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Mikveh

The mikveh is a ritual bath prescribed by ancient Jewish law for the rite of purification. It had particular significance for Jewish women, who were required to immerse themselves in the mikveh following their menstrual periods or after childbirth in order to become ritually pure and permitted to resume sexual activity. The practice has been jettisoned by many Jews but continues to be observed today, not only in Orthodox communities but also by feminists, queer Jews, and others who have reinterpreted the ritual.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mikveh

Sally Milgrim

In the early twentieth century, when well-to-do women dressed three or four times a day to carry on their daily social lives, Sally Milgrim designed for any and all of these occasions, always incorporating luxury and detailing into the richness of her designs. Adorning First Ladies and movie stars alike, Milgrim’s designs are remembered to this day.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/milgrim-sally

Linda Rosenberg Miller

Linda Rosenberg Miller devoted herself to Jewish studies and collecting art and archeological treasures.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miller-linda-rosenberg

Sarah Gertrude Millin

With a career of over thirty years, Sarah Gertrude Millin was one of South Africa’s most prolific literary figures of the twentieth century. The racism and conservative political attitudes that pervade her work, however, have lowered her status in South African literary history.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/millin-sarah-gertrude

Marga Minco

Marga Minco (b. 1920) is a Dutch writer famous for her literary work relating to the Holocaust and for her economical use of words. Both topic and writing style have made her work unique.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/minco-marga

Abigail Minis

Remarkable in every sense for her time, Abigail Minis ran multiple successful businesses while supplying rebel troops during the American Revolution.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/minis-abigail

Miriam: Bible

Miriam is best known for helping to deliver Moses at the Nile River and leading the Hebrew women in singing, dancing, and playing drums after crossing the Red Sea. Centuries later, prophecy remembers her as the equal of Moses and Aaron in representing God before the people and as the inaugurator of a performance and composition tradition of song, drums, and dances in Israel.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible

Miriam: Midrash and Aggadah

Miriam is described in the midrash as part of a family triumvirate of leaders, and the Rabbis assert that she contributed greatly to the redemption of Israel from Egypt. Miriam acted as a leader during the wanderings in the wilderness; by her merit the Israelites were accompanied on their journeys by the well that bears her name: “Miriam’s Well.”

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-midrash-and-aggadah

Marion Simon Misch

Marion Misch participated in a great number of volunteer activities through her lifetime, all the while running a successful business following the death of her husband. Her primary interests centered on education and Judaism, and her volunteerism reflected her concern for these issues.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/misch-marion-simon

Mizrahi Feminism in Israel

Mizrahi feminism goes beyond the typical western scope of feminism to include the history and issues that concern women in the Middle East in Israel and in Arab and Muslim countries. An intersectional feminism, it is particularly sensitive to issues of race, class division, immigration, and ethnic discrimination.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mizrahi-feminism-in-israel

Ariane Mnouchkine

Director Ariane Mnouchkine is acclaimed as a major figure in French contemporary theater. She is known for founding the Théâtre du Soleil, which popularized contemporary fair-style theater, and for transforming an abandoned property in Paris into one of France’s most popular theaters.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mnouchkine-ariane

The Jewish Family in Early Twentieth-Century United States

As poor Jewish immigrant families poured into the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, concerned social workers, rabbis, sisterhood presidents and journalists sounded an alarm about the state of the Jewish family. Women often bore the blame for what was seen as the weakening of the Jewish home, and communal organizations devoted much attention to strengthening the Jewish family.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/modern-jewish-family-in-united-states

Photo of woman wearing a short dress in Mea Shearim, Israel, underneath a sign mandating modest dress. A man covers his eyes as she passes.

Modesty and Sexuality in Halakhic Literature

Though it is not mentioned in the Bible, modesty (zeni'ut) has become a significant part of modern halakhah, especially in the realm of sexuality. For women, sexual modesty means covering up their bodies. For both men and women, modesty also entails certain behavioral rules. These modesty rules ensure that sex happens in a way that is deemed proper, in the right time and place.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/modesty-and-sexuality-in-halakhic-literature

Ellen Moers

Ellen Moers’ Literary Women (1976), the third and last book of her career, is a benchmark of feminist criticism. While early critics attacked Literary Women for its exclusive focus on women writers, her analysis of Mary Shelley and other women writers reshaped our understanding of their work.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/moers-ellen

Clara Malraux

Journalist, essayist, novelist, and translator Clara Malraux spent her early life involved with antifascist activities and joined the French Resistance during World War II while in hiding with her daughter. Her work often describes her attempts to make a place for herself in a misogynistic and antisemitic society.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/malraux-clara

Lane Bryant Malsin

Lane Bryant Malsin revolutionized the clothing industry with her classy maternity wear and clothes for plus–size women. Malsin was a deeply ethical employer, offering pensions, health insurance, and profit–sharing at a time when few other businesses did.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/malsin-lane-bryant

Judith Pinta Mandelbaum

Judith Pinta Mandelbaum was an important part of the Mizrachi Women’s Organization of America (American Mizrachi Women) from the 1930s until shortly before her death in 1977, by which time the organization was known as AMIT. She also achieved professional acclaim as an outstanding teacher and is remembered fondly as a woman with a wonderful sense of humor and a rich family life.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mandelbaum-judith-pinta

Emma B. Mandl

Emma B. Mandl immigrated to the United States at age fifteen and helped found the Baron Hirsch Women’s Club, a major Chicago philanthropic organization. Through the club, where she served as president, Mandl created and led vital institutions for Jewish East European immigrants in Chicago, from orphanages to trade schools to tuberculosis wards.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mandl-emma-b

Rosa Manus

Rosa Manus was a Dutch leader in international women’s movements for suffrage and equality, as well as a vocal pacifist before and during World War II. As a Jew, she at times clashed with other feminist leaders.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/manus-rosa

Gil Marcus, Nelson Mandela, and Michael Katz, December 1990

Gill Marcus

After the African National Congress was unbanned in South Africa in 1990, Gill Marcus quickly became a central figure in the party, helping to build a communications infrastructure in preparation for the transition to democracy. She was later elected to Parliament, where she served as the Deputy Finance Minister in 1996 and then Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank in 1999.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/marcus-gill

Ruth Barcan Marcus

Ruth Barcan Marcus was a prominent twentieth-century American logician and philosopher who made pioneering contributions to modal logic and metaphysics. She taught at Yale university for more than two decades and was a key figure in American philosophical debates during the second half of the twentieth century.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/marcus-ruth-barcan

Regina Margareten

Regina Margareten was hailed as the “Matzah Queen” and the “matriarch of the kosher food industry” for both her business sense and her innovations to improve the quality of her products.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/margareten-regina

Anna Margolin

Despite her short writing career, Anna Margolin is regarded by literary critics as one of the finest early twentieth-century Yiddish poets in America. She was an active member of a circle of Jewish immigrant intellectuals in New York and her work influenced several major writers of her time, including the Yiddishist Chaim Zhitlovsky.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/margolin-anna

Mariamme I The Hasmonean

Mariamme, granddaughter of the last Hasmonean rulers, was the wife of King Herod of the new dynasty. After bearing him five children, she was executed by the king in 27 B.C.E.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mariamme-i-hasmonean

Fania Marinoff

Fania Marinoff was associated with one of the most vibrant artistic circles in the United States and Europe. She numbered among her friends writers such as Gertrude Stein, playwrights such as Eugene O’Neill, and artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe. Marinoff and her husband played prominent roles in the bohemian social and artistic life of New York, particularly of the Harlem Renaissance.

http://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/marinoff-fania

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The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women