#JMM Criticism

[townpostin]

AJSU Chief Sudesh Mahto Criticizes JMM and Singhbhum MP in Goilkera Meeting

Sudesh Mahto accuses JMM leaders of misleading people with false promises during the elections. AJSU’s Sudesh Mahto criticized JMM and Singhbhum MP, accusing them of reaching Delhi through deceit. CHAIBASA – AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto launched a fierce attack on JMM and the Singhbhum MP during a public meeting in Goilkera, West Singhbhum. The meeting was held as part of the Chulha Pramukh…

[werindialive]

Jharkhand’s Ex-CM gave an interview to Kapil Sibal before getting arrested, shared key details

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the context of a land fraud case. Before he was arrested, Soren made clear in a statement that he was not afraid of the actions of probe agencies.

He appeared in an interview with Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal for his "Dil Se" YouTube programme where he criticized Bharatiya Janata-led Centre for making him a target using “political objectives”.

Hemant’s interview was shot on Tuesday in New Delhi. However, the release was made on Thursday. Soren in his interview also said that ever since the Jharkhand government was formed, several efforts have been made to topple the JMM government.

Hemant was subjected to a seven-hour question and answer round before being arrested by the ED. He was charged with an alleged money laundering case.

“As soon as I formed the government, it started facing challenges in which our primary opposition people were involved, but we tackled that,” Hemant Soren told Sibal.

Hemant took a dig on ED and said that the law enforcement agency has been sending him summonses since 2022.

“There is no FIR, there is no name, but the agency keeps trying to establish that 'you have broken a law',” Soren said during the interview.

"We (JMM) do politics on our own strength, we have stood on our own, we will protect what we have built," Hemant Soren said claiming that the actions taken by ED are solely aimed at harassing the ministers of his party- JMM.

"They know that if I am in the field, they will have problems. First, threaten, then give inducements, and then they get to such tactics... When they could not win politically, they are using other means," the ex-CM said.

"They can keep targeting me, I don't care. I am not scared of this. We entered power politics because only through this can we support people," Hemant Soren said.

For more political news India in Hindi, subscribe to our newsletter.

[jewishmuseummd]

As we said in the introduction to our 2019 exhibit Fashion Statement, “Your clothes send a message. What we wear can express, or disguise, our status, origins, values, and beliefs. Through style and materials, as well as literal text and logos, clothes show the world both who we are and who we want to be.” I’d hazard that for most of us, the stage from which we send that message tends to be relatively low-profile. But what if you find yourself on an actual stage, in the national or even international spotlight? And it’s January? What if, say, your stepmother or grandfather has been elected to national office, and everything you wear – shoes, coat, jewelry, mask – to the inauguration will be parsed and dissected and praised and dismissed by countless reporters and pundits, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and amateur critics, and everyone in between? What meanings and stories would you want to convey through your attire?

I found myself thinking these questions yesterday, in the warm – and unscrutinized – safety of my office at the JMM, as I watched the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris. Read on.

[merzbow-derek]

POST-SCRIPTUM 906

SOUVENIRS -29 : IL NEIGE SUR LE HASARD

Mémoire des journées passées ensemble à Saint-Jeannet avec les frères Maurizio et Roberto Opalio...

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN INTERVIEW BY JACK CHUTER

How did your collaboration with Jean-Marc Montera arise?

Maurizio: It all came about one evening, after dinner at renowned French critic and writer Philippe Robert’s home. He was telling us the incredible story about the first time Jean-Marc Montera and Thurston Moore met in 1996. Maybe not many people know that Philippe Robert – who at that time run the cult fanzine called Numéro Zéro – is the main person responsible for their encounter, and helped to set up the recordings at Sonic Youth’s studio in NYC which led to the album MMMR (by Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jean-Marc Montera, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo).

In the same way, MCIAA’s collaboration with Jean-Marc Montera was highly suggested by the same Philippe Robert that night, who already figured out a great musical encounter: and he was totally right! We had a first telephone conversation with Jean-Marc Montera where we both felt that the trio had to be done soon, and so it was.

Union Of The Supreme Light was recorded at a show in Marseilles back in March 2015. What memories do you have of the performance itself?

M: So Union Of The Supreme Light is the live recording of the first ever show we performed in trio with JMM just two months after that phone call, occurred in Marseille at the legendary GRIM (Groupe de Recherche et d’Improvisation Musicales) which he co-founded in 1978 and directed until January 2017, when GRIM melted with GMEM, creating an even bigger cultural centre.

