The Jewish community seems to love making lists of its best and brightest. Every time a new list is announced, we cringe to see how many women have made the cut. Two out of 10? Five out of 50?  Seven out of 50? Let's not forget the National Museum of American Jewish History poll where women made up 47 of the 218 nominees. Today the New York Jewish Week released their 3rd annual "36 Under 36" list, recognizing "three dozen forward-thinking young people who are helping reshape the Jewish community." Lo and behold, 21 of the 36 are women! As Rebecca Honig Friedman pointed out, that's more than 61%!

And here they are! (Thanks to Rebecca Honig Friedman for the quick summary.) Just click their names to see their profile at the Jewish Week.

Jessica Balaban, founding exec. Dir. Of Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues.
Sara Berman, Hebrew Charter School Pioneer.
Dr. Joyce Brown, physician, mentor, animal lover.
Yael Buechler, Jewish educator who wears her passion on her nails.
Rachel Neima Chasky, popularizing microfinance within the Jewish community .
Adi Ezroni, popular Israeli actress turned human rights advocate.
Sara Mina Gordon, The Yiddish mash-up artist.
Gabrielle Carlin and Ben Jablonski, founders of JNFuture.
Maya Kadar, helping distressed Israeli youth.
Gilah Kletenik, Orthodox congregational intern.
Naomi Maryles, first female attorney on American Beth Din.
Rachel Neumann, founding board member of Repair the World.
Hindy Poupko, executive Dir., Council of Young Jewish Presidents.
Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse, social media rock star.
Danya Ruttenberg, taking feminism and Judaism seriously, and putting it in print.
Alison Laichter and Yael Shy, founders of the Jewish Meditation Center in Brooklyn.
Vivian Lehrer and Yoni Stadlin, co-founders of Eden Village Camp.
Mitzi Steiner, co-founder, Jewish Education Workshop (J.E.W.), a beit midrash that bridges gaps on college campus.
Sheva Tauby, director of iVolunteer.
Eli Winkelman, director, Challah for Hunger.

Introducing this list, the Jewish Week wrote: "Welcome to the future." They most likely were referring to the future that these 36 young visionaries were working to create, but I could not help but notice that the Jewish Week's future is one that includes the full inclusion of Jewish women and recognition of their accomplishments. This is particularly gratifying to us at the Jewish Women's Archive, working each day to make sure Jewish women are seen, heard, and taken seriously.

Kudos to the Jewish Week for creating a list that gives Jewish women their due. This is a future I want to be part of.

*Correction: There are 21, not 22 women on the list. I did not check Rebecca Honig Friedman's math, and she posted this correction this morning. I apologize.