Behind the Scenes with Perl and Her Female Orthodox Rock Band

Five years ago we reported on the formation of an all-female Chasidic Indie Rock group called Bulletproof Stockings.

Well, the band disbanded last year, but Perl Wolfe, the founder of Bulletproof Stockings, has formed a new band called Perl, and she's singing again to women's groups in Brooklyn.

Not everyone in the Hasidic world has jumped on the bandwagon, but the idea of women performing rock music has caught the attention of many who live in the sheltered world of Crown Heights, Boro Park, and other Brooklyn communities.

In this video report, Perl describes the enthusiasm that her group is bringing to women who come out for their rock concerts.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

  

Israeli Ad Agency Outwits Haredi Billboard Defacers

Original Poster

Last week an Israeli ad agency launched a clever campaign to promote public awareness of violence against women in Israel, outwitting the Haredi vandals who regularly deface billboards and posters that include images of women.

As Haaretz reported last week,

In a campaign coinciding with the United Nations' International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marked on November 25, Israeli advertising firm Twisted tackled the issue of excluding women from the public sphere, Ice.co.il reported. 

Defaced Poster

In the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, images of women on billboards are deemed immodest, especially if their knees, elbows and hair are uncovered. This is also true in Jerusalem, where advertisers refused to run ads on buses that picture women, out of fear the ads would be vandalized. 

Instead of fearing vandalism in Bnei Brak, Twisted used it in its favor, to help it get the message across: They put up a double-layered poster featuring a woman's face, and her hair and shoulders uncovered, knowing it would get vandalized, Ice reported.

Less than 24 hours after the poster went up, just as Twisted had predicted, the face of the woman in the poster was ripped off, the report said, revealing a message that read, "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25.11.03." 

Italian Secular Jewish Photographer Casts Ultra-Orthodox Women in a New Light

The world of ultra-Orthodox women can seem to be a mysterious one, when seen from the outside looking in. For documentary photographer Federica Valabrega, a secular Jew herself, her interest in this world led to a photo project which would ultimately challenge her own assumptions about these women.

Valabrega, originally from Rome, Italy, moved to Brooklyn in 2009 to photograph the women in a project that she calls Bat Melech (Daughter of the King). She was surprised to find that "Jewish women are not just at home making soup and cooking matzo balls and changing diapers. I met women who work at Goldman Sachs. I met women who have their own business."

She also traveled to Israel and France, and plans to visit Morocco and Tunisia to include photographs of religious communities in those countries.

The project will be on display in Italy and Israel later this year. She is also working on a book to accompany the exhibit.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)