Collections

Discover the stories of trailblazing women rabbis who in just a few short decades have transformed Jewish communities around the world.

Women of Valor recognizes and highlights the lives and accomplishments of sixteen trailblazing Jewish women, each of whom had the courage and conviction to overcome the social, cultural, and religious barriers she faced in creating a more just and equitable world.

This Week in History offers a unique calendar of American Jewish experience—connecting specific dates throughout the year to an array of compelling historic events related to American Jewish women.

As activists, professionals, artists, and intellectuals, Jewish feminists have shaped every aspect of American life. Drawing on the insights of feminism, they have also transformed the Jewish community. In this online exhibit, you will discover the powerful contributions of Jewish feminists through their own words and historical artifacts.

This growing online collection contains reminiscences of a variety of recently deceased American Jewish women who made a difference in their community and beyond.

Discover the stories of whole communities of Jewish women through oral history interviews, videos, and images of objects central to their lives, from the women who took leadership roles during Hurricane Katrina to cookbook author Joan Nathan explaining how she chooses recipes to Holocaust survivor Magda Schaloum's collage made from materials she scavenged in Dachau.

Andrea Kalinowski brings together quotes from diaries and news stories, photographs, and quilt patterns to tell unique stories from these pioneer women's lives. In Western Pioneers, you will find excerpts from these diaries and memoirs, pictures of the women Kalinowski incorporated into her artwork, and additional pointers to online resources about Jewish women as pioneers of the American West.

The year 2004 marked 350 years since the first communal settlement of Jews in North America. To mark this milestone, JWA created a set of resources that would ensure that women's stories would find a prominent role in the narratives of American Jewish history that emerged during the national 350th Anniversary celebrations.