Activism
Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation leads its first national action
On October 2, 1989, the Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation (JWCEO) led its first national action: the “Jewish Women’s Call for Peace—Days of Awe.” On this historic day, women’s groups in Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Boston, Eugene, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Montpellier, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, San-Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Syracuse, Toronto, Tucson, and Washington, DC, held vigils in solidarity with women’s peace groups in Israel and Palestine.
Sara Stern-Katan
Sara Stern-Katan (1919–2001) was a Holocaust survivor, leader, and politician who played a central role in Religious Zionist movements in Poland, Germany, and the State of Israel.
Alicia Partnoy
Alicia Partnoy, a survivor of Argentina’s so-called “Dirty War” (1976-1983), is an Argentine author, activist, and scholar who lives in Los Angeles, California. Her best known work isThe Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival, which was introduced as evidence in the trials against the perpetrators in charge of the secret detention camps in her hometown and in the South of the country.
Sue Katz
In this oral history interview, Sue Katz speaks with Meirit Cohen about her life as a Jewish lesbian activist, martial artist, writer, and organizer, reflecting on her upbringing in Pittsburgh, political and social movements from the 1960s onward, international work in Israel and the United Kingdom, and her advocacy for LGBTQ elders.
Marion Swerdlow becomes New York City subway conductor
On July 1, 1981, Marian Swerdlow began training to become a New York City subway conductor. She was one of the first women to hold this position, and her time with the Transit Authority and Local 100 union led her to writeUnderground Woman: My Four Years as a New York Subway Conductor.
Understanding My Grandmother’s Legacy in a Changed World
Ahava RosenthalAs my daughter and I walked through the museum that Clara Lander helped grow, I grappled with the meaning of her absence from the walls of this place she loved.
From ‘Bread and Roses’ to ‘Raises and Roses’
Marlo DabareinerIt’s our responsibility as Jews, and as women, to be activists. The chain of activism that stretches back to my great-grandmother will continue with my children.
Tikkun Olam, Tikkun Our Selves
Luna RomeroGloria Steinem’s legacy teaches me that activism is both personal and collective, it's spiritual and political.
Batting Bella: Becoming a Blueprint for Jewish Feminists
Madeline GrossBella Abzug contributed to the causes that she was passionate about, not afraid to connect her passions and “womanly emotions” to the impacts she made.
Lisa Krinsky
On November 20, 2021, interviewer Shira Hartman recorded an oral history with Lisa Krinsky, documenting her childhood and Jewish upbringing, coming-out experience, career in social work and leadership in LGBTQ aging advocacy, intersections of Jewish identity and social justice, community activism, and reflections on family, resilience, and aging.
Jewish Women and the Yippie Movement
The Youth International Party (YIP, or Yippie!) was best known for its role in the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The Yippies, whose membership included many Jewish feminists, merged counterculture with New Left politics by staging theatrical direct actions in protest of state violence.
Susie Tanchel
Mitchell Israel interviewed Dr. Susie Tanchel on November 19, 2021, for the Ga’avah: LGBTQ+ Jews project, in which she reflects on her South African upbringing, formative experiences at Brandeis University, career in Jewish education, and leadership and advocacy for LGBTQ inclusion within Jewish educational institutions.
Episode 136: How Jewish Women Shaped SNL
Listen NowFrom "Jewess Jeans" to "Coffee Talk" to "Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy," Jewish women have left their mark on Saturday Night Live as cast members and as characters. In this episode of Can We Talk? we look at the evolving role of Jewish women on the show over its 50 years on TV. Original cast member Laraine Newman talks about how her Jewish identity influenced the characters she played, and how the show reflects changing attitudes about being Jewish. Also, pop culture scholar Jennifer Caplan helps us dissect some iconic sketches—some of which have aged better than others.
Nina Beth Cardin
Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin is a rabbi, writer, and former director of Jewish Life at the JCC in Baltimore, Maryland, and the founder of the Jewish Women’s Resource Center.
Episode 135: LGBTQ Jews in the Federal City
Step into the history of queer Jews in Washington, DC as Nahanni tours the Capital Jewish Museum’s current exhibit, “LGBTJews in the Federal City” with curators Jonathan Edelman and Sarah Leavitt. Through artifacts, photos, and oral histories, the exhibit looks at decades of federal discrimination and the fight for equality, the AIDS epidemic and national response, and the transformation of Jewish communal life locally and nationally. Highlights include a panel from the AIDS memorial quilt, a purple, sequined gown from DC’s favorite Jewish drag queen, and a pair of rotary phones that dial up oral history clips from local LGBTQ community members.
How My “Wild Feminist” T-Shirt Made Me Rethink My Position in the Jewish Community
Marlo DabareinerAs I read my classmate’s message to me, I was reminded of the same debate that I had been having in my head about what feminism should or shouldn’t look like.
Episode 134: The Jewish Girl Who Joined the Islamic Revolution
Guita Sazan grew up in a Jewish family in Tehran in the 1960s and 1970s, during the reign of the Shah. She was a teenager during the Islamic Revolution against the Shah and was inspired to join the struggle, even becoming a practicing Muslim. But as time went by, the new regime became more and more repressive, until finally Guita realized her own life might be in danger unless she fled the country. Guita joins us to discuss her dramatic life story and her new memoir Mirrors on Fire: A Jewish Girl Seized in Pursuit of Jihad.
Persephone Books is Keeping Twentieth Century Women's Stories Alive
Zia SaylorBased on the Greek mythology of Persephone, this bookstore focuses on bringing previously hidden stories back into the light.
Learning Reconciliation from My Great-Grandmother’s Poetry
Susannah Abel-ZuckerHaving arguments with people you love and still being able to go on loving them is a necessary skill for effective activism.
The Fractions of Myself
Naomi BeinartI am not just one of my identities, I am all of them, shaped by every box I've had to circle, every affinity space I’ve been a part of.
Wrestling with 'Rights' In The Grocery Aisle
Rachel FaulknerAs I move through D.C., I know something is true: I will need oranges, and the gun in the produce aisle will not make me feel safer shopping for them.
Bonus Episode: Remembering Susan Stamberg
Public radio icon Susan Stamberg died on October 16, 2025, at the age of 87. In this special episode, we pay tribute to Susan by listening back to our 2018 interview in which she discusses her New York accent, how early NPR audiences responded to hearing a woman deliver the nightly news, and what she listens for in a broadcast voice. The interview was part of an episode about women's voices in broadcasting, called "Breaking the Sound Barrier."
7 Questions for Sex and Dating Writer Mia Sherin
Sarah GroustraJWA sat down with sex and relationship writer Mia Sherin.
Episode 132: Two Years Later
Two years after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, we speak with family members of Vivian Silver and Hayim Katsman, Israeli peace activists who were murdered that day. Hayim’s mother Hannah Wacholder Katsman and Vivian’s son Yonatan Zeigen share how they are carrying on their legacies.
