In 1997, Nishmat, a women’s seminary in Jerusalem, began training Orthodox women to become Yoatzot Halacha, or Jewish legal advisors. Yoatzot Halacha receive extensive training in Jewish legal texts and medical and behavioral sciences; after training, a Yoetzet Halacha might answer questions through a hotline or website or serve in a community in the US, the UK, or Israel. Yoatzot Halacha are one of a number of innovations in the field of Orthodox women’s leadership and literacy.

The Matriarchs imagines a universe where life’s unfairest moments can be made more tolerable through friendship, conversation, and understanding.

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

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

JWA chats with Orthodox rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform journalist Abigail Pogrebin about their new book,It Takes Two to Torah. 

Hearing about Hoffman's work had a significant impact on my confidence and ability to forge my own religious path.  

Jwitter, or Jewish Twitter, helped me reshape how I viewed my place in a Jewish community.

I wanted my bat mitzvah to be a very public statement of my commitment to gender equality within Orthodox Judaism.

When the topic of my bat mitzvah surfaced in my two households, it became evident that my bat mitzvah was not going to be like the ones my friends were having.

Elise Brenner interviewed Rebecca Chernin on December 19, 2004, in Sharon, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Project. Rebecca discusses her family, childhood, and Jewish identity, highlighting her advocacy efforts to combat teen violence and support domestic violence victims within the Jewish community; she also shares her personal experience as an Orthodox teen survivor of an abusive relationship, her work with REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, and her outreach efforts to address domestic violence within the Jewish community, guided by the Jewish value of shalom bayit, and reflects on her ongoing advocacy goals.

For some Modern Orthodox Jewish women, skirts versus pants gets tricky.

Elise Brenner interviewed Hadassah Blocker on December 16, 2004, in Newtonville, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. Blocker shares her upbringing in Massachusetts, her Orthodox background, challenges to gender roles in Judaism, and her dedication to teaching and promoting women's equal participation.

As Lippmann's characters inLech excavate their lives in search of clarity, they're ultimately left with this truth: what we're told to believe about ourselves and the world is never all there is.

The filmThe Fifth Element creates an aspirational society in which a woman does not feel exposed or sexualized because of what she wears. I want that for all of us. 

After Kanye West's latest antisemitic spiral, I searched Tiktok, hoping to seek solitude and comfort in Jewish creators succeeding at sharing their Jewish identity in ways that felt authentic, candid, and personal.

I had to ask the question a 2015 Always ad poses: "why would I let ‘like a girl’ stop me?" Acting like a girl works, and is not something I need to be ashamed of.

Shayna Rhodes interviewed Hadassah Blocker on November 3, 2004, in Newtonville, Massachusetts, as part of the Adult Bat Mitzvahs Oral History Project. Blocker discusses her Orthodox Jewish background, her role in Torah learning, and her advocacy for women's participation in synagogue services and adult Jewish education.

We shouldn’t assume that “progressive” branches of Judaism are always more feminist than traditional ones.

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Karen Weissbecker Remer on September 27, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Remer discusses her transition from Conservative Judaism to modern Orthodox Judaism, her experience during Hurricane Katrina, and the impact it had on her life and community.

Felicia Berliner's debut novelShmutzupends the notion of a binary choice so frequently seen in literature concerning Jews living unhappily in insular communities.

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Malka Lew on October 12, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Lew talks about her Orthodox Jewish upbringing, her transformation to an observant lifestyle, surviving cancer surgery before Hurricane Katrina, evacuating to Houston, and finding strength in her faith.

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Bluma Rivkin on October 12, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Rivkin shares her Chabad upbringing, involvement in the New Orleans Jewish community, experiences during Hurricane Katrina, evacuation to Houston, spiritual guidance, return home to devastation, and joyful celebrations of Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Lonnie Zarum, formerly Schaffer, on August 30, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Zarum reflects on her experiences growing up in a modern Orthodox Jewish family in London, her move to New Orleans, surviving Hurricane Katrina, the challenges faced by her synagogue, and her personal growth and gratitude in the aftermath of the disaster.

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Ben Jaffe on September 6, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Jaffe talks about his upbringing in the French Quarter of New Orleans, his family's contribution to the revival of traditional jazz through Preservation Hall, his experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and his efforts to rebuild and preserve the city's music culture.

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Myron Goldberg on July 5, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Goldberg, a first-generation American from New Orleans, discusses his family history, involvement with Congregation Beth Israel, running a store, raising a family, experiencing Hurricane Katrina, and rebuilding his home and business.