By Bailey Allen

February 22, 2023

 

Rabbi Talia Laster, a 30-year-old newly-ordained rabbi who lives on the Cambridge-Somerville border, often wears a headband on her head to remind herself that God is always with her, especially when learning Torah or praying.

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She wears this headband to represent a yarmulke, a skullcap typically worn by observant Jewish men, because she believes that the traditional role of the woman in classical rabbinical text does not apply to women today.

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Laster is one of many Boston-area Jews who have become more religious, but do not conform to historical Orthodox Jewish gender roles or non-egalitarian thinking.

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“When I read something about an isha [woman] or about nashim [women] in classical texts, I mostly don't see myself in that category. I see myself in the category of Jewish man because I think that is more descriptive of my social status in the world,” Laster said in an interview.

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Judaism is a religion, as well as a nation and culture, comprised of movements such as the major four — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist — according to the Jewish Virtual Library, although those titles can be restrictive for some. Other, more modern Jewish movements include Havurah and Humanistic Judaism.

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Orthodox Judaism is typically defined as adhering most strictly to traditional beliefs and practices, such as keeping kosher — dietary restrictions that include avoiding pork and shellfish and separating meat and dairy — and observing Shabbat — the Sabbath — every weekend.

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There is also a typical understanding of modesty. Men will wear a yarmulke and sometimes tzitzit, knotted strings that hang down from their undershirts, according to Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish group. Women will typically cover their hair when they get married, and wear skirts and long sleeves.

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Women are considered “exempt” from time-bound mitzvot, or commandments, including prayer three times per day, according to Chabad.

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“[Women are exempt] from all obligations that must be fulfilled at a specific time, such as tzitzit, tefillin, reading the Shema, shofar, sukkah, lulav, and Sefirat HaOmer,” Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin, Chabad scholar, researcher, and website content editor, wrote in his “Ask Rabbi Y” column.

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Laster, however, believes she is obligated to do so, just as a man would be in Orthodox Jewish tradition.

“I see myself as obligated to daven [pray] three times a day,” Laster said. “And I don’t do it very well, not because I ideologically disagree with it, but because I haven’t reached that spiritual level.”

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This idea is reflected in teachings of the Hadar Institute, a flagship of the “independent minyanim” movement, consisting of group-led prayer communities that don’t claim a denominational affiliation, according to Hadar.

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Having grown up in a more secular Jewish household, Laster became more observant in college once she got over the barrier of learning how she could “logistically” keep kosher and not use electricity on Shabbat, she said. Her friend, who was part of the Orthodox community at UMass Amherst, demonstrated the ins and outs.

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“She showed me the logistics of how to make plans for yourself on Shabbat, how to set Shabbat timers [for electricity],” Laster said. “I learned that it’s logistically possible to have enough food ready [during Shabbat].”

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There is a growing movement of Jews who didn’t grow up in a religious home, yet take it upon themselves to “return” to observance. Someone who does this is known as a baal teshuva in Hebrew or “master of return,” in the Orthodox Jewish community.

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“A baal teshuva movement has emerged with a significant number of Jews from non-traditional homes returning to the observance of grandparents and great grandparents,” Rabbi Yosef Blau of Yeshiva University said in a 2004 speech.

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Somerville Hebrew school teacher and graduate student Tzviyah Kusnitz, 23, grew up reform in Belmont, Mass., and now identifies most with the Conservative movement, attending a synagogue that features a “traditional egalitarian” congregation. The services use an Orthodox prayer book, but there is no gender separation at all.

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“The shul [synagogue] is kind of all over the place with opinions,” Kusnitz continued. “A lot of people there grew up secular or Conservative and then a lot of people grew up very Orthodox and kind of went the other direction.”

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Typical Orthodox synagogues will have a mechitza or a partition to separate men and women during prayer, according to Jewish Virtual Library. Kusnitz doesn’t agree with this separation, but still appreciates the religiosity of Orthodox traditions, they said.

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They live in a house where their roommates fully observe Shabbat, but Kusnitz also observes Shabbat in their own way — still using their phone in that 25-hour period from Friday evening to Saturday night, but with certain restrictions. They won’t use social media, but will allow themself to text their friends.

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Kusnitz also doesn’t traditionally keep kosher, but rather keeps a vegetarian diet, so they don’t have to worry about mixing dairy and meat, they said.

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For Boston-area Jews who keep the commandment of kashrut, there are multiple kosher food stores and restaurants that make it a conducive environment to explore a higher level of religious observance.

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“I was very nervous to become strictly kosher,” Laster said. “Partly because of going from the experience of being able to go anywhere and know that I could eat something and then going into a reality where I wouldn't know that I could eat something anywhere I went — I just felt very food insecure.”

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“Right around the time I moved to Boston, Clover got hashgacha — got kosher certification — and one opened up near my house near my new T station and near my work,” she said. “That facilitated my feeling like I could do this in a totally different way.”