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Jewish feminism

Naava Shafner in Jerusalem, 2026 (Yitzchak Ledee)
'The Jewish world’s greatest asset is its connections'
Peoples of Israel: Naava Shafner, the social entrepreneur ‘unicorn’
By Sarah Tuttle-Singer
On this week's installment, we meet a social changemaker who refuses to choose between the different parts of who she is while making a difference in the world
Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg (Hadar Institute)
October 3, 2026, 6:24 pm
After Oct. 7, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg’s post-Holocaust theology faces its biggest test
In a collection of essays spanning six decades, the 93-year-old thinker argues that Israel’s mission is not simply to thrive, but to wield power without sacrificing human dignity
By Zev Stub
Jewish women casting their votes in the New York City mayoral election face a choice between their priorities as Jews and as women. (ZAMEK/VIEWpress via Getty Images via JTA)
November 1, 2025, 5:38 am
Feminist vs. Jewish: These women say NYC’s mayoral election is forcing a painful choice
Many fear antisemitism could proliferate unchecked under virulently anti-Israel frontrunner Mamdani, while rival Cuomo has a track record of sexual harassment allegations, which he denies
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Artist Judy Chicago is featured in two new Tel Aviv exhibits that opened September 18, 2025, at the Nassima Landau Art Foundation and Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Courtesy)
September 30, 2025, 11:24 am
Tel Aviv exhibits pose question, ‘What if women ruled the world?’
Nassima Landau and Tel Aviv Museum of Art open joint show about American Jewish artist Judy Chicago, including work with Pussy Riot activist artist Nadya Tolokonnikova
By Jessica Steinberg
Arlene Agus, pictured here in 2010, was a pioneer of Orthodox feminism and a leader in the Upper West Side's Jewish community. (Flickr via JTA)
December 29, 2024, 8:12 am
Arlene Agus, New York advocate of Orthodox feminism, dies at 75
Activist led adoption of women’s rituals of Rosh Chodesh; taught other women to lead prayer; read from the Torah, Megillah
By PHILISSA CRAMER
Dr. Aliza Lavie pictured with her new book, Iconic Jewish Women, during its launch in Jerusalem on March 18, 2024 (Credit: Lior Sade).
March 21, 2024, 11:56 am
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
By Maya Zanger-Nadis
Supporters of Malky Berkowitz say they are launching a “mikvah strike” — a form of protest that leverages Jewish sexual purity rituals as a pressure tactic for Malky's husband to give her a divorce. (Design by Jackie Hajdenberg. Images courtesy of Adina Sash via JTA)
March 8, 2024, 4:01 am
US Orthodox women activists pledge ‘sex strike’ in protest of religious divorce refusal
Form of protest leveraging Jewish sexual purity rituals as a pressure tactic aimed at supporting Malky Berkowitz, 29, whose husband has refused her a ‘get’ for four years
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Bella Abzug shown in 1979. (Courtesy of Bernard Gotfryd, Library of Congress via JTA)
August 27, 2023, 2:50 am
Bella Abzug film aims to restore the Jewish congresswoman’s trailblazing legacy
With the newly released documentary ‘Bella!’ filmmaker Jeff L. Lieberman hopes to boost recognition of the US activist and politician who championed equality and environmentalism
By Shira Li Bartov
Barbie doll creator Ruth Handler, left, gets a kiss from Kristi Cooke, an actress dressed as a Barbie doll, during the 35th birthday celebration for the doll at FAO Schwarz in New York City on March 9, 1994. (AP Photo/Robert Clark)
June 6, 2023, 3:24 am
Way before icon Barbie got the Hollywood treatment, she was ‘born’ with Jewish roots
From her creation by unconventional entrepreneur Ruth Handler to her inclusivity and ability to adapt with the times, the famous doll bears some trademarks of the Tribe
By Cathryn J. Prince
PROMOTED CONTENT
April 16, 2023, 4:59 pm
Civil Law vs. Halakhah in Israeli Courts
Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, and Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation, the equivalent to a Bill of Rights, begin by anchoring the rights they protect in “the values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
By Yofi Tirosh
Rachel Jackson, a scribe and prayerbook designer, writes a Megillat Esther, or Book of Esther, in this photo from 2017. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Jackson)
March 7, 2023, 10:22 pm
In Orthodox communities where women don’t read Torah, Purim offers rare opportunity
Over the decades, women’s Megillah readings have moved from cutting-edge to squarely within the norm, marking the growth of Orthodox feminism and its expression in Jewish ritual
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur. (Courtesy of MJLF)
June 6, 2022, 3:50 pm
France has 500,000 Jews and only 5 women rabbis, but this group wants to change that
Last month saw the second Daughters of Rashi conference, a cross-denominational event focusing on expanding women’s roles in Judaism — and for participants, it’s a call to action
By HANNAH STEINKOPF-FRANK
Poet, translator and liturgist Marcia Falk (Cathleen Maclearie)
April 14, 2022, 11:59 pm
Jewish feminism ‘foremother’ Marcia Falk publishes lyrical haggadah
Pathbreaking poet and liturgist offers innovative take on text by highlighting biblical Exodus over rabbinic commentary. Here, she discusses her feminist and spiritual awakenings
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Blu Greenberg, the founder of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, in an undated photo. (courtesy)
March 18, 2021, 3:05 pm
Join ToI Community and meet the matriarch of Orthodox feminism, Blu Greenberg
In this week’s Behind the Headlines, exclusively for ToI Community members, a pioneering Jewish voice that wrestles with the values of Orthodoxy and feminism
By ToI Staff
Beate Sirota Gordon at American Japanese Festival in 1938. (Beate Sirota Photo Gallery/ via JTA)
January 6, 2021, 4:07 am
Jewish feminist Beate Sirota Gordon changed women’s rights in Japan forever
A new children’s book shows how her upbringing and bit of good, old-fashioned chutzpah helped a 22-year-old woman change a country’s destiny, and then keep mum about it for decades
By Maddy Albert
Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, left, and his wife, Chana, started a groundbreaking program for Orthodox women to answer questions of Jewish law. (Courtesy of Nishmat/ via JTA)
December 25, 2020, 7:28 pm
Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, pioneer of women’s leadership in Orthodoxy, dies
Henkin’s status as a Jewish legal authority lent weight to his support for expanded female roles, while his moderation helped the changes take root in the mainstream community
By Shira Hanau
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