Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and to state your perspective on the calendar. It really helps me to understand where you’re coming from, as did some of the posts on your blog.

I had a similar experience of not having a Jewish identity and then struggling in leaps and bounds to make it up in college. I minored in Hebrew as well, and I always enjoy different, especially humorous perspectives on Judaism. I love reading Heeb Magazine, for example.

I completely understand that you believe in it and that it is an important project for you as an expression of your Jewish identity.

However, for me it is not so much that I disagree with it based on modesty (I’m not opposed to the nude/almost-nude male or female form. Especially if it’s Gad Elmaleh,) but that fact that, to me, this calendar represents voluntary objectification of women and tries to combine it with Judaism in a representation that, again in my opinion, comes across as crass instead of humorous and as more of a gimmick rather than something striving to create levels of interpretation. Again, I think that, for example, representing Rosh Hashana with an image of a naked pregnant woman, for example, would be creating artistic levels of meaning. Or, here is an image of six Jewish women that is both touching, a bit funny, and an expression of Jewish identity: http://www.jewishpost.com/images/news/Six-IDF-Women.jpg

I can’t say to you that this isn’t how you should express feminism because feminism means something different for everyone, but to me, it’s just going back to women as objects to be devoured by men. You said that your main goals for this project were comedy, assertion of Jewish identity, and that the props would stand out. There are a number of different ways I could see achieving this without the use of nudity/scant clothing for the sake of nudity (for example, I’m not sure why, for the May image, you used majorettes http://www.jewcy.com/gallery/years_worth_jewish_ta and how it connects to Judaism.)

That having been said, interpreting art is always a fine line and I’m glad that your calendar has created a lot of discussion within the Jewish community.

It strikes me as strange and it also hurts my feelings that people would think something was wrong with me for making the calendar. Especially that you need to rush your kids to Hebrew School. That’s pretty intense.

I’m actually a quite reserved Bostonian Jewish woman who was performance artist for many years in NYC. I was married to a non-Jew (not anymore) and I felt that I lost my Jewish identity;. By nature, I am an artist, exhibitionist and feminist (even if you don’t agree on the last point.) I also was a Jewish studies minor and lived in Krakow, Poland. I take Judaism seriously, but I also am a comedian, and humor is a part of Judaism’s history. I didn’t want to “cast” other women in the calendar, so I used myself as the subject in hope that the props, image, costume, etc. would stand out more.

It’s a comedy project on one level and an assertion of MY Jewish identity which I am sure differs from yours, but it’s my statement. It’s funny you mention Leonard Nimoy – because we were both just interviewed for a documentary on Sex and Religion.

I think you need to see the physical calendar to really understand it -there are over 70 pictures and I wouldn’t have spent thousands of dollars of my personal money if I didn’t believe in it. I think last thing we need is to limit Jewish self-expression if it disagrees with one’s modest views.

Vicki, thanks for writing about it.
Best, Jamie