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Synagogues/Temples

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Collection

Analía Bortz

Analía Bortz is the first Latin American woman ordained as a Conservative rabbi. Her approach to spirituality and religion combines with her medical training. As a doctor specializing in bioethics, she has also helped women and couples with fertility issues. 

Rabbi Shoshana Nambi

Trailblazing Rabbi Shoshana Nambi

Shoshana McKinney Kirya-Ziraba

Nambi is the first Ugandan woman to be officially ordained as a rabbi .

Julie Johanna Engel

Julie Johanna Isner Engel dreamed of becoming a professional opera singer in Germany in the 1930s, but the rise of the Nazis interrupted that dream. Escaping to the United States, she trained her voice in synagogue choirs and local opera performances. In the 1970s, she took a cantorial position at a synagogue in Queens, one of a pioneering generation of women cantors.

Portrait of Lauren Tuchman smiling in front of a stained glass window wearing a maroon top and gold necklace

7 Questions For Rabbi Lauren Tuchman

Sarah Groustra

JWA chats with rabbi and disability justice advocate Lauren Tuchman.

Sam Woll cropped

Remembering My Friend, Sam Woll

Jenny Nathan Simoneaux

She never stopped hoping that our shared humanity could guide us through the most difficult conflicts and help the world become a more peaceful, just, and equitable place. 

Sign that says Kidnapped and includes names and information about two Israelis kidnapped in Hamas attack on October 7

My Neighborhood is Now a House of Mourning

Rachel Bernstein

In the awful days since October 7, the people in my tight-knit, mostly Orthodox LA neighborhood have come together to share their sadness, anger, and grief. 

Episode 98: By Disabled Jews, For Disabled Jews

What did JOIN for Justice, the Jewish Organizing Institute and Network, do when the pandemic made its in-person community organizing fellowship impossible? It turned the obstacle into an opportunity, shifting to a virtual fellowship specifically for people with disabilities. 

Over seven months in 2021, a cohort of Jewish young adults with a wide range of disabilities, race and gender identities, and social justice interests met online for JOIN’s Access to Power Fellowship.  In this episode of Can We Talk?, we hear from the Access To Power director and two participants about how the fellowship shaped them, how their Jewish and disabled identities intersect, and why disabled people should be at the forefront of movements for social change.

Episode 94: Rebbetzins in America

What did talented, dedicated Jewish women do before they could become rabbis? Some became rebbetzins. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we’re looking at the changing role of the rebbetzin—the rabbi’s wife. Women have been rabbis in America for just over half a century, but for as long as there have been rabbis, there have been rabbi’s wives—and they've often served as leaders, too. We'll hear from Shuly Rubin Schwartz, author of The Rabbi’s Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life, and from three spouses of rabbis.

Donald and Fran Putnoi

Project
Soviet Jewry

Gabriel Weinstein, Tamar Shachaf Schneider, and Aaron Hersh interviewed Donald and Fran Putnoi in Massachusetts, as part of the Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. Fran and Dr. Donald Putnoi share their involvement with Action for Soviet Jewry, discussing their experiences with Rabbi Mehlman, missions to the USSR, treating patients, and their efforts in supporting Soviet Jews resettling in the United States.

Louis Trachtman

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Louis Trachtman on July 20, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Trachtman discusses his family history, the transition from Orthodox to Conservative Judaism, his experiences as a physician during Hurricane Katrina, his involvement in the Chevra Kadisha, and his reflections on race relations in New Orleans.

Elaine Zecher

Project
Boston Women Rabbis

Ronda Spinak interviewed Rabbi Elaine Zecher in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 20, 2024, for the Boston Women Rabbis Oral History Project. Zecher, senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston, shares her journey as a female rabbi, her experiences as the first woman rabbi at Temple Israel, her love for liturgy and involvement in prayer book projects, her spiritual practices, Temple Israel's work with AIDS victims, and her deep connection to the universal values of Judaism.

Stephen Richer

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Stephen Richer on November 27, 2006, in Gulfport, Mississippi, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Richer discusses his Jewish upbringing, his move to Biloxi, Mississippi, his experiences as a Jewish community leader during Hurricane Katrina, and how the storm changed his perspective on spirituality and material possessions.

