For screenings and other events related to our movie, Making Trouble, please visit the Making Trouble website.
Find Us—Programs, Conferences, Presentations
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Archive of Past Events
NJDC Reception Honoring Ann F. Lewis
June 16, 2009, Washington, DC >> show details
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
5:30 – 7:30 pm
National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
Join the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) and honorary event chair, President Bill Clinton, to honor JWA board member Ann F. Lewis who will receive the NJDC Belle Moskowitz Award. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Melissa Kaplan at 202.216.9612 or
. To RSVP online, please go to www.njdc.org/forms/sign/annlewis.
Mistress of Herself: A Conversation with Paula Doress-Worters
April 26, 2009, Jamaica Plain, MA >> show details
Sunday, April 26
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue
43 Lochstead Avenue, Jamaica Plain [map] [directions/parking]
Join the Jewish Women's Archive and the Hebrew College Salon Project for a conversation with Paula Doress-Worters, author of Mistress of Herself: Speeches and Letters of Ernestine Rose, Early Women's Rights Leader (Feminist Press, 2008), Resident Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, and founder of the Ernestine Rose Society, to explore timely questions: Is there a place for Rose's radical perspective within the Jewish conversation today? Where do individuals like Rose, who rejected organized religion, belong in the story of American Jewry?
$18.00 suggested contribution; $5.00 minimum.
Pay at the door.
Jewish Women's Prayers: A Woman's Secret Code
January 27, 2009, Cambridge, MA >> show details
Tuesday, January 27
Kosher snacks will be served at 7pm and learning will begin at 7:30.
Congregation Eitz Chayim
136 Magazine Street
Cambridge, MA
Join the Charles River Beit Midrash (CRBM) and the Jewish Women's Archive for an evening of learning and conversation with scholar and writer Dr. Aliza Lavie. Dr. Lavie is a research associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University and a lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
Her book A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book (Tefilat Nashim) is a bestseller in Israel. The English edition was published this past year and won the National Jewish Book Award in Women's Studies. In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Lavie hosts a weekly television show on Israel's Channel 10. For more information on Dr. Lavie, visit www.alizalavie.com.
We hope you can join us!
This event is FREE and open to the public.
RSVP to Jordan Namerow,
Lunch and Learn with Danya Ruttenberg: A Spiritual Journey from Punk Rock to the Rabbinate
December 9, 2008, Brookline, MA >> show details
Tuesday, December 9th
12:00 – 2:00 PM
Jewish Women's Archive
138 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA
Join the Jewish Women's Archive for lunch and conversation with Danya Ruttenberg, author of Surprised By God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion. Ruttenberg will trace her trek from punk rock and the glittery fairyland of dot-com era San Francisco to the Conservative rabbinate – via meditation, mystical experiences, and considerable ambivalence to traditional Judaism. This is the story of one young woman's unexpected, combat-booted path to service of the Divine. It's also a look at the process of taking on a religious discipline in today's world.
The Way They Were?: Hidden and Revealed Stories of American Jewish Women in History A Program for Jewish American Heritage Month in partnership with Keshet
May 22, 2008, Jamaica Plain, MA >> show details
Sex. Violence. Messy, complicated lives. The stuff of our history, but not always the stories we choose to tell. What are the challenges we face in drawing inspiration from our past without ignoring the pieces that may make us uncomfortable? How do we wrestle with the stories of American Jewish women in ways that are inclusive, honest, and full? Is it okay to identify role models without exposing their sexual identities or objectionable political positions? Is it appropriate for contemporary GLBT communities to claim women as "queer" or "lesbian" when they might not have identified themselves this way?
Join the Jewish Women's Archive and Keshet for an interactive encounter with some of the "messier" narratives of Jewish women in our collective history:
Jewish female social reformers
Radical Jewish women in the labor movement
Women rabbis
Together, we will consider ways in which the complexities of Jewish women's history can strengthen our ability to create diverse, inclusive communities.
Co-sponsored by GesherCity, the Jewish Organizing Initiative (JOI), JVS/CJP Jewish Women's Career Network, Moishe House Boston: Kavod Jewish Social Justice House, the Jewish Labor Committee, and the Boston Workmen's Circle.
Thursday, May 22
*Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue
(43 Lochstead Avenue in Jamaica Plain) 7:00 PM
Please RSVP by May 15 to
. Suggested donation of $5.00
Interested in helping with event planning and conversation structure? Please contact Jordan Namerow at 617-383-6761.
*Nehar Shalom is accessible via Bus #39 which stops on Centre Street, close to the corner of Lochstead Avenue. If you are driving, please do not park on Lochstead Avenue. There is a public parking lot on the corner of Spring Park Avenue and Centre Street which is within walking distance from Nehar Shalom.
