Chavie sits down with Rivkah Slonim — author, lecturer, and self-described Chassidic feminist — and walks through her childhood growing up in Crown Heights in close proximity to the Rebbe and Rebbetzin, with grandparents rooted in the illustrious Kapichnitz Chassidic dynasty. Rivkah shares how she came to coin the term "Chassidic feminist" and traces it back to her early years at Chabad of Binghamton, where she was confronted with the widespread assumption that Chassidic women are oppressed, and found herself doing the research to answer questions she had never quite asked before. Chavie brings the hard questions she has collected from her community and her own life about women's place in Jewish law and tradition — including mikvah, taharat hamishpacha, and halacha's relationship with female equality. They then dig into what it means to build a community and raise a family on Shlichus, and whether self-care is a modern invention or just an age-old value with a new name. Rivkah also shares how she came to author her most recent book, Holy Intimacy — which brings the conversation about women's pleasure and Jewish marriage into the open for the first time.

Rivkah Slonim is the Associate Director of the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University, which she co-founded with her husband, Rabbi Aaron Slonim, in 1985. A self-described Chassidic feminist, she is an internationally known lecturer and activist. She is the editor of Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology (Jason Aronson, 1996; Urim, 2006) and Bread and Fire: Jewish Women Find God in the Everyday, and co-author of Holy Intimacy: The Heart and Soul of Jewish Marriage with Sara Morozow. Slonim serves on the Editorial Board of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, sits on the executive boards of Tamim Academy and the Institute of Jewish Spirituality and Society, and is a senior lecturer at Bais Chanah Women International.

This Week's Prompt

What are your favorite Pesach hacks and tips?

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Referenced On the Pod

Links to Rivkah's books:

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I am dedicating this episode in honor of my dear mother, Rivky Slonim, who inspires me daily. May she continue to inspire the world in good health for many more years! - Chani Levertov

Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at [email protected].