What We Do

Major Programs, Projects, and Resources

MyBatMitzvahStory.org

MyBatMitzvahStory (MBMS) provides a safe, fun online setting in which bat-mitzvah-age girls explore and express their emerging identities. Through interactive features, a family history tool kit and profiles of inspiring, "cool" Jewish women, MBMS offers families a variety of ways to enrich and personalize a Jewish girl's coming of age. MBMS also features tips for parents and resources for educators, clergy members and tutors to use in offline, mixed-gender settings. Funded in part by the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund and the Polinger Family Foundation.

Institute for Educators

This four-day intensive professional development program offers 25 educators from around the country the chance to work with scholars and master teachers to integrate the stories of American Jewish lives, past and present, into their teaching. The July 2012 Institute will draw from Living the Legacy, JWA’s social justice curriculum, which focuses on the role of American Jews in the Civil Rights and Labor Movements. Funded by the Dorot Foundation.

Living the Legacy: A Jewish Social Justice Education Project

This new online curriculum uses primary sources to explore the role of American Jews in the Civil Rights and Labor Movements. Educators working in both formal and informal settings can use the materials in their entirety or choose individual lessons to teach. Funded in part by the Covenant Foundation.

Go & Learn

Sixteen downloadable lesson plans with primary documents are designed to help Jewish educators make their teaching more inclusive and engaging to students in both formal and informal settings.

* Online Encyclopedia

Formerly available only on CD-ROM, the online version of Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Paula Hyman and Dalia Ofer, includes approximately 2,000 searchable articles on the lives and achievements of Jewish women in dozens of different fields.

* Online Walking Tour

In 1911, a fire at the Triangle Waist Co. factory in New York City killed 146 workers, a majority of them Jewish. In honor of the victims, many of whom were young Jewish immigrants, and the Jewish women who dedicated their lives to improving conditions for industrial workers, JWA has designed an online walking tour of sites related to the fire. A list of online and print resources on the Triangle fire and Jewish labor history is also available.

* "Jewesses with Attitude" Blog

Jewish women share their thoughts about politics and pop culture, sexuality and social justice, feminism and food.

"Making Trouble"

Four of today’s leading Jewish comedians host this award-winning film, produced by the Jewish Women’s Archive, about three generations of funny Jewish women. Buy the DVD and download the free discussion guide.

*On The Map

This user-generated map showcases significant places in the history of American Jewish women, including sites that are marked and unmarked, familiar and obscure. Users can put their own stamp on history by clicking on a location and uploading their description and a photo.

*This Week In History

This weekly calendar that matches the current date with events in American Jewish women's history, from 1654 to the present, can be read on jwa.org, in a weekly e-letter, or embedded on a blog or website.

*We Remember

This growing online collection contains reminiscences of a remarkable variety of recently deceased American Jewish women who made a difference in their community and beyond.

The American Jewess

This digitized reproduction of the four year run of The American Jewess (1895-1899), the first English language periodical targeted to American Jewish women, was assembled from the collections of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Klau Library, Brandeis University Libraries, the Library of Congress, and the Jewish Women's Archive.

Online Exhibits

• Contemporary Activists highlights the life choices and accomplishments of Jewish "women who dared" in four American cities.
• Women of Valor presents the inspiring stories of 16 trailblazing American Jewish women. A complementary series of posters is available.
• Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution explores the profound impact Jewish women had on the women's movement and on American life.
• Katrina's Jewish Voices documents the experiences of Jewish residents of the Gulf Coast and the response of the national Jewish community during and after Hurricane Katrina.

*Website visitors invited to add comments or updates, and to create content.