Marion Eiseman

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Emily Mehlman interviewed Marion Eiseman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 19, 1997, for the Women Whose Lives Span the Century project. Eisman talks about her life experiences, including challenges during the Great Depression, involvement with Temple Israel, frustrations with her daughter's interfaith wedding, participation in Jewish resettlement during WWII, founding Call for Action, political views, volunteer work, and reflections on Boston's changes over time.

Toby Reifman

Project
Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America

Judith Rosenbaum interviewed Toby Reifman on October 30, 2005, in New York, New York, as part of the Barnard: Jewish Women Changing America Oral History Project. Reifman talks about her journey of growing up in Providence, Rhode Island, her experiences with gender dynamics and inequalities in Judaism, her involvement in Jewish feminist movements, and her evolving commitment to feminism and personal fulfillment throughout her life.

Bessie Berman

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Friedman Abrams interviewed Bessie Berman on December 10, 1996, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Berman explains her introduction to Temple Israel, her roles and responsibilities, her relationship with her coworkers and the rabbis, and how her career unfolded over fifty years with Temple Israel.

Madeline Bender

Project
Meet Me at Sinai

Jayne Guberman interviewed Madeline Bender on February 8, 2015, in New York, New York, as part of the Meet Me at Sinai Oral History Project. Madeline talks about her upbringing in New York City, her involvement in various clubs and organizations, and her feminist perspective on Jewish practice, and shares personal experiences of encountering gender equality and combating anti-feminist attitudes.

Ellen Bender

Project
Meet Me at Sinai

Jayne Guberman interviewed Ellen Bender on February 8, 2015, in New York, New York, as part of the Meet Me at Sinai Oral History Project. Bender discusses her childhood in New York, her mother's influence on her feminism, and how it shaped her religious practice, highlighting the impact of Jewish feminism and her vision for gender equality in Judaism and Jewish life.

Nancy Sargon

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Nancy Sargon on December 23, 2004, in Newton, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Project. Sargon discusses her family background, her Jewish upbringing in a Conservative family, her experiences with Jewish education, her career path in social work, and her bat mitzvah experience in 2000, emphasizing her commitment to Jewish education and ritual practice for herself and her children.

Anne Kahan

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Anne Kahan on February 2, 2005, in Brookline, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Project. Kahan discusses her family's immigration, Jewish education, synagogue involvement, marriage, disillusionment with traditional roles for women, involvement with Minyan Shaleym, and personal growth through her Bat Mitzvah and engagement with Torah and prayer.

Sonia Saltzman

Project
Adult Bat Mitzvahs

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Sonia Saltzman on December 21, 2004, in Newton, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Collection. Saltzman reflects on her childhood in Chile, her determination to have a bat mitzvah, her family's move to New Jersey, her personal growth through studying Hebrew and preparing for her bat mitzvah with her son, and the transformative power of her bat mitzvah experience.

Sylvia Willard

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandy Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Sylvia Willard on June 29, 2005, in Rutland, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project. Willard shares her family history, growing up in Vermont, her passion for theater, involvement in the Jewish community, meeting her husband Howard, and their successful ventures in the retail industry.

Jane Sickles Segal

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Roberta Burstein interviewed Jane Sickles Segal on August 14, 1997, in Brookhaven, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned the Century Oral History Project. Segal shares her family history, including her mother's conversion to Christian Science, her grandparents' immigration from Germany, her college experience, and life in Chillicothe and Boston, discussing topics such as the rise of Nazi groups in the US and her involvement in Jewish community councils.

Robert Loewy

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Rabbi Robert Lowey on November 29, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Rabbi Lowey talks about his family, career as a senior rabbi, and experiences during and after Hurricane Katrina, highlighting the importance of gathering, decision-making, and providing solace to the congregation.

Ida Mae Kahn

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Abrams and Bobbie Burstein interviewed Ida Mae Kahn on July 11, 1997, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, as a part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Kahn talks about her Jewish upbringing, meeting her husband, starting a family, and her extensive involvement in volunteer work, including leadership roles in various organizations and serving on the board of Public Welfare.

Helen Hirsch

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Friedman Abrams interviewed Helen Hirsch on August 8, 1997, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Hirsch discusses her childhood in Boston, her father's involvement in founding a synagogue and tailoring business, her education, her work during the Great Depression, her participation in religious and community organizations, and her love for music and family.

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