Part and parcel of attending public schools in the 1970s and ’80s in this country was being socially indoctrinated with viewings of “Free to Be You and Me.” Among the vignettes advocating an end to gender roles telling us who we could be, what we could do and how we could express our feelings was a cautionary tale called “Ladies First.” Spoiler alert: It didn’t end well for the individual demanding “ladies first.” Inspired by this feminist upbringing and resurgence of women’s activism in the wake of #MeToo, we followed up on an initiative and invited the women of our congregation to give a Torah commentary or sermon once a month. We called it “Women First” as a tip of the hat to “Free to Be You and Me” because the ordinal number conveys it’s a top priority and because these talks were given on the first Sabbath of the month.
Women First Archives
Archived Women First Torah Commentaries
click on highlighted links to read a transcript