Activism

Cover of the First Issue of Emma Goldman's Magazine, "Mother Earth," March 1906

Writing the Feminist Revolution

Shoshanna Hemley

I believe that, if Emma Goldman were alive today, her emphasis on writing and lecturing would reshape the modern feminist movement.

Topics: Activism, Writing
Album Cover for "If Not Now, When?" by Debbie Friedman

Inspired by Debbie Friedman: Building Inclusive Movements

Maddy Pollack

I hope that contemporary feminists can learn from Debbie Friedman and bring people together through interactive art.

20th Anniversary Cover for "Stone Butch Blues "

Centering My Queer Ancestors' Stories

Ellanora Lerner

Stone Butch Blues allowed me to hear my ancestors speak, and it gave me a new understanding of what it means to be queer.

Mixed-media landscape

The Promise of the Land: An Interview with Rabbi Ellen Bernstein

Catherine Bell

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein talks about Jewish ecology and her environment-focused Passover haggadah, The Promise of the Land.

Topics: Activism, Passover
Folded Road Map

Road Map to Combatting Injustice

Mica Maltzman

The second pin on this road map is moving beyond research to action. I should use my voice to speak up; but I cannot speak for everyone. 

Topics: Activism, Education
Tree Silhouette

Tu B'Shevat in The Age of Ecofeminism

Steph Black

How are you celebrating Tu B'Shevat in 2020 as the threat of climate change looms?

Topics: Activism, Tu B'Shvat
Mrs. America Promotional Image

Mrs. America: Who's Afraid of The ERA?

Nina Henry

In Mrs. America, viewers are offered a glimpse at the anxieties surrounding the ERA in 1970s (which still persist today).

Alice from Alice in Wonderland preparing to open the door with the key

Down the Rabbit Hole of My Disability

Ilana Drake

I have a learning disability. It feels like I’m entering the nonsensical world of Wonderland when I try to get my school to understand that.

Eli Wiesel Banner at the Jewish History Museum in Tucson

Jewish Diaspora in the Borderlands: An Interview with the Tucson Jewish History Museum

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

We talk to Josie Shapiro about the Tucson Jewish Museums's role in advocating for immigrant justice in Arizona and creating queer-affirming, feminist Jewish space.

Close-up photo of computer code.

What a Coding Program Taught Me about Privilege

Ellie Klibaner-Schiff

As one of four white girls in my Girls Who Code Summer Immersion class of twenty, I was confronted by my privilege in a way that I'd never been before.

Topics: Activism, Technology
Lila Goldstein holding a sign that reads "For Sale: Marco Rubio"

Privilege after Parkland

Lila Goldstein

How many other teenagers around the state of Florida, around the country, shared my bitterness and anger, but didn’t have the tools to be where I was then?

Topics: Protests, Schools
DNA Double Helix

"Jewish DNA"

Belle Gage

My aunt sent a tube to the DNA analyzing company, 23andMe. The results she received identified her as 99% Ashkenazi Jew.

Topics: Activism, Religion
Open book with flipping pages. Black background.

Confronting White Privilege: A Reflection on Affirmative Action

Ari Fogel

As I learned more about what affirmative action really means for students, my worries turned into a sobering recognition of my privilege.

#MeToo Scrabble blocks

The Work of a Movement: #MeToo and Vicarious Trauma

Emily-Rose Baker

#MeToo is not just an ephemeral social media phenomenon. It's a movement, and movements require work.

Pencil with sharpener resting on a notebook.

Magnet School

Maddy Pollack

If tikkun olam is something that we believe in fully, then our work will not be complete until every student is empowered with an equitable education.

Checklist, checked boxes with a pink highlighter.

Checked Boxes

Shoshanna Hemley

I’ve been told that, because I’m not white and because I’m queer, I don’t have to stress about college applications.

Talmud opened to seder zera'im.

"Lo Bashamayim Hi": Reconciling Feminism and Halakha

Dahlia Soussan

Talmud became a channel for me to develop and express my Jewish feminism.

Young woman standing next to brick wall, wearing ankle-length blue skirt with red striped pattern and a Vans shirt underneath a jean jacket. Signs photoshopped into the image next to the young woman in English and Hebrew read: "Please do not pass through our neighborhood in immodest clothes"

Wonder Woman's Hemline

Lilah Peck

The length of your hemline doesn’t matter as long as you choose it for yourself and you accept those who choose differently.

Painting with the outline of a human figure. Grey background with overlapping square shapes. One contains another small outlined face that faces the outlined figure.

A Trip to Crown Heights

Belle Gage

I was visiting Brooklyn, New York with a group of students in my Reform synagogue’s confirmation class. 

High school student standing in front of a brick wall. She is holding a protest sign that says "To forget a Holocaust is to be killed twice," attributed to Elie Wiesel.

On Emancipation Avenue

Madeline Canfield

My friend wanted to get arrested, one morning in July, on the curb of the sidewalk along a street east of downtown Houston.

Close-up of a parsley plant.

Parsing the Meaning of Parsley

Ella Plotkin-Oren

Parsley reminds me of my Judaism.

Topics: Activism, Food, Passover
A person holds a sign reading "Take Action for Trans Rights." 

In Memory of Bee Love Slater

Maddie Solomon

Bee Love Slater was the eighteenth transgender person murdered in the US this year.

Topics: LGBTQIA Rights
A seder plate with the six traditional items and an orange.

The Orange on the Seder Plate

Ellanora Lerner

There are a few stories that you may have heard about the orange on the seder plate.

Shoshannah Hemley and another student stand in front of a crowd of students, shouting in protest. Someone in the crowd holds a sign that says "girls against guns."

“Too Loud” and "Too Jewish": Standing up for Gun Control

Shoshanna Hemley

We were at a school open mic about gun control in the weeks following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting.

Topics: Activism, Schools
Two women wearing tallit are moving away from the wall, a police officer looking at them and speaking to them. Another woman films the event on her phone.

The Wall Between My Identities

Sasha Azizi Rosenfeld

I expected to feel emotion and attachment to the Kotel. However, despite the burning midday sun, my first visit left me cold.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now