Elana Sztokman
20 במרץ 2024
From Barbra to Beyonce, here are some women helping me get through these dark times
It’s not easy to get through a book these days. Incessant distractions and anxieties driven by both external events and internal chatter do not make for an easy time for reading. Who has the energy to sit back and relax? But maybe that’s when we need it most.
Plus, there are a few titles that have attracted my interest, some directly war-related and others less so. I tend to scatter my books around my puttering. I have one in the kitchen, one by the couch, one in my bag, and the biggie by my bed — that would be Barbra Streisand’s new 800-page memoir, My Name is Barbra, which gives me a certain joy and inspiration and the belief that anything is possible with a fearless, creative Jewish girl from Brooklyn at the helm. Thankfully, the book will keep me occupied for a while.
To acknowledge the role of books in my life, tonight, I will be speaking at the Jerusalem book launch of Iconic Jewish Women, the new book by former MK and head of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women, Dr. Aliza Lavie. This is actually my first speaking event that is not exactly October 7 related since the war started. Although maybe it’s all related. The book is aimed at providing models of female courage and leadership for bat mitzvah girls, and I think we could all use some of that. This feels especially true considering the unbearable absence of women from decision-making regarding this bloody war. There are no women on the war cabinet, no women on the negotiating team now in Qatar, and no women with power over the events that are affecting so many of us. Meanwhile 19 women remain hostages, enduring all kinds of things we don’t want to think about too much, and all of whom are assumed to be pregnant by now. So I’d say this is as good a time as any to remind people of the need for women’s perspectives and leadership.