About the Author

My name is Olivia Ajdler, and I am a high school senior from New York City. I grew up an Orthodox Jew, and as a child I only owned one dress, which I needed to wear for synagogue. I played baseball for many years, which was seen as an ungirly thing to do. Due to my experiences, I wasn’t a stereotypical girl, which caused me to pay attention to the role gender plays in Judaism. For example, I noticed that there were a lot of mitzvot in Judaism that were only for men or only for women. I took this issue up in Moot Beit Din, my school’s club on ethical issues in Judaism, for which I have served as president.

Two of Judaism’s main values are respect and fairness, and yet, Judaism allocates different roles to men and women, with men generally having more obligations than women. For example, men are obligated to wear a yarmulke, use tefillin, and say certain prayers, while women are not. This imbalance in mitzvot seems striking. I created Judaism Has No Gender because I believe that your gender should not impact your experience of Judaism. My goal is to create a safe space for discussions and provide educational resources on the topic. 

I also write articles for The Jewish Press, the largest Jewish newspaper in the United States. In my free time, I play guitar, am the goalie of my soccer team, and resell sneakers.