Feminism

Content type
Collection

Selina Solomons

Selina Solomons was a turn-of-the-twentieth-century activist and writer, best known for her leadership role in the 1911 suffrage campaign that granted California women the right to vote. Solomons belonged to a prominent Jewish American family and spent her life in the San Francisco Bay Area. She employed multiple genres in advocacy of women’s rights, including speeches, poetry, drama, short fiction, and a manual-cum-suffrage history titled How We Won the Vote in California

Jacqueline Shohet Kahanoff

Jacqueline Shohet Kahanoff was an Egyptian-Jewish essayist, novelist, journalist, and literary critic. She is best known for promoting “Levantinism,” a social model for coexistence in Israel—a concept she articulates most fully in her “A Generation of Levantines” essays (1959). Her writings have inspired generations of Sephardi and Mizrahi writers in Israel.

Episode 128: Orthodox Women Rabbis Crack the Stained-Glass Ceiling

In June 2025, the thirteenth cohort of Orthodox women rabbis graduates from Yeshivat Maharat, the first Orthodox yeshiva in North America dedicated to ordaining women. In this episode, we look at the status of the so-called stained-glass ceiling for Orthodox women rabbis as they seek pulpit positions, and we talk about the unique challenges for women’s leadership in the Orthodox movement. We speak with Rabbanit Leah Sarna, Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman, and Yeshivat Maharat’s founder and president, Rabba Sara Hurwitz.

Episode 127: The Scribe and Her Quill

For centuries, writing a Torah scroll was a sacred task reserved for men. But a couple of decades ago, a handful of women decided to pick up the quill—without waiting for permission—and paved the way for other women to do the same. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we hear from women who write Torah scrolls and explore what it means to inscribe yourself into tradition.

Collage of the Kotel with a hand touching the wall and stars around.

Praying for a Feminist Future at the Kotel

Amia Kaplun

Learning about the Women of the Wall made me realize that my discomfort at the Kotel was part of a larger, ongoing struggle for religious equity. 

Collage of Diane Von Furstenberg

The Feminine Power of Diane Von Furstenberg’s Wrap Dress

Dany Dorsey

When I put my wrap dress on, it is a continuation of Von Furstenberg's legacy of empowerment. 

Collage of Blu Greenberg with a drawn asterisk in the background

The Contradiction of Orthodox Feminism

Lea Davis

Blu Greenberg for showed me that Orthodoxy can be more inclusive for women and other underrepresented groups.

Elaine Showalter

Elaine Showalter is a pioneer of feminist criticism. She is best known for inventing the term “gynocriticism,” a new theoretical framework that argued that that women had been using the language of men for far too long and that they needed to develop a new critical approach to better understand the female subcultures that operate within male-dominated power structures. 

Collage of the Seattle skyline including the Space Needle. There is a Jewish star in the sky with water colors.

Karen Treiger: An Inspiring Jewish Change-Maker

Yona Pianko

In the Seattle Jewish community, Karen Treiger is known for fighting for women’s involvement in Jewish ritual.

Collage of Linda McCartney with colorful squiggles around it

Linda McCartney's Jewish, Feminist Activism

Sylvie Simmons

Regardless of how Linda presented herself or practiced her religion, Jewish values are evident in her activism. 

Images of biblical women

No Education Without Representation: Recognizing Women in Jewish Texts

Maya Braiterman

From the tender age of six years old I was surrounded by Torah study, and yet I never felt represented in these stories.

Topics: Bible, Feminism, Talmud

Bonus Episode: Our Stories, Our Resistance

At the Jewish Women's Archive, we’re closely following the attacks on democracy unfolding around us every day. In this special Can We Talk? audio essay, our own Judith Rosenbaum, JWA's CEO, calls out President Trump's moves to erase the histories of women and other marginalized groups. A version of this piece first ran on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's website.

Marcia Freedman

Marcia Judith Prince Freedman was an American-Israeli feminist writer, Knesset member, and advocate for women's rights who played a pivotal role in establishing Israel's feminist movement. Her activism included founding consciousness-raising groups, advocating for equal pay and reproductive rights, and challenging sexist religious laws. She also became politically involved in the United States, pushing for a new perspective on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. 