Roberto: It was definitely one of the most satisfying and nice shows we had the chance to perform. The concert hall at GRIM was wonderful, all made of wood and its floor entirely covered with twine striped moquette, a fantastic acoustic ambience and the sound coming from monitors on stage was simply perfect. The audience was exceptional: silent and focused from beginning to end. We would perceive its presence, yet a strong intimacy reigned all over, almost like when we record in the quietness of our small HQ in the Western Alps. The empathy with JMM was immediate and mind-blowing, something very rare.

In the hours preceding the show, including the soundcheck, we never talked about the music we were going to play, nor even tried to or felt the need to plan anything. I clearly remember the three of us in the backstage, looking at each other with complicity right before jumping onstage: the only thing we cared to agree was to start “in a silent way” instead of a blast. During the entire performance we two, as MCIAA, felt exactly like MCIAA had an additional third and complementary element fully in harmony with us, who was shaping the sound in the most spontaneous and symbiotic way possible, thanks to the so-strong psychic connection between the three of us. A simply magic experience.

How does the recording of the performance differ from your own memories of the experience?

R: What was stunning is that the final recording of the performance does not differ at all from our memories on stage: it’s exactly the same! This actually is not a thing to be taken for granted when listening back to a live recording, because our point of view shifts from stage performers to home listeners. That’s a totally opposite perspective that can confirm or diverge from our memory impressions. Instead, every time we..., ..., ...

[breaking-news-portal]

J’khand critical of Centre’s objection to SC intervention to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

J’khand critical of Centre’s objection to SC intervention to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

The Jharkhand government hailed the Supreme Court for its timely intervention, saying it led to optimal distribution and utilisation of oxygen and other essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and termed the Centre’s objection to the judicial interference as “misplaced and unwarranted . The JMM-Congress coalition government was critical of the objections raised by the Centre on the scope of…

[hummingzone]

Jharkhand Slams Centre For Objection To Supreme Court Intervention On Covid

Jharkhand Slams Centre For Objection To Supreme Court Intervention On Covid

New Delhi: The Jharkhand government hailed the Supreme Court for its timely intervention, saying it led to optimal distribution and utilisation of oxygen and other essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and termed the Centre’s objection to the judicial interference as “misplaced and unwarranted”. The JMM-Congress coalition government was critical of the objections raised by the Centre on the…

[everythingshouldbereality]

Jharkhand critical of Centre’s objection to SC intervention to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

Jharkhand critical of Centre’s objection to SC intervention to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

Image Source : PTI Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren The Jharkhand government hailed the Supreme Court for its timely intervention, saying it led to optimal distribution and utilisation of oxygen and other essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic and termed the Centre’s objection to the judicial interference as “misplaced and unwarranted”. The JMM-Congress coalition government was critical of the…

[newsmatters]

Jharkhand critical of Centre’s objection to SC intervention to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

Jharkhand critical of Centre’s objection to SC intervention to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

Image Source : PTI Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren The Jharkhand government hailed the Supreme Court for its timely intervention, saying it led to optimal distribution and utilisation of oxygen and other essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic and termed the Centre’s objection to the judicial interference as “misplaced and unwarranted”. The JMM-Congress coalition government was critical of the…

[bbcbreakingnews]

Buta Singh – the quintessential politician who sailed through turbulent years of Indian politics