Join the Jewish Women's Archive for a special "Lunch and Learn" featuring an illustrated talk by Peter Zheutlin, author of Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride in celebration of Women's History Month.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Jewish Women's Archive
138 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA
Cost: $12 for JWA members, $15 for non-members.
** Kosher lunch included **
You may also make your reservation by phone: (617) 232-2258
Half-Price Tickets & Talk-Back for Judy Gold's 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother
December 29, 2007, Boston, MA Co-sponsored by the Jewish Women's Archive and Keshet >> show details
8:00 PM
The Calderwood Pavillion at the BCA
527 Tremont Street, Boston
* Talk-back will immediately follow show.
Catch Emmy Award-winning actress and comedian Judy Gold -- featured in JWA's documentary film Making Trouble -- in her hit show, 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother.
Join the Jewish Women's Archive and Keshet for a special "talk-back" with Judy Gold after the show.
2007 Symposium on Gender and Jewish Education
December 10–December 12, 2007, San Diego, California Immediately preceding the Union for Reform Judaism North American Biennial Convention >> show details
A symposium for Jewish educators and leaders of the Reform Movement to discuss the perceived differences in the way males and females participate in Jewish educational efforts and settings. Symposium participants will explore ways to maximize learning and participation across gender lines in the Jewish community.
Keynote speakers: Dr. Gail Twersky Reimer, founding director of the Jewish Women’s Archive and Dr. William Pollack, author of Real Boys.
December 11: Dr. Judith Rosenbaum will facilitate an educators' workshop: "Listen to Her Voice: Incorporating Jewish Women's History into Jewish Education"
Book Reading by Sophie Freud Living in the Shadow of the Freud Family
Boston Jewish Book Fair
November 19, 2007, Newton, MA Co-sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Archive >> show details
7:30 PM
Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center of Newton
Gosman Jewish Community Campus
333 Nahanton Street
Newton Center, MA 02459
Telephone: (617) 558-6522
Sigmund Freud’s granddaughter has created a fascinating, many-voiced story of a famous family and a tumultuous century. Sophie Freud’s captivating story presents a penetrating and brutally honest glimpse into the conflicted lives, unfulfilled dreams, and cruel setbacks experienced by the extended branch of the Freud family.
Book signing follows reading
Admission: $7.00; $5.00 for JCC members
Center for Jewish History
"An Exploration of Contemporary Jewish Motherhood"
November 7, 2007, New York City >> show details
6:30 PM
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York City, NY 10011
(Between Fifth & Sixth Avenues)
Tel: 917-606-8200
$8/$5 students, seniors, CJH members, AJHS members
Through personal reflection and stories, an illustrious panel of mothers and daughters will provide an intimate, heartfelt, affectionate, and, of course, critical look at the contemporary Jewish mother based on Joyce Antler’s recent book: You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother. Moderated by Fran Klagsbrun, writer and lecturer, with the participation of Joyce Antler, writer and scholar; Lauren Antler, comedian; Marjorie Ingall, columnist; Carol Ingall, Professor of Jewish Education; Patrician Volk, writer; Polly Blitzer, editor; Nessa Rapoport, writer; and Mattie Kahn, student.
Co-sponsored with the Jewish Women’s Archive and the American Jewish Historical Society
Making Trouble New England Premiere "Corned Beef & Comedy in Coolidge Corner" pre-screening party
November 7, 2007, Brookline, MA >> show details
5:30–7:30 PM
Courtyard Marriot, Brookline
40 Webster Street, off Beacon
Admission to party: $35 (or $50 for two)*
*Does not include movie ticket. Click here for tickets.
Space is limited. No tickets at the door.
Southern Jewish Historical Society Annual Conference
"Honoring the Past for the Sake of the Future"
November 1–4, 2007, Washington, D.C. >> show details
Dr. Karla Goldman, JWA Historian in Residence, will speak about Jewish responses to Hurricane Katrina in historical perspective. Diane Ashton of Rowan University will discuss the origins of American and particularly southern Hanukkah celebrations, and Shuly Rubin Schwartz of the Jewish Theological Seminary will compare and contrast the leadership styles of Carrie Simon and Henrietta Szold.
Book Reading by Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism
October 23, 2007, Boston, MA Jointly sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Archive, the Center for New Words, and the Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change >> show details
7:00 PM
Simmons College (300 The Fenway), Linda K. Paresky Conference Center
The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism (2007) examines the historical and contemporary views on Jews and whiteness as well as the complexities of African/Jewish relations, the racial mix and disparate voices of the Jewish community, contemporary Jewish anti-racist and multicultural models, and the diasporic state of Jewish life in the United States.