Hanna Herzog

Professor Hanna Herzog is a key advocate for feminism in Israel. Herzog combines academic achievement and social activism, emphasizing the importance of listening to diverse voices and critically examining marginalized people. Her journey into sociology was influenced by her own experiences of marginalization, starting from her time at Reali High School in Haifa, which ultimately led to her interest in research and the pursuit of knowledge.

Episode 122: Miriam Anzovin on Power and Gender in the Megillah

In this special Purim episode, Talmudic TikToker and storyteller Miriam Anzovin joins us to talk about the darker side of the Purim story, especially the role of gender. We start with a dramatic retelling of the Megillah, with Miriam's very contemporary spin on the traditional tale. Then we take a closer look at the story's gender dynamics, which still resonate 2,500 years later. Happy Purim!

Auberge Shalom Pour Femmes

Auberge Shalom pour femmes was established in Montreal, in 1989, after a Jewish woman was murdered by her husband. It was the first and only Jewish shelter for women in Canada. The organization opened an additional point of service in 2002, providing counselling and support through an external office. 

Blanche Bendahan

Blanche Bendahan, born in Algeria in 1893, to a Sephardi father and a Catholic mother, became a renowned writer, poet, and political activist. One of her most famous works, Mazaltob, addressed themes of tradition versus modernity, women's rights, and the intersections between Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities. She continued to write about her homeland until her death in 1975, combining her multicultural background with modernist style.

Maimie Pinzer

Maimie Pinzer (1885-1940) was a resilient and ambitious woman with a strong survival instinct, navigating poverty, sex work, and societal prejudice while striving for a better life. She founded the Montreal Mission for Friendless Girls in 1915, which supported young women escaping prostitution. Through her letters to socialite Fanny Quincy Howe, she left behind a valuable account of working-class women’s lives in the early twentieth century, revealing personal and societal challenges in an era when women’s voices were rarely heard.

"An Unfinished Symphony," art piece by Judy Robkin

The Power of Visual Storytelling

Jen Richler

JWA chats with Barbara Rosenblit and Sheila Miller, the creators of Artful Disclosure, a program that honors the ordinary and extraordinary lives of Jewish women through visual storytelling. 

Arlene Agus

Arlene was known for her intense and fervid connection to Jewish liturgy, her dazzling smile, her love of words, music and laughter, and her steadfast commitment to feminism.

2024 Highlights Photo Montage

Jewish Women Who Shaped 2024

JWA Staff

As 2024 draws to a close, the JWA team takes a moment to celebrate some of the incredible moments and achievements of Jewish women and gender-expansive people from the past year. Here are our picks for the standouts that inspired us, made us laugh, and reminded us of the power of resilience, community, and creativity.

Collage of a compass and a heart

My Jewish Feminist Journey in Israel and the US

Ruth Pollin-Galay

I was dubbed “femenistit masricha,” a smelly feminist, on the first day of seventh grade. I kind of liked it. 

Collage of two hands reaching out with stars in between

Encountering Feminism and Sexism at Jewish Summer Camp

Zoe Moore

Feminism does not require that all women are the same and should react in the same manner to misogyny.

Episode 120: Until 120!

It’s a Can We Talk? party! Welcome to our 120th episode 🥳. We're celebrating this milestone podcast style—Jen gets Judith and Nahanni reminiscing about the early days, we revisit clips from some of our favorite episodes, and we hear "Until 120!" in six languages. We’re honored to be feted by some very special pasts guests and fans of Can We Talk?, including Susan Stamberg of NPR, comedians Judy Gold and Iris Bahr, actor Eleanor Reissa, singers Galeet Dardashti and Erez Zobary, Noah Efron of The Promised Podcast, and our own daughters.

Marilyn Safir

Marilyn Safir is an Israeli-American psychologist who played a critical role as a feminist activist in sparking the Israeli women’s movement and in establishing the academic field of women’s studies in Israel. Her academic career has focused on sex, sexuality, and gender. 

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