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I made the decision to continue Hebrew school after seventh grade when my friends informed me that they signed up because it “sounded fun.” That decision, although not well thought out, was one of the best choices I’ve ever made.
As the first full-time female rabbi in Poland, Tanya Segal has creatively transformed Jewish life in the historic city of Krakow, the site of previous revolutions in Jewish thought and practice.
Gurit Kadman earned fame as a pioneer of Israeli folk dancing. Born Gertrude Lowenstein, Kadman joined the Wandervogel, a youth movement that focused on German folk culture.
Hailed as one of the great Soviet ballerinas, Irina Pevzner Jacobson followed her dance career by becoming the authority on staging nineteenth- and twentieth-century Romantic and Classical ballets.
Hilde Sofer Holger’s choreography incorporated her interest in religion, politics, and the natural world, and provoked important discussions about the role of dance in the public sphere.
Tony nominated playwright Elizabeth Swados raised our consciousness; she opened our eyes and dared us all to dance. Swados gave much to the world: theater, the gift of herself, one who constantly seeks truth and justice, and a strong female leader. Liz Swados also impacted my life in a very personal way- she taught me the meaning of community.
Hailed by the New York Times as “One of the most articulate and compassionate of social commentators in the arts today,” choreographer Liz Lerman has drawn inspiration from such unlikely sources as the US defense budget and a Department of Energy report on nuclear waste.
One of the most important choreographers of Israeli movement theater, Oshra Elkayam-Ronen distinguished herself by approaching stories from unusual angles, such as a feminist retelling of the story of Adam and Eve.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Lonnie Zarum Schaffer stepped up to lead her struggling Modern Orthodox synagogue, Anshe Sfard, rebuild themselves even better than before.
From her debut at age nine through her performances in her late seventies and teaching into her late eighties, Deborah Bertonoff made dance her life’s work.
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Russian Jewish father, Tatjana Barbakoff used her mixed heritage as inspiration for stunning and innovative dance performances.
Told first by her parents that dancing was immodest and then by Israeli settlers that dancing was bourgeois, Mia Arbatova defied her critics and became a pioneer of ballet in Israel.
Dancer and choreographer Margalit Oved’s performances blended elements from many cultures, including the Yemen of her childhood, the Israel of her adolescence, and the Los Angeles of her adulthood.
Marlee Matlin made history in 1986 as both the youngest actress to win an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress and the first deaf person to win the award.
Dancer and choreographer Bella Lewitzky was as famous off stage as on, thanks to her battles for freedom of expression against both the House Un-American Activities Committee and the National Endowment for the Arts.
