Iconic Jewish women gather to celebrate release of new, empowering bat mitzva book
At a book launch in Jerusalem, Dr. Aliza Lavie says her new compilation is for ‘bat mitzvah girls of all ages’ who want to delve deep into their ancient heritage
On Monday evening, a handful of intrepid women braved the rain for the launch of Dr. Aliza Lavie’s latest book, “Iconic Jewish Women: Fifty-Nine Inspiring, Courageous, Revolutionary Role Models for Young Girls.”
Up two flights of rickety stairs, a subtle magic filled the room in the Studio of Her Own women’s art center in Jerusalem. There is something genuinely enchanting about being in an intimate setting, discussing the heritage of Jewish women while surrounded by powerful, inspiring flesh-and-blood products of that heritage.
“This book is not a book,” said Lavie. “It’s a way for you to find yourself.”
Lavie is a former member of Knesset in Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party. During her tenure, she chaired the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality and the Committee to Combat Women Trafficking and Prostitution.
She has also authored many books about Jewish women’s prayer and historical customs, including “A Jewish Women’s Prayer Book,” which won a National Jewish Book Award in 2008.
Lavie’s latest book was published in Hebrew in 2021, with the English version hitting shelves after several years of painstaking work alongside translator Deena Glickman to adapt it to an English-speaking audience. It was designed as a bat mitzvah gift for preteen girls celebrating their Jewish coming of age. However, publicist Yehudit Singer Freud pointed out that it is really for “bat mitzvah girls of all ages.”
“Iconic Jewish Women” offers readers 59 different role models to follow as they find, or perhaps rediscover, their own voice.
Each chapter tells the story of a different woman, followed by an “Add Your Voice” section, which includes discussion questions and activities that the reader can use to engage with each role model.
Guest speaker Elana Sztokman, a Jewish feminist author and activist, opened her remarks with a comment on the Israel-Hamas war and its impact on women.
“We are living out the effect of patriarchal ideas around us,” she said. “So it’s really important for us to get women’s voices out there.”
The book, she said, is especially important in today’s climate. “We need inspiration, and models… for how to get our perspectives into positions of power.”
Yehudit Sidikman, co-founder and president of El Halev, was also invited to speak. El Halev is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide women with an arsenal of empowerment and self-defense tools that work both in physically and emotionally violent situations. As someone who made their career in women’s empowerment, Sidikman was particularly enthusiastic about the book.
“We’re told not to fight back because that’s going to make it worse,” Sidikman said during a discussion of legendary American activist and politician “Battling Bella” Abzug. “There is no worse.”
She added that one often-overlooked goal of self-defense is creation and making an impact.
How, she asked, echoing Sztokman, will anyone know you were ever here if you do not leave your mark? What is the point of protecting yourself if your “self” doesn’t live a full life?
“Iconic Jewish Women” aims to empower and encourage women to add their stories to a vast historical network of political, scientific, literary, and religious powerhouses.
Throughout the evening, the conversation kept returning to the issue of speaking up. Several famously outspoken women described feeling afraid or unable to use their voices since the war broke out on October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.
The group agreed that Jewish women, particularly those in Israel, must speak up about their reality and experiences and resist being pushed out of the narrative and forgotten by history.
“Courage is not ‘not being scared,'” said Sidikman. “It’s being petrified and doing it anyway because you know it’s the right thing to do.”
