An Orthodox Jewish Woman Activist … Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll (Cross-posted from the Orthonomics Podcast)

Special Episode! Shoshanna sits down with Mark Trencher of the Orthomomics podcast, cross-posted here. Our guest is Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, a well-known Orthodox Jewish writer and activist whose work focuses on women's rights in Orthodox Judaism and the visibility of women in religious life. Born and raised in Lakewood, New Jersey, she moved to Israel with her family, where she has become a prominent voice challenging religious extremism, the erasure of women from public and communal spaces, and broadly advocating for Orthodox Jewish women. In this episode we discuss a number of issues including the increasing erasure of images of women in Orthodox venues. the agunah problem (women who are unable to obtain a get – a Jewish legal divorce – and are chained to former spouses and unable to remarry), women's health issues, their growing roles in Jewish learning, and more. She is a co‑founder of Chochmat Nashim, an organization that creates change in the global Jewish society by challenging dangerous trends in Jewish communities around the world. Using new and traditional media the organization sheds light on societal norms that exclude women and feed extremism. She is also a founder of Rate My Deit Din, a resource and website that evaluates and improves Jewish divorce in the rabbinic court (beit din) system. Courts are rated via user and professional reviews and are offered ways to improve users' experiences. Finally, she is a founder of the Laura Ben David Jewish Life Photo Bank, a dedicated resource for authentic images of Jewish women, families, and communities, aiming to counter erasure.