Yolande Gabai Harmer: Israel’s Secret Heroine

Posted on: May 17th, 2013

Moshe Sharett, the head of the Jewish Agency’s Political Department, visited Egypt in 1945. In Cairo he met a most remarkable young woman, a beautiful journalist who was the darling of Egyptian high society - from high-ranking military brass, to culture icons and Muslim sheikhs, to the court of King Faruk.

Margaret Thatcher: A Friend Of The Jewish People And Israel

Posted on: May 2nd, 2013

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the famous “Iron Lady,” often said that her greatest accomplishment was not her work in helping to topple the Soviet Union or being the first British woman to hold the post of prime minister, but rather her efforts “to save a Jewish teenager in Austria from the grasp of Hitler’s terror.”

Irena Sendler: Let’s Remember A Remarkable Heroine

Posted on: April 18th, 2013

“I’m no heroine. I only did what any moral person would do,” Irena Sendler protested with understated modesty. “I simply tried to help the people in need.”

Ruchama Cabilo: Motherhood

Posted on: April 5th, 2013

Each year International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. Thousands of events occur, not only on this day but also throughout March to mark the social, economic and political accomplishments of women.

“Daughter Of Zion” – Our Historic Right

Posted on: March 21st, 2013

The Prophet Yeshayahu’s messages of Geula/ Redemption are apt answers to our present-day prayers. They are tailor made for our times. He exhorts the people of Israel to abandon their self-image as aniya soara -- a poor tempest-tossed woman ( 54:11) -- and rise as bat Tziyon -- the daughter of Zion, a nation with a sense of pride and dignity.

Juliette Samama: Volunteer Par Excellence

Posted on: March 8th, 2013

Volunteerism is in her DNA. Juliette Samama was born in Tunis, Tunisia, daughter of Rav Ishua Shtrug, the rabbi, chazan (cantor), mohel (circumsciser) and shochet (ritual slaughterer) of the city’s Jewish community. He performed the functions of four men, yet did not draw a salary.

Lyndell Higgins: Dance In The Face Of Hate

Posted on: February 22nd, 2013

In recent months I have been profoundly affected by the news of growing anti-Semitism in most European countries and in the United States, especially on college campuses. When, at the end of World War II, I emerged a living skeleton from the German concentration camps, I believed that the horror of Jew-hatred was defeated forever. And now, as I watch my grandchildren raise their young families, the news of the ancient hatred’s revival strikes fear in my heart for their safety. For the Jewish future.

Miriam, The Sister of Aharon

Posted on: February 1st, 2013

I have always been overwhelmed by the sense of responsibility the message of Har Sinai has placed upon women. The Midrash teaches that the Almighty asked Israel: “What can you give as an assurance that you will keep my covenant?”

Exodus: The Invisible Center Stage Of Redemption (Conclusion)

Posted on: January 17th, 2013

Galut Mitzrayim -- the Egyptian Exile -- has come to epitomize exile in Judaism. It is the ultimate galut, the ultimate exile and it embraces all aspects of the later exiles: displacement, foreign subjugation, powerlessness, and exposure to extreme physical and mental torture.

Exodus: The Invisible Center Stage Of Redemption

Posted on: January 4th, 2013

Ask any child who the main heroes of the drama are and he will say, Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohein. No need to elaborate, the Torah is clear and explicit in assigning these roles. Despite his reluctance, Moshe is singled out for his assignment and so is Aharon. The voice of the Almighty is distinct in reiterating their mission, and they, faithful servants, obey the Divine command and earn their place in the limelight.

Irene Burg: A Multifaceted Personality

Posted on: December 20th, 2012

About a year ago, my husband and I joined a new synagogue in Netanya. In the women’s section a strikingly elegant lady caught my attention. Only later, did I come to know that Irene Burg’s looks were only the tip of the iceberg.

Rama Burshtein: A Window Into Her World

Posted on: December 6th, 2012

“Fill the Void” is the title of Rama Burshtein’s film that played to critical acclaim at the recent Toronto International Film Festival and earned seven Ophir Awards -- the Israeli Oscars -- including one for best film and best director, and has become Israel’s entry into the 2012 Oscars' foreign language category.

Batsheva Sherman And Yad L’isha

Posted on: November 22nd, 2012

Yad L’isha - Helping Hand for Woman is a Legal Aid Center and Hotline where free legal advice and representation is offered to women locked in marital prisons who would otherwise have nowhere to turn.

The Fascinating Life of Our First Matriarch

Posted on: November 9th, 2012

From the moment she is introduced as Avraham’s young bride (Bereshit 11: 29,30,31) till her death in this week’s Torah portion appropriately titled Chayei Sarah -- The Life of Sarah , the fascinating image of our first matriarch is the subject of many intriguing Midrashic commentaries.

Sarah And Hagar

Posted on: October 25th, 2012

A historical drama unfolds before our eyes in this week’s Torah portion. It is a dramatic confrontation whose impact has shaped Jewish history for thousands of years. Sarah and Hagar, two women – two worlds - faced each other.

Bereshit: The Triple Birth of Woman

Posted on: October 14th, 2012

In this week's Torah portion, within the majesty and mystery of creation, the woman emerges in three successive stages.

Sherri Mandell: The Blessing Of A Broken Heart

Posted on: October 5th, 2012

How can one fathom the depths of a mother’s pain upon the brutal loss of her child? Sherri Mendell’s first-born son was viciously murdered near their home on May 8, 2001. How does a mother cope with the news that her spirited thirteen-year-old, while hiking in the neighborhood, was bludgeoned to death by rock-yielding Arabs?

Miriam Ben-Porat: A Woman of ‘Firsts’

Posted on: September 21st, 2012

Miriam Scheinsohn was born on April 26, 1918, in Vitebsk (Belorussia), the youngest of eight children (she had three sisters and four brothers). Soon after Miriam’s birth the family moved to Kovno (Kaunas) in Lithuania, where her parents owned a textile factory.

Grace Aguilar: The Spirit of Judaism

Posted on: September 7th, 2012

Her family descended from Portuguese Marranos who had sought asylum in England in the eighteenth century. Grace Aguilar was born there at the onset of the nineteenth century (1816), and her remarkable work would exercise an impact on the historiography of Jewish life in the ensuing three decades of that century.

Yael Nitzan: The Museum Of Israeli Women

Posted on: August 23rd, 2012

TV producer and author Yael Nitzan’s decades’ old dream is becoming a reality. Through the generosity of the Haifa municipality, an empty 200-year-old palace, once owned by an Arab sheikh, will be turned into “The Museum of Israeli Women.” Although in other countries there are museums documenting the accomplishments of women, Israel, with the world’s highest ratio of museums per person, has none dedicated to the women who contributed to the founding of the State of Israel and to its development.