5 things to know about Orthodox feminist Blu Greenberg
Blu Greenberg, the trailblazing Orthodox feminist, is bringing her wisdom to Minneapolis this Friday. As part of our Women Repair the World series, she’ll be joining us for a lunch and learn discussing agunot —Jewish women locked in their marriages because their husbands refuse to grant them a Jewish divorce—which, unfortunately, is still a problem in 2019.
As Blu herself says, “where there’s a rabbinic will, there’s a halachic way.”
This phrase, which Blu made famous among certain circles, has guided Blu’s decades of work empowering women in Orthodox Judaism. Here are five things you should know about Blu before her talk on Friday:
Her first foray into feminism began in 1962, when her husband bought her The Feminine Mystique at an airport bookstore. “This was my introduction to women’s lib, as we called it then, and I shuttled between three reactions: exhilaration, wide-eyed wonder, and suspicion.”
Blu founded the Jewish Orthodox Fenminist Aliance, paving the way for decades of advocacy and education.
She once stated that she continues to fight because there is so much left to be done, including acceptance of Orthodox female rabbinic leadership (check!) and “systemic halachic resolution to the agunah problem.” (Join us Friday to learn all the barriers, opportunities, and lessons learned when it comes to agunot.)
Blu is active with the International Beit Din, an organization committed to justice for agunot. The IBD has served clients int he US, Canada, and Europe at no charge.
She is the author of several books, including On Women and Judaism; How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household; and Black Bread: Poems After the Holocaust, inspired by real conversations Blu had with survivors.
