

She also discussed the persistent stereotypes of Jewish women and girls, particularly that of the Jewish American Princess. “I spent time at an all-girls summer camp recently. All the girls wanted to talk about was the idea of the JAP: Who is and who is not, which towns have more…. It’s about Jews and money, and about Jews and privilege. It suggests that Jews on the whole are not always comfortable with their identity. This area of uneasiness is projected on women and girls. It’s really an amalgam of misogyny and anti-Semitism.”

Schneider has served as editor-in-chief of Lilith, an independent feminist magazine, since its debut in 1976. She has appeared on CNN, on Oprah!, Good Morning America, and other network television programs, and she has published three books. Schneider and Lilith received a Polakoff Lifetime Achievement Award in journalism from the American Jewish Press Association, and Schneider has received Hadassah’s Golden Wreath Award and the American Jewish Congress’ Eleanor Roosevelt Prize.

Despite all the acclaim, Schneider acknowledged she still receives letters calling her and the rest of the Lilith staff “man-hating lesbians,” a moniker she laughs at. “It’s not a bad thing. We cover provocative issues and we’re doing our job when we elicit some responses like that. It means people are having their tested assumptions shaken up a little bit.”

A dinner and Schneider’s talk will be held at B’nai Jeshurun at 7. The event, which is open to the public, costs $40 for the entire evening. For reservations and more information, call B’nai Jeshurun at 973-379-1555.

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.

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