NEW DELHI: With his ear to the ground and eye on the national politics, Congress veteran Buta Singh was the quintessential politician who sailed through the most turbulent years of Indian politics with deftness and diligence, and went on to become the virtual No. 2 in the Rajiv Gandhi government in the late 1980s. Singh, a prominent Dalit face of the grand old party and a staunch loyalist of Rajiv Gandhi, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Saturday morning after being comatose for several weeks. He was 86. In a chequered political career spanning over five decades, Singh often found himself at the centre of major controversies, but he always found a way to bounce back. Born into a humble ‘mazhbi’ Sikh family in Mustafapur in Punjab’s Jalandhar district on March 21, 1934, Singh was a member of Lok Sabha for eight terms, held several positions in varied ideological dispensations at the Centre and became the Governor of Bihar in 2004. He rose to national prominence in the 1980s as he was the lone Sikh face in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet in the period after the Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. He succeeded P V Narasimha Rao as the home minister in 1986 and served in that position till 1989 when the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress lost the election. Before Rajiv Gandhi, Singh was close to his mother and predecessor Indira Gandhi and held several positions in her government. He also played a role in selecting the Congress’s new poll symbol – “hand” – after the party split in 1978. But, Singh had to pay a price for his close association with the Gandhis and his positions in the successive Congress governments – he was excommunicated from the socio-religious order of the Sikhs in April 1985 for his role in the Operation Blue Star that caused damage to the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhism. Nearly 10 years after the events at the Golden Temple, he sought atonement and returned to the Sikh fold. In March 1994, he was granted pardon. Pictures of him undergoing the punishment of dusting shoes, washing dishes and sweeping floors at the Golden Temple and other gurudwaras, with a plaque around his neck declaring him a sinner, went viral at the time. He also had his fair share of controversies — over consecration of bricks for a Ram temple in Ayodhya in 1989 and over dismissal of many state governments during his tenure as home minister. As the Union home minister in 1989, Singh had a role in the consecration of bricks inscribed with Lord Ram that were brought to Ayodhya for the temple construction even when the land was disputed. Years later, he had to quit as Bihar governor after the Supreme Court was critical of his role in recommending the dissolution of the state assembly in 2005. He resigned in 2006. In his initial political life, Singh was associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He joined the Congress in the early 1960s. He was first elected to the Lower House of Parliament in 1962 from Punjab. Later, he represented Rajasthan’s Jalore constituency in Lok Sabha. He switched over to the BJP briefly and became the Minister for Communications in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet in March 1998. He was indicted in the JMM bribery case in 1998 and had to resign as the Union communications minister thereafter. He, however, switched back to the Congress and was made the Governor of Bihar. A prominent Dalit leader, he started as the convenor of the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Harijan cell in 1973-74, after which he became the AICC general secretary in 1978. Singh became the Union deputy minister, railways in 1974 and the Union deputy minister, commerce in 1976. In 1980, he became the Union minister of state, shipping and transport and was also given the portfolio of sports (independent charge) in 1982. In 1983, then prime minister Indira Gandhi elevated him as the cabinet minister for parliamentary affairs, sports and works and housing. In 1984, he was made the Union minister for agriculture and rural development and in 1986, the Union home minister in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet. Under P V Narasimha Rao, Singh was the Union minister of civil supplies, consumer affairs and public distribution from 1995 to 1996. He was appointed the chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) by Manmohan Singh in 2007. He held that post till 2010. Singh was instrumental in building and re-building many gurdwaras in the country and abroad, especially the Akal Takht, after Operation Blue Star in 1984. He was involved in the reconstruction of many gurudwaras in Delhi after the anti-Sikh riots of November, 1984. He was also the chairperson of the Asian Games organising committee when the competition was held in India in 1982.

source https://bbcbreakingnews.com/2021/01/02/buta-singh-the-quintessential-politician-who-sailed-through-turbulent-years-of-indian-politics/

[townpostin]

BJP Leader Geeta Murmu Conducts Outreach Campaign in Musabani Villages

Geeta Murmu Assures Villagers of Problem Resolution, Criticizes JMM Government. BJP leader and District Minister Geeta Murmu launched an outreach campaign in Musabani’s Parulia Panchayat, meeting villagers and addressing their concerns. GHATSHILA – BJP’s determined leader and district minister Geeta Murmu conducted a public outreach campaign in various villages, including Baliya village, within…

[briannsndvl]

9/27/19

To the School of Human Ecology Admissions Committee:

Today I am writing in support of the application of Brian Gonzalez, a creative and compassionate young man, who would be an excellent addition to your Textiles and Fashion Design program. As a veteran ESL teacher at James Madison Memorial High School (JMM), I did not have the privilege of having Brian as a student, but rather, we came to know each other through the International Soccer Club, an intramural club where I serve as advisor. Brian started participating as a freshman in 2013, and by the time he graduated in 2017, he was our reliable and respected captain. Not only is he a talented athlete, but he has been a fine leader because he is friendly, open-minded and quick to put those around him at ease. In the time since his graduation, he has kept in touch and continued to participate in the club’s weekend games. Brian is a role model and mentor for the younger players in the club, and I am grateful for his continued dedication to our group and to giving back in the community.

