When History Repeats

Amy Chua’s article in The Wall Street Journal last week, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” ha

Last year, as we closed out the first decade of the new millennium, I put together a massive link roundup of the milestones made by Jewish women over the past 10 years, the decade in Jewish women's history. True to form, Jewish women made 2010 their own, kicking off the second decade of the millennium by making headlines, breaking ceilings, and making their voices heard.

I am one of those retrospective people who loves to reflect and analyze the events of the past 12 months at the end of each calendar year.

Much to the dismay of a number of Jewish organizations, the Senate neglected to vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act last month, effectively shelving it for the foreseeable future. The bill, which would have augmented current civil rights law to protect against sex-based pay discrimination, had received broad support from civil rights and women’s rights groups but faced opposition from business organizations, whose members said it would be both difficult and expensive to enforce.

The venerable TIME Magazine, known in part for its "top" lists – everything from the best inventions to the best TV shows – just published a new list of particular interest. As its name indicates, "The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" lists 25 powerhouse women from the U.S. and beyond, including three Jewish dynamos - four, if you count Madonna (though I'm never sure whether I should!). Here, an overview of the Jewesses who made TIME’s cut:

I was sitting in a meeting about a pilot project on gender in Jewish education a few years ago when a male colleague interrupted to proudly announce the release of his new book, a compilation of essays that he edited about Jewish education in North America. Naturally, I flipped through the hot-off-the-presses volume and searched for women writers. To my surprise, there was not even one. I asked the man why there were no women among the fifteen or so authors.

Today is Veteran's Day and each year we at the Jewish Women's Archive look back on the long history of Jewish women trailblazers in the military. Last year I wrote a blog post about this legacy, highlighting the launch of our "Jewish American Women and WWII" collection on Flickr Commons.

A sharp piece by Shannon Sarna and Ruthie Warshenbrot takes the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) to task for the announcement that all five Jewish Community Heroes finalists are men. They wrote:

More than half of the 2010 Slingshot organizations are headed by women.

More than half of the 2009 Avi Chai Fellows (“the Jewish genius grant”) award winners are women. More than half of the current Joshua Venture Fellows are women.

I admit it: I am a third-generation compulsive reader of obituaries.

I returned home from my cousin’s wedding Sunday night, happy and exhausted with barely enough energy to flop onto the couch and turn on the TV. That is how I found myself watching the two new episodes of TLC’s Sister Wives, a reality TV show about a modern polygamous family.