Lilith Salon
Sunday, March 30, 2014 • 28 Adar II 5774
7:00 PM - 9:00 PMJane & Harvey Sussweins's home, 85 Clinton Avenue Montclair, NJ 07042What’s it like? The conversations—with women like and unlike yourself—are more free-flowing than a book group (with fewer pages to read), more feminist than your typical social action group, less spiritual than a rosh hodesh group, and more participatory than a lecture—with enough food and drink to keep the conversation flowing.
Readings
Should a Jewish Girl Wear a Dirndl? (And Other Questions About Jews And Tracht) by Karen Engel
What not to Wear, by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Discussion Questions
SHOULD A JEWISH GIRL WEAR A DIRNDL?What’s a dirndl? It’s a traditional peasant dress with apron, bodice and relatively low cut blouse. Dirndls were popular among Jews and other members of the rising upper and middle classes before the Holocaust. Campy and fun, they offered a way to appropriate Austrian insider-ness. When Hitler forbade Jews to wear them, he understood the semiotics.
1. In the last few years, dirndls have made a fashion comeback in Austria? How do you feel about the Jewish daughter (Janina) in the article wearing one?
2. In 2008, an Austrian Jew, Miguel Hertz-Kestrenek, won the prize for promoting Tracht (traditional folkloric clothes, including dirndls and lederhosen.) He felt that since his father and grandfather were forbidden to wear them, his doing so, is a protest against the evil that occurred. Do you agree with his belief?
3. Is wearing the dirndl just a fashion choice?
4. How do you understand the “fashion” of those who were active in the movements of the sixties or seventies (think Woodstock) How is this the same or different than wearing a dirndl? Or, think of styles worn in any other era and consider how it reflected on what was happening at that time.
6. What role does fashion play in your life? Is it connected to your values? How do you feel about Jewish women today who follow the Jewish code of modesty?
7. What “costumes” do you think we ourselves wear?
8. Putting fashion aside for a moment, how do you feel about driving German cars?
Eric Silverman’s WHAT NOT TO WEAR, by Yona Zeldis McCDonough
Although we have only the review, and not the book, there are still some questions that may enrich our discussion of the Dirndl article.
1. How do you feel when you see someone - male or female, in typical ultra-orthodox garb? How do you feel about clothes worn by teens/pre-teens to Bar & Bat Mitzvahs today?
2. Do Jewish rules of modesty play a role in how you dress? Does how you dress identify you as Jewish in any way?
3. How do you relate to American fashion? Would we be surprised about how you looked in a different decade?
4. Did you ever protest what you were made to wear as a child?
5. How do you feel about the norms for Shabbat dress at CAI or any other shul you attend or attended?
6. What does wearing or not wearing a kippah, tallit, tefillin mean to you? Should there be a feminine version of these religious items, or should women adopt the traditional version?
Although we have only the review, and not the book, there are still some questions that may enrich our discussion of the Dirndl article.
1. How do you feel when you see someone - male or female, in typical ultra-orthodox garb? How do you feel about clothes worn by teens/pre-teens to Bar & Bat Mitzvahs today?
2. Do Jewish rules of modesty play a role in how you dress? Does how you dress identify you as Jewish in any way?
3. How do you relate to American fashion? Would we be surprised about how you looked in a different decade?
4. Did you ever protest what you were made to wear as a child?
5. How do you feel about the norms for Shabbat dress at CAI or any other shul you attend or attended?
6. What does wearing or not wearing a kippah, tallit, tefillin mean to you? Should there be a feminine version of these religious items, or should women adopt the traditional version?
| Share Print Save To My Calendar |
Sat, May 3 2025 5 Iyar 5785