Margalit Shilo

Margalit Shilo was born 1942 in Rehovot, Israel. A historian of the Jewish community in pre-state Israel, she specializes in settlement, women, and gender. She is retired from the Land of Israel Studies Department at Bar Ilan University and is the author and editor of 12 books and 80 papers.

Articles by this author

Union of Hebrew Women for Equal Rights in Erez Israel

Rosa Welt-Straus

Rosa Welt-Straus was a women’s rights activist who was active in the struggle for women’s suffrage in both New York and Mandatory Palestine. She helped form the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in New York and later became head of the Union of Hebrew Women in Palestine, which she went on to represent internationally.

Second Aliyah: Women's Experience and Their Role in the Yishuv

The desire of woman immigrants of the Second Aliyah for self-actualization and economic independence played an important part in shaping new Hebrew society in pre-state Israel. Civil sector women saw every Yishuv occupation, including traditionally feminine ones, as work of national importance and in service of the broader Zionist project.

Old Yishuv, People Praying at the Western Wall

Old Yishuv: Palestine at the End of the Ottoman Period

Women of the Old Yishuv saw their immigration to the Holy Land as serving spiritual sanctification at the expense of material suffering. Jewish women lived restricted lives as the result of child marriage, high infant mortality rates, and being confined to the domestic sphere in the Old Yishuv.

Kolech: Religious Women's Forum

Kolech (Hebrew for Your Voice): Religious Women’s Forum was founded in Jerusalem in 1998 with the aim of raising the standing of women in Jewish religious Orthodoxy. Among its achievements are a monthly pamphlet discussing the weekly Torah portion, halakhic issues, homiletics, and various Torah subjects; international conferences; and a guide for rabbis and communal workers on how to act when approached by women. Kolech is also active in the work of the Israeli Parliament, concerning certain laws which affect women.

Hannah Chizhik

Hannah Chizhik was an advocate for women’s emancipation and she was committed to the women workers movement. She became an expert in vegetable farming, agricultural work, and domestic labor for the groups of women pioneers. In 1926 she established a women’s smallholding in Tel Aviv, which became an important center for pioneer youth.

Sara Azaryahu

From her youth, the two issues Sara Azaryahu cared about most were women’s rights and Zionism. Dedicating her life to both causes, Azaryahu was active in the advancement of Hebrew girl’s schools all over Palestine and was a key player in the fight for equal rights for women in the Yishuv.