Brian is passionate about soccer and has played all his life. His style of play is fluid and strategic and he has a deep awareness of the critical importance of working as part of a team. This understanding built in sports will also serve his in his design work; he will carry his load and also be aware of the talents that each member of the design team brings to the project and how best to support them. Brian has honed this “community” sensibility through volunteer and employment experience with the Millennium Soccer Club, a local non-profit that provides affordable soccer training for elementary school students in the area. His kindness, talent and appreciation of diversity have made him a favorite with the youngsters he coaches and the adults who have come to rely on his skills and understanding of the tasks and challenges at hand.

As a student, Brian brought his bilingualism and cross cultural understanding to his environment and in this way, he contributed to the rich diversity at JMM, Madison College, and in the wider community. His family migrated from Argentina when he was a toddler and he grew up with influences and opportunities that reflect this heritage. Brian is attuned to the human need to express individual identity and he is excited about the potential to help others with this process as he learns about textile fashion and design through your respected program. Brian will bring his multifaceted perspective on the world to your program as well, as he embarks on his work in the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology.

In closing, Brian Gonzalez is a talented, kind and capable young man and these qualities, among many others, will guide him through the challenges and rewards that lie ahead in university study and in establishing himself as a design professional. If you decide to admit him to your program in Textiles and Fashion Design, you will not be disappointed because he will quickly become an asset to your group, just as he did for us.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions. Thank you for your consideration of my request.

Sincerely,

Anne’ Knezevic phone: 608-663-5995

Bilingual Resource Teacher/ELL Dept. Chair email: aknezevic@madison.k12.wi.us

[jewishmuseummd]

Meet Maggie! We hope you will join us in welcoming the newest member of our JMM team, Maggie Hoffman, our new archivist!

Hello there! It is my pleasure to introduce myself as the Jewish Museum of Maryland’s new archivist.

I feel lucky to have received such a warm welcome from JMM staff and volunteers, and I look forward to engaging with the wider community in the months ahead. Previously, I served as the archivist of the Cambridge Historical Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was drawn to JMM because of the Museum’s dedication to fostering discovery and sharing stories that spur action. Those values align seamlessly with my goals as an archivist.

Even as a newcomer, it is evident to me that JMM’s collections go well beyond correspondence and manuscripts. The materials we hold are evidence of this community’s shared history—perhaps even your history. Our collections tell the stories of people who have made Maryland what it is today, and I believe that knowing and understanding those stories allows us to critically examine our present as we imagine and build our future. I am committed to increasing access to our collections so that those rich stories can more easily be explored and learned from. As I settle into this position, I look forward to delving into our collections and sharing the stories I find along the way!

~Maggie

[chicfashionaccessories]

Jacques Marie Mage Is Hiring A Controller In Los Angeles

Founded in 2014, Jacques Marie Mage (JMM) is a Los Angeles-based producer of limited-edition designer goods that specialize in the micro-production of artisanal eyewear handcrafted in Italy and Japan. Drawing inspiration from across continents, cultures, and generations, JMM combines world-class craftsmanship with advanced production methods, embracing an array of rich materials, bold geometric shapes, and an exuberance of attitude to create impeccably crafted spectacles that elegantly infuse historical motifs with a modern sensibility. Powerful, playful and meaningfully idiosyncratic, JMM’s high-functioning collectibles are ethically produced and philanthropically aligned, offering a rarefied ocular experience that embodies an uncompromising balance of form, function, and fairness. Jacques Marie Mage is available for purchase in fine optical, sunglass retailers and fashion boutiques around the world, and is currently represented in about 500 stores in 30 countries across America, Europe, and Asia. We are looking for our next controller to lead, make critical decisions and take charge of our accounting department. The ideal candidate is reliable, leads with integrity and is able to manage his team with a sense of urgency and practicality. Responsibilities: Lead and manage the accounting Department including A/P, A/R and Payroll Prepare monthly financial reporting Produce cash-flow reports, calculating cash needs at weekly and monthly interval Communicate with executive team to assist with inventory management Evaluate and implement accounting procedures and internal controls in compliance with GAAP Manage monthly and annual close of income statements and balance sheet, the reconciliations of accounts and G/L analysis Present budget, projections and analysis with executive team Work closely with executive team to facilitate operation Ensure deliverables of self and team Skills & Qualifications: Driven self-starter with efficient time management and organizational skills BA/BS in Accounting Finance, Economics Experience with Netsuite required Ability to meet critical deadlines Curious and detailed oriented Proven experience in managing a team 8+ years of total accounting experience in a start-up environment preferred. We offer paid vacation, sick, holidays as well as health benefits. All applicants applying for U.S jobs openings must be authorized to work in the United States. To Apply: Please send your resume to gabriel@jacquesmariemage.com, subject line Controller.

