Archive of Past Events

2008

Lunch and Learn with Danya Ruttenberg: A Spiritual Journey from Punk Rock to the Rabbinate

Tuesday, December 9^th, 2008
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.

Cost: $15, Kosher lunch included

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
Thursday, May 22
*Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue
(43 Lochstead Avenue in Jamaica Plain)
7:00 PM

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.

*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.

Women's History Month "Lunch and Learn"

Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Jewish Women's Archive
138 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA

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.

Cost: $12 for JWA members, $15 for non-members.
** Kosher lunch included **

2007

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

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.

• Visit Judy Gold's website.
• Visit the Making Trouble website.
• Read an interview with Judy Gold in The Boston Globe.
• Get directions to the event.

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

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"

For more information, visit the conference homepage—urj.org/educate/symposium/

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

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
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
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.
Hyatt Regency
Bethesda, MD
Phone: (301) 657-6405
Fax: (301) 657-6478

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.

Check out the full SJHSAC conference program. You can also register online (deadline for online registration: October 1).

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
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.

Click for directions or the campus map available on the Simmons College website.

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

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.

“French Seduction” A Lunch-and-Learn Discussion with author Eunice Lipton

April 17, 2007, Brookline, MA

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, 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

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

With filmmakers Ivy Meeropol, director of "Heir to an Execution" and Rachel Lyon, Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker and director of Tillie Olsen's Tell Me a Riddle, with moderator Joyce Antler, Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture, JWA board member, and author of the forthcoming, You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother

"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.

More information on the conference and entire conference schedule can be found at www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/hebrew/jewishwomenconf.htm.

2006

Pentimento: Honoring the Lives of Jewish Women through Art, Stories and Recipes

December 17, 2006, Atlanta, Georgia
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.

“Sharing Secrets” A Lunch-and-Learn Discussion with Dr. Ann Kirschner

November 14, 2006
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 University Hillel, Boston, MA
Our 10th Birthday Tribute to JWA's Founders. The evening featured a unique, live performance by Ellen Kushner.

For further information, visit our birthday party web page.

2004

So Laugh a Little: An Evening of Jewish Women's Comedy

March 14, 2004, 6pm
The Copacabana, 34th Street and 11th Avenue, NYC
Honoring Barbara Dobkin, Founding Chair, JWA

Original web invite [The documentary Only Faster mentioned here became the full-length documentary, Making Trouble, now available on DVD.]

350th Celebration at the Boston Public Library

April 8—May 26, 2004
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.

You can still view the events that were scheduled at the BPL as part of that celebration.