As 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.

Based on the Greek mythology of Persephone, this bookstore focuses on bringing previously hidden stories back into the light.

 I 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.

JWA sat down with sex and relationship writer Mia Sherin.

Bianca Eshel-Gershuni (1932-2020) was a pioneering Israeli sculptor and jewelry designer known for challenging artistic conventions and redefining the boundaries between craft and fine art. In contrast to the dominant minimalist, conceptual, and abstract tendencies of her time, her work proposed an aesthetic of abundance—a profusion of materiality, color, narrativity, and personal expression—paving the way for generations of artists exploring gender, kitsch, and popular culture.

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 titledHow We Won the Vote in California. 

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.

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. 

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

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

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. 

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

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

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

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. 

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.

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, 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 (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.

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.