[bigyack-com]

Jharkhand Assembly Election 2019: Hemant Soren’s fate to be decided on final day of polls - assembly elections

The fate of former chief minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren and two state ministers will be decided in the fifth and final phase of polling in Jharkhand for 16 assembly seats on Friday.Soren, the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition JMM-Congress-RJD alliance is contesting from two seats Dumka and Barhait which will go to polls on Friday.In Dumka, Soren is facing a tough fight from Woman and Child Welfare minister Louis Marandi of the BJP and in Barhait his main opponent is Simon Malto of the saffron party.Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Randhir Singh of BJP is contesting from Sarath seat which will also go to the polls in the fifth and final phase.Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey on Thursday said that all measures are in place as the fifth and final phase polling in 16 constituencies on Friday.An electorate of 40,05,287 electorate, including 19,55,336 female and 30 third gender voters, are eligible to choose from a total 237 candidates, including 29 women nominees, across the 16 seats, the CEO said.The polling will begin at 7 am in all the constituencies with the exercise ending at 3 pm in Borio, Barhait, Litipara, Maheshpur and Sikaripara and voting will continue till 5 pm in the rest of the constituencies.Like the previous four-phase polling there have been left-wing extremism (LWE) pockets, the final phase also have certain Naxal pockets, the CEO said.“There are some LWE affected areas and accordingly all measures have been taken. Eight polling stations have been re-located, 396 polling stations in Naxal-affected areas are marked as critical and 208 polling stations are marked as sensitive,” Choubey told a press conference here.Considering previous records of caste or communal tensions, 1,321 polling stations in non-LWE affected areas are critical while 1,765 polling stations are sensitive, he added.Polling personnel of 28 polling stations have been air-dropped while polling personnel of 124 polling stations will leave the area for their respective district headquarters on Saturday to enable standard operating procedure, he said.Satellite phones and other facilities have been made in 84 shadow areas, he said.The CEO said Central forces and Jharkhand armed forces and webcasting facilities in 1,347 polling stations are part of measures to conduct smooth and fair elections.In this round of elections, the Election Commission has set up 8,987 ballot units, 6,738 control units and 7,006 VVPAT machines, he said.Altogether 249 polling stations have been marked as model booths, 133 polling stations will be conducted by women personnel and 1,347 have webcasting facilities, Choubey said.The seats going for the final leg voting are Rajmahal, Borio (ST), Barhait (ST), Litipara (ST), Pakur, Maheshpur (ST), Sikaripara (ST), Nalla, Jamtara, Dumka (ST), Jama (ST), Jarmundi, Sarath, Poreyahat, Godda and Mahagama across six districts in the Santhal Pargana region of the state.Elections have already been held in 65 out of total 81 Assembly constituencies in the previous four phases between November 30 and December 16.Counting of votes is scheduled on December 23. Read the full article

[u4u-voice]