For more information, contact Diane Hammer:
, 617-521-2480
Our Mothers, Ourselves: The Jewish Mother Revised and Re-Invented
(with Joyce Antler and Lauren Antler)
October 11, 2007, 6:30 PM
Jewish Museum, New York City Presented in collaboration with the Jewish Women's Archive >> show details
The Jewish Mother is one of the best-known figures in popular culture. Joyce Antler, professor of American Jewish History and Culture at Brandeis University and author of You Never Call! Your Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother, will trace the evolution of the "Yiddishe Mama" as popularized by Sophie Tucker and Gertrude Berg's "Molly Goldberg," to the colossal, oversized "monster" mother mocked by Philip Roth, Woody Allen, and others, through the present day re-interpretation of the Jewish Mother by leading feminist scholars and stand-up comedians. Lauren Antler, stand-up comic and Senior Program Manager of the Jewish Women's Archive, will offer reflections entitled, What to Wear When You're Fighting the Patriarchy: Lessons from the Daughter of a Jewish Feminist.
For more information, call: 212-423-3240
“French Seduction” A Lunch-and-Learn Discussion with author Eunice Lipton April 17, 2007, Brookline, MA >> show details
What is it about France that makes a Jewish woman memoirist and art critic delight and recoil? Join the Jewish Women's Archive for an intimate discussion with Eunice Lipton, author of the recently published book French Seduction: An American's Encounter with France, Her Father, and the Holocaust.
12:00–2:00 PM
Jewish Women's Archive, Brookline, MA
"Women Who Dared"
March 14, 2007, Chicago, IL >> show details
12:00–2:00 PM
The Empire Room at the Palmer House
17 E Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 726-7500
Cost: $40.00, includes lunch reception
For Reservations call: (312) 357-4850
"Women Who Dared" celebrates the brave actions and bold life choices of the everyday Jewish female heroes in our midst. Contemporary women who have dared to stand up for the rights of others have been honored at "Women Who Dared" events in Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, and New Orleans. The social and political activism of these women is presented in an expanding JWA web exhibit.
This year's Chicago "Women Who Dared" honorees are:
Judy Panko Reis, Director of the Rehabilitation Center of Chicago
Hedy Ratner, Founder and Co-President of the Women's Business Development Center
Amy Rubin, Senior Manager for Community Outreach for Jewish Women International
"A Jewish Feminine Mystique? American Jewish Women in the Postwar Era."
February 25–27, 2007, New York University Conference, New York, NY with two special evening programs presented by the Jewish Women's Archive >> show details
Free and open to the public
"Motherhood, Power, and Politics: Screening Ethel Rosenberg, Tillie Olsen, and Molly Goldberg"
February 25, 2007, 8:00 PM
52 Washington Square South, King Juan Carlos Center Screening Room, New York University
"Bobby Socks and Bat Mitzvahs: Growing Up Jewish and Female in the 1950s"
February 26, 2007, 8:00 PM
3080 Broadway, Women's League Seminary Synagogue Room, Jewish Theological Seminary
Presentations by:
Ruth Abram, founder and president of the Tenement Museum;
Anne Lapidus Lerner, Director of the Jewish Women's Studies Program and Assistant Professor of Jewish Literature at The Jewish Theological Seminary;
Judith Shapiro, president of Barnard College;
Alix Kates Shulman, author and activist;
with moderator Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and Professor at Cornell and author of The Body Project.
Pentimento: Honoring the Lives of Jewish Women through Art, Stories and Recipes December 17, 2006, Atlanta, Georgia >> show details
Weber School Celebrating
five years of Weber students translating oral histories of senior women
into visual art forms, under the direction of educators Barbara Rosenblit and Sheila Miller. Workshops on intergenerational conversations and collecting oral histories. Presentations by guest scholars Gail Reimer, Executive Director, Jewish Women's Archive; Jayne Guberman, Director of Oral History, Jewish Women’s Archive; Marshall Duke, Professor of Psychology, Emory University.
Jewish Women's Archive, Brookline, MA A discussion of Doug Block's film 51 Birch Street and Ann Kirschner's book Sala’s Gift: My Mothers Holocaust Story.
“Voices of Inspiration,” May 3, 2006, Boston, MA >> show details
Boston University Hillel, Boston, MA
Our 10th Birthday Tribute to JWA's Founders. The evening featured a unique, live performance by Ellen
Kushner.
350th Celebration at the Boston Public Library April 8—May 26, 2004, Boston, MA >> show details
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
As part of the 350th Anniversary of Jewish settlement in America, the Jewish Women's Archive held a series of events in conjunction with the Boston Public Library.
