JWA Staff

Gail Twersky Reimer, Ph.D., Executive Director
Gail Twersky Reimer is founding director of the Jewish Women’s Archive, a pioneering organization dedicated to uncovering, chronicling and transmitting the rich legacy of Jewish women in North America.

The Jewish Women’s Archive emphasizes the power of new technologies to transform both our practice and knowledge of history, and is nationally recognized as a unique and vital contributor to a more expansive and inclusive vision of Jewish life, past, present and future. The Jewish Women’s Archive’s award-winning website, jwa.org, has the most extensive collection of material on American Jewish women on the web.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Reimer began her professional career as a faculty member of Wellesley College shortly after receiving her Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Rutgers University. While at Wellesley she was awarded fellowships from the American Association of University Women and the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, and received the prestigious Pinanski Prize for excellence in teaching.

From 1988 to 1995, Dr. Reimer was Associate Director of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities (MFH), the state-based program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In the early 1990’s, Reimer conceived and co-edited two pathbreaking anthologies of Jewish women’s writings—Reading Ruth: Women Reclaim a Sacred Story and Beginning Anew: A Woman’s Companion to the High Holy Days. This work led to the founding of the Jewish Women’s Archive in 1995.

The Jewish Women’s Archive has become a leading advocate for and center of education in Jewish women’s history, ensuring that we remember the women who came before us, honor the women among us, and inspire those who will follow us.

Dr. Reimer lives in Boston with her husband. They have two daughters.

[ Email Gail Reimer ]
Tel: (617) 383-6752

Stephen Benson, Executive Assistant
Stephen Benson has worked previously in executive administrative positions at the New England Eye Institute, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, and Jackson & Company public relations. He has taught theatre classes and directed productions at the College of the Holy Cross, Tufts University, Middlesex Community College, and Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. in English and Theatre from Tufts University.
Email Stephen Benson / Tel: (617) 383-6751

Ari Davidow, Director of Online Strategy
Ari Davidow is focused on how small archives best make information available, findable, and engaging online. He founded the Jewish forum on the WELL, an early, influential online community, co-founded Jewishnet (predecessor to Hebrew-College–based Shamash network, and is best known today for the KlezmerShack, a website devoted to Jewish Music. His virtual work is complemented by a long history as an expert on multilingual typography. He contributed chapters to both volumes of Computers and Typography, Rosemary Sassoon, ed. (Intellect Press, UK, 1993 & 2002) and taught typography online for a decade at the New School for Social Research Graduate Media Studies Department. Davidow holds a Masters in IT Management from Brandeis University where he teaches at the Rabb School for Graduate Professional Studies. He is also cofounder and Steward of the DuraSpace Small Archives Solution Community.
Email Ari Davidow / Tel: (617) 383-6766

Isaac Simon Hodes, Web Producer
Isaac is responsible for maintaining and improving the Jewish Women's Archive website, and also collaborates on the design and implementation of new online resources. Isaac holds a B.A. from Harvard University and is a graduate of Lynn Classical High School. His interests include both graphic design and open source software, and he has been working with the Drupal content management platform for over two and half years. In addition to his passion for good code and good design, Isaac is deeply committed to Jewish-identified social justice work that supports human rights in all parts of the world. He believes that the words and actions of many of the women highlighted by Jewish Women's Archive exhibits can teach valuable lessons to today's activists and organizers, and is committed to developing the design and technology that will make this information accessible, relevant, and usable.
Email Isaac Simon-Hodes / Tel: (617) 383-6776

Programs

Judith Rosenbaum, Ph.D., Director of Public History
Judith Rosenbaum brings her love of women's studies and Jewish studies, teaching and research, to her work as Director of Public History at the Archive. A former JWA Research Fellow, Judith develops and directs JWA's major educational projects, including Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution, the national Institutes for Educators, and the Go & Learn lesson plan series. She earned a BA in History from Yale University and received her PhD in American Civilization, with a specialty in women's history, from Brown University. She has taught women's studies and Jewish studies at Brown, Boston University, the Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Hebrew College, and Gann Academy: The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston.
Email Judith Rosenbaum / Tel: (617) 383 6762

Ellen K. Rothman, Ph.D., Deputy Director
Like JWA's founder and Executive Director, Ellen K. Rothman comes to JWA from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities where she served as Associate Director for 11 years. A graduate of Radcliffe College, she received her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from Brandeis. While trained as an academic historian, she has spent most of her career in the public humanities—working in museums, developing curricula, producing programs for public radio and college-level distance learning, and creating an electronic almanac of Massachusetts history, MassMoments. Her book, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America, was published by Basic Books and in paperback by Harvard University Press.
Email Ellen Rothman / Tel: (617) 383 6756

Emily Scheinberg, Assistant Director for Educational Outreach
As Assistant Director for Educational Outreach, Emily Scheinberg helps develop new educational programming and works to introduce the Archive's resources to educators and communities across the country. Before moving to the Boston area, Emily worked as Manager of School and Teacher Programs at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. She previously held internships at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Emily earned a B.A. in History and History of Art from UC Berkeley, where she focused her studies on 20^th century American and Eastern European history and art.
Email Emily Scheinberg / Tel: (617) 383-6763

Development and Communications

Leah Berkenwald, Online Communications Specialist
A long-time blogger, journalist, and social networking enthusiast, Leah Berkenwald puts her talents to work as Online Communications Specialist for the Jewish Women's Archive. Leah earned her B.A. in American Studies and Journalism at Brandeis University, focusing on sexual health politics and the new media landscape, respectively. She then earned her M.A. in American Studies at the University of Nottingham in the U.K., where she studied ethnicity, gender theory, and the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life movements. Before joining the JWA, Leah taught a Jewish literature course for teens at Congregation B'nai Israel in Northampton, MA, and taught journalism and media studies at the Florence Learning Center, an alternative public high school program for at-risk youth.
Email Leah Berkenwald / Tel: (617) 383-6761

Rachel King, Director of Development and Communications
A nonprofit professional for over 20 years, Rachel King has an extensive background in fundraising, marketing, and public relations. She has worked for a wide variety of cultural, educational, and health-care organizations, including Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Ballet, Zamir Chorale, Children's Hospital, and MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to coming to JWA, she was Director of Development and Communications at Handel and Haydn Society, where she directed the fundraising program and oversaw institutional communications and public relations. A native of Cambridge, MA, Rachel received her B.A. magna cum laude from Brown University and her M.A. in English and American Literature from Columbia University. She lives in Newton, MA, with her two children.
Email Rachel King / Tel: (617) 383-6757

Nora Pittis, Development Associate
Nora Pittis graduated from Smith College with a B.A. in History and German Studies. She recently moved back to the States after living and working in Berlin for two years. In Berlin she completed a ten month German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellowship while studying twentieth century German History and Gender Studies at the Humboldt University. Following her fellowship she stayed on as the assistant to the director of the Berlin office of the European Council of Jewish Communities. She's excited to be back stateside and to contribute her skills to the important work being done at the Jewish Women's Archive.
Email Nora Pittis / Tel: (617) 383-6767