It's a fight between 3Gs of Congress and BJP: Amit Shah

DHANBAD: BJP president Amit Shah Wednesday claimed that this Lok Sabha election is a fight between '3 Gs' of the Congress represented by the Gandhi family and those of the saffron party exemplified by gaon, goumata and the Ganga. Claiming that there is a wave in favour of the prime minister across the country, Shah also sought to compare between a 'workaholic' Narendra Modi and a 'vacation loving' Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. He also alleged that the opposition parties are not interested in the security of the country for the sake of votebank politics. Both the Congress and the BJP have three Gs, he said. "For the Congress, 3G stands for Sonia (Gandhi), Rahul (Gandhi) and Priyanka (Gandhi). The BJP's 3G are gaon (villages), goumata (cow) and the Ganga," Shah said and asked the people to choose the correct 3G. He said he has visited for poll campaigns almost all the states where people have different tastes and culture, but "what is common everywhere is the chant in favour of Modi". "On the one hand, you have Modi who did not take a single leave in 20 years. On the other, you have Rahul Gandhi who goes on long vacations to places, leaving his mother worried about his whereabouts," he said in rallies in Dhanbad and Jamshedpur. Shah claimed that Gandhi goes on vacations as soon as the temperature starts soaring during summer. "This (opposition) alliance had kept the country's security at stake for their vote bank. For us vote bank is not important. Elections will come and go, but security of the country is the top most priority for us," he said. Bullets of terrorists will be responded with bombs, Shah saidBJP. "What the Modi-led government did for the welfare of the poor in five years, the Congress could not achieve it in 55 years," he claimed. Describinbg infiltrators as termites, the BJP leader said while the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will drive out intruders, the Congress seeks to raise the issue of human rights. The BJP president said, "I would like to ask them when innocent jawans were killed and their families suffered, where was their concern?" "From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kolkata to Kuch, we will identify infiltrators and throw them out of country, the BJP president leader said. At the time of terror strikes and beheading of Indian soldiers during the 10-year rule of the Congress-led UPA, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh did not say anything, he alleged. "But after the massacre of 40 of our jawans at Pulwama by Pakistani terrorists, our Air Force struck terror camps in Balakot at a time when Pakistan amassed soldiers and tanks on the border," he said. Criticizing Gandhi and JMM working president Hemant Soren for their support to Omar Abdullah, Shah said the National Conference leader had spoken about a separate prime minister for Kashmir. "Should there be two prime ministers in one country?" Shah asked and the crowd roared back: "No". "Article 370 will be scrapped. Modi will definitely come to power again. but in case the BJP is not in power, every BJP worker will see to it that Kashmir remains an integral part of the country," Shah said. The Congress promised abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in its poll manifesto. The Article grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits Parliament's power to make laws concerning the state. Talking about the NDA dispensation's development initiatives in Jharkhand, the BJP boss said it opened medical colleges in Hazaribag and Dumka, set up a cancer hospital in Ranchi and launched a 4000MW power plant at Patratu. "In the 13th Finance Commission, the UPA government had allotted Rs 55,253 crore for Jharkhand. The Modi government has given over 3 lakh crore to the state in five years," he added. Shah said that Modi opened Sindri Fertilizer Factory in Sindri, converted India School of Mines to an IIT and gave Binod Bihari Mahto Koyalanchal University in Dhanbad. Read the full article

[jmmfashionstatement]

36. Dress, 2018

Dress, 2018. On loan from Rabbanit Hadas Fruchter. JMM L2019.10.1

Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter, a Silver Spring native and graduate of Yeshivat Maharat (founded in 2009 as the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy), was the first woman clergy at Potomac’s Beth Sholom, a Modern Orthodox congregation. She has been profiled by the Forward and by the Today Show. She wore this dress, one of her favorites, when she was interviewed and photographed by the Washington Post in July of 2018.

In her own words:

“Growing up Modern Orthodox, I didn’t have that many female models dedicating their lives to Torah learning and leadership in a way that I could imagine myself in their shoes--or dresses, for that matter. But we’ve seen, even in the last five years, a huge uptick in the professionalization in female positions of spiritual leadership in the Orthodox community.  Even women who aren’t ordained are getting increased support and training. It’s just a different world, where we’re honoring the full professional capacity and spiritual leadership capacity of women.

So now, this moment in time important because it means that there is room now for women like me to devour words of Torah and the teachings of our sages, teach in our full capacity, and lead our communities without leaving home. It hasn’t been easy--some have found it difficult to accept my role as a member of the spiritual leadership team at Beth Sholom in Potomac, MD, and it takes a lot of patience to help people through managing this change. It’s a challenge--my “femaleness” becomes the reason for people to act aggressively towards me, or direct demeaning comments towards me. It becomes the subtle, non-explicit thread that weaves through many, many interactions with both men and women. So my clothing choices matter. While I’m not interested in diminishing my femininity, each choice I make in my closet comes with an extremely critical eye towards the effect it will have. What kind of attention will it get me? The good kind? The bad kind?. This critical eye leads to an exhausting daily tornado of shoes and lipstick and jackets and sweaters----balancing various factors: the necessity of success being somewhat reliant on how I look, an exploration of presenting in a way that reflects God, and something that makes me feel fun, respectable, and me.

I used to think that it was a particular uniform that would communicate my position, which is new in the community. A certain height of high heels, a particular blazer.

But I think the answer was simpler. I was most comfortable leading in a black dress, inherited from a close friend and altered from a frum boutique in the Five Towns. Whenever I don’t want to think about it or replicate that decision-making process, I go with something muted, feminine, and respectful. There’s always a good necklace.”

Find the full list of Fashion Statement “extras” here.