Pst-Dobbs

Dear friends,

In 1955 in Queens, NY, a small crowd gathered to say Kaddish for recently deceased Cyral Cottin. Her fifteen-year-old daughter, Letty was told that she would not count towards the minyan because she was not a man. Letty’s response was to cut herself off from the public sides of her Jewish faith. For fifteen years, she would not affiliate with any synagogue or Jewish organization. At home, she continued to maintain certain rituals. “I wasn’t going to let my alienation from my father’s religious institutions cut me off from the rituals associated with my mother and the home-based Judaism in which my heritage felt ... most real.” 

Within twenty years of her mother’s death, Letty would become an enormously influential figure in the Feminist movement. In the seventies, she joined with Gloria Steinem and other women to found Ms. Magazine. For over fifty years Letty has been at the forefront of the fight for women’s empowerment and safety.  

In a way, these days it feels like we’re back at square one when it comes to women’s rights. We’ve stood on the shoulders of women like Letty for so long. We aren’t carrying our weight. How long could we expect them to keep carrying us? And yet, here we are, the protections we’ve taken for granted stripped away. Women’s safety is so foundational that when it is at risk all other marginalized groups suffer too.  

In the face of all of this, someone like Letty chooses this moment to tell her bravest story yet: Shanda, the story of her life, her ancestors, and the way that shame and secrecy worked to control and suppress the narrative. Instead of lashing out at our broken world, Letty looks inward, at her own story, at the missteps of those closest to her, and even at her own. She tells her story in a way that makes you want to tell your own. To say more truthful things. To be a little more honest about who you are, and where you come from. I can’t think of anything more urgent right now.  

Letty’s incredible story will be on full display on May 15th, when she joins us at our Kumah Festival event. I’m especially excited that Erika, my far better half, will be interviewing Letty. Erika’s work in restorative justice is rooted in untangling shame, secrecy and ancestry, and she’s also no stranger to sharing her own private pain as a way to inspire change.  

For those of us who can make it, this will be a privilege to hear from Letty, an important Jewish thinker who continues to change our world for the better. I’m sure that this intergenerational conversation between two strong women will help us understand our role in this post-Dobbs moment.  
I hope you'll be able to join us!

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Misha