KOL ISHA: Malka Zipora's Lekhaim as the Voice of the Hasidic Women in Quebec

Over the last quarter century, tensions in Quebec have run high between Hasids and their Francophone neighbors over the question of "reasonable accommodation" of the non-mainstream ethnic group. The author points out that there is much ignorance about the insular Hasidic communities, and fear by the modern, egalitarian province that Hasidic women are being oppressed. She argues that several Francophone writers have exploited this ignorance and fear in their fiction, and their stories of Hasids often appeal through sensationalism (e.g., tales of forbidden love). Malka Zipora, however, entered the fray through the mundane: writing as a "Hasidic mom," Zipora suggests, in her 2006 short story collection, "Lekhaim!: Chroniques de la vie hassidique à Montréal," that her life, and the lives of her peers, are little different from those of other women, moms, and other Canadians struggling with brutal winters. The author points out that through her universalizing literary bridge, Zipora persuades her readers to rethink positions on fraught issues like the legality of succahs(a booth or hut roofed with branches used during the Jewish festival of Sukkoth as a temporary dining or living area), while also giving voice to Hasidic women, altering their popular perception.

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

Vol. 33

no. 2

1-26

Winter 2015

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