Jewish Woman Magazine

A groundbreaking history of how Jewish women maintained their identity and influenced social activism as they wrote themselves into American history. What does it mean to be a Jewish woman in America? In a gripping historical narrative, Pamela S. Nadell weaves together the stories of a diverse group of extraordinary people—from the colonial-era matriarch Grace Nathan and her great-granddaughter, poet Emma Lazarus, to labor organizer Bessie Hillman and the great justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to scores of other activists, workers, wives, and mothers who helped carve out a Jewish American identity. The twin threads binding these women together, she argues, are a strong sense of self and a resolute commitment to making the world a better place. Nadell recounts how Jewish women have been at the forefront of causes for centuries, fighting for suffrage, trade unions, civil rights, and feminism, and hoisting banners for Jewish rights around the world. Informed by shared values of America’s founding and Jewish identity, these women’s lives have left deep footprints in the history of the nation they call home.

A groundbreaking Jewish feminist short story collection. Short story collections focusing on Jewish writers have typically given women authors short shrift. This new volume represents the best Jewish feminist fiction published in Lilith Magazine and does what no other collection has done before in its geographic scope. It showcases a wide range of stories offering variegated cultures and contexts and points of view: Persian Jews; a Biblical matriarch; an Ethiopian mother in modern Israel; suburban American teens; Eastern European academics; a sexual questioner; a Jew by choice; a new immigrant escaping her Lower East Side sweatshop; a Black Jewish marcher for justice; in Vichy France, a toddler's mother hiding out; and more. Organized by theme, the stories in this book emphasize a breadth of content. Readers will appreciate the liveliness of burgeoning self-awareness captured in each tale, and the occasional funny, call-your-friend-and-tell-her-about-it moment. Skip around, encounter an author whose other writing you may know, be enticed by a title, or an opening line. You will find both pleasure and enlightenment--and even perhaps revelation--within these pages.

In richly diverse essays, stories, memoirs, poems, and interviews, the contributors to this collection affirm the depth of Jewish women's participation in Jewish life and give strength to feminist struggles in the Jewish community.

"An anthology of the best of feminist Jewish short stories published in Lilith Magazine by well-known and less-well known authors from all over the world"--

Jewish Feminism: What Have We Accomplished? What Is Still to Be Done? “When you are in the middle of the revolution you can’t really plan the next steps ahead. But now we can. The book is intended to open up a dialogue between the early Jewish feminist pioneers and the young women shaping Judaism today.... Read it, use it, debate it, ponder it.” —from the Introduction This empowering anthology looks at the growth and accomplishments of Jewish feminism and what that means for Jewish women today and tomorrow. It features the voices of women from every area of Jewish life—the Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox and Jewish Renewal movements; rabbis, congregational leaders, artists, writers, community service professionals, academics, and chaplains, from the United States, Canada, and Israel—addressing the important issues that concern Jewish women: Women and Theology Women, Ritual and Torah Women and the Synagogue Women in Israel Gender, Sexuality and Age Women and the Denominations Leadership and Social Justice

The women profiled in this collection of absorbing essays—some known throughout the world, others known only within their own communities—all share one key trait: whether religious or secular, they are driven by their commitment to Judaism to engage in acts of kindness. In profiling women such as Ruth Gruber, who helped hundreds of Jewish refugees escape from war-torn Europe, or Wendy Kay, who regularly invites teenagers to her home for Shabbat, The Jewish Woman Next Door provides contemporary role models that readers will admire and be able to emulate.