And you thought it was just because you were a faithful Catholic!
A lovely little essay here. An excerpt:
There we are. Me, in a high-necked, long-sleeved blouse, knee-length
pencil skirt, in the midst of a heat wave . . . while the city’s bright-eyed interns
run about with bare shoulders and flip-flops.
Oh, and if you liked the essay, then you have to see the lovely little chick flick Arranged.
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It really is a beautifully human essay. I was surprised to look at the comments and see so many of the readers hating it. I guess it's not just us Christians they can't stand...
I think what "they" really hate is any woman who is swimming so much against the stream of "post-feminist" culture, and doing it because she loves God and honors her commitment to Him, regardless of religious affiliation.
A very interesting essay. Thanks for sharing it. It may have struck me as particularly relevant because I had just visited with my daughter Alana, now studying in Jerusalem, via Skype.
I particularly liked it because I went to undergrad and my M.M. program with some cute, smart, funny ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls who were planning to give up their instruments (violin and voice, respectively) to marry poor scholars whom they had yet to meet, hopefully as soon as possible. And one of my most favorite students ever was a jazz drummer who'd moved to NYC from Tel Aviv and converted to the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch sect. He planned to pioneer some hybrid of jazz and Hasidic devotional chant. A great, great kid. One of that class's assignments was to write a review of their favorite recording. He wrote and presented on Kind of Blue, and it was just brilliant -- he explained to the class that the genius of the record was the simplicity of the solos.
Jews have always played key roles in my life,both personal and intellectual, just as Jews have always played key roles in all aspects and ages of history.
Oh what a treat! I love people watching and eavesdropping in coffee shops and restaurants.
It's funny but I feel a sisterhood with those girls in the essay and with the author much more now that I'm married than I would have when I was their age and single. For me it was marriage that really grounded me as a woman of faith.
That was really fascinating; thanks for sharing. And I've added that movie to my Netflix queue.
The movie is great -- at least I thought so. I bet everyone here would like it, with the exception of the guys.
What a beautiful article! And Arranged is a great movie. I found myself completely able to empathize with Rochl and Nasira when they were overhearing the other teachers talk about co-habiting and nude beaches. The devout single Catholic girls I know have all been there, feeling completely out of place and, one one hand sorry for the other ladies and on the other thinking "Am I completely crazy?" Anyway, whenever I see an orthodox Jewish girl out and about I feel very encouraged. I remember when I was taking the subway to college and I would try to say prayers out of a little prayer book so no one would notice. More than once I would see a Jewish girl or a Muslim girl smile at me as I sorta-kinda prayed and it would encourage me to not be embarrassed. Eventually, I got to know slightly a beautiful Muslim girl at school who was studying architecture and was in my canon law marriage and annulments class. She was having a marriage arranged for her and she had nothing but good things to say about how the Church took marriage so seriously. Contrary to what a lot of people think, culturally there is a great deal of common ground among strangers of different religions.
Now I feel nostalgic for the subway. I lived in an Orthodox Jewish 'hood for many years and would always see the primly-dressed Orthodox girls with their lips moving rapid-fire on the way to work in the morning . . . and then they would kiss the book and slip it into their pocketbook.
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