A long-time JP reader
Dear Rachel,
Keep up the good work of not being afraid to deal with Klal Yisroel’s sticky situations. You wouldn’t believe what happened to my wife. As an executive at a large prestigious firm, she was wrapping up an important meeting with reps of affiliated agencies when a woman who knows her to be Orthodox approached to speak to her “off the record.” She was curious as to whether my wife felt sexually repressed by her Judaism at home and if Jewish men feel it important to satisfy their wives.
My wife was shocked and offended. She hadn’t yet heard of Deborah Feldman or her book and let this woman know what she thought of her obnoxiousness and idiotic questions. That’s when this woman mentioned she had read this book and was concerned for my wife whom she “cares about.”
My wife straightened her out about real Jewish love dynamics and assured the woman that she was baruch Hashem warmly loved at home, even after more than two decades of marriage.
Rachel, the pain and embarrassment brought about by this young “novelist” (fictionist) extends way beyond those she set out to malign. Holy Jewish women who just want to go about their lives and revel in the warmth and privacy of their special relationships are suddenly forced to deal with their tznius being ripped away from them.
Hurting for our souls…
