Women's Rights

Content type
Collection
Hannah Kornblut's Aunt and Uncle

Remembering My Aunt during Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Hannah Kornblut

"The abuse my aunt endured partially revolved around her Jewish values and upbringing."

Topics: Women's Rights

Episode 47: RBG in Her Own Words

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman to sit on the nation’s highest court, died on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. Justice Ginsburg was an American and feminist icon and a Jewish hero. Her experiences as a Jew and as a woman helped her identify with outsiders and see the gap between American ideals and the realities that so many people live every day. Justice Ginsburg was a role model... and she had her own role models too. In this episode, we dig into JWA's archive and share some of the Justice's own words about a Jewish woman who inspired her.

Episode 44: The Nineteenth Amendment Turns 100 (Transcript)

Episode 44: The Nineteenth Amendment Turns 100 (Transcript)

Illustration of Raised Hands with #MeToo Written on the Palms

Why We Still Need to Be Talking about #MeToo in the Jewish Community

Dahlia Soussan

As too many Jewish women find their allegations unheard and unaddressed, I am responsible to amplify those female voices.

Episode 44: The Nineteenth Amendment Turns 100

One hundred years ago on August 26, 1920, Congress adopted the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Judith Rosenbaum talks with historians Ellen Dubois, Martha Jones, and Melissa Klapper about the role of African American and Jewish women in fighting for the vote, and the racism, classism, and antisemitism that undermined the movement's impact.

Sketch of Ray Frank, 1893

Ray Frank, A Complex Figure: Let’s Talk about Honesty and Self Care

Eleanor Harris

In March, my RVF piece about Ray Frank went up on the blog; however, parts of this blog post trouble me.

"Lady Lilith" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1866.

My Many Moms Are My Matriarchs

Sasha Azizi Rosenfeld

Matriarchal leadership is often portrayed negatively, like in the story of Lilith. My moms have proven to me that we need more of it.

Forverts Columns and Headlines from 1917 about Suffrage

"Froyen Interesen": How Yiddish Newspapers Addressed Suffrage Before and After Women Won the Right to Vote

Sarah Quiat

JWA's Program Manager, Sarah Quiat, does a deep-dive into Yiddish newspapers from the 1910s to see what people had to say about women's suffrage.

Berta Blejman de Drucaroff

Berta Blejman de Drucaroff was a prominent activist of the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF/ICUF) and a communist militant in anti-fascist organizations. She was president of the YKUF Women's Organization (OFI) and the main promoter of the reading circle network (leien kraizn) in Argentina.

Leike Kogan

Lía Gilinski de Kogan, known as Leike Kogan (1911-2001), was a prominent activist in the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF/ ICUF) and its women's movement (Organización Femenina del ICUF, OFI), linked to the Yiddish-speaking section of the Argentine Communist Party. She stood out as a leader and teacher in the schools belonging to this network.

Woman measuring her stomach

It's Ok to Gain Weight during the Pandemic

Larisa Klebe

A pandemic is no time for fat-shaming.

Elizabeth Warren on stage in a purple suit, microphone in hand.

A Thank-You Note to Smart Women

Ella Plotkin-Oren

I'm writing this note with a hopeful but heavy heart. In March 2020, I voted for the first time. I believed that this would be a tremendous year for women. 

Suffrage in the United States

American Jewish women were heavily involved in the suffrage movement from its earliest days, though mostly as individuals rather than through organizations. Middle-class Jewish women believed the vote was necessary to achieve their broader reform goals, while working-class women hoped enfranchisement would improve their working conditions and economic opportunities. By the time the Nineteenth Amendment finally passed in 1919 the American Jewish community overwhelmingly supported it.

Rebecca Lubetkin Holding Grandchild Ilana Drake

My Grandma's Fight for Equitable Education

Ilana Drake

My grandmother, Rebecca Lubetkin, has genuinely transformed society, giving young people opportunities that have revolutionized education and, as a result, the workplace.

Elaine Weiss and book cover

An Interview with Elaine Weiss, Author of "The Woman’s Hour"

Betsy More

Exclusively for JWA, Elaine Weiss discusses her new book, The Woman's Hour, and the fight for women's suffrage in the United States.

Chicago Women's Liberation Union Rock Band

The Path to Melodic Liberation

Isabel Hoffman

From the Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band's story, I learned to be wary of putting myself in a box and labeling my “brand” of feminism.

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).

#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.

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. 

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.

Christine Blasey Ford

One Year Later

Steph Black

One year after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony to Congress, in light of the High Holidays, what have we learned?

Olympic athlete Caster Semenya

Restricting Semenya is Sexist and Violates Human Rights

Molly Weiner

By saying a woman can only be defined as female and enjoy success if she has an arbitrary amount of testosterone, the IAAF has turned the hormone into something it is not: a myth of male greatness.

Photograph from the Oslo women's march

A Jewish Day School Revolution: Combatting Injustice

Lily Drazin

With the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements on the rise, I knew I wanted to deal with the issue of sexual violence.

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