“The First Jewish Feminist:” Ernestine Rose By Jackie Brettschneider, Research Intern, Center for Jewish History Ernestine Rose is popularly known as the first Jewish feminist. It didn’t take her long to realize that women weren’t treated the same way as men. Her views were extremely progressive even from a young age, and she stated that, “I was a rebel at the age of five.”….
By Jackie Brettschneider, Research Intern, Center for Jewish History Jewish women have played an important role in improving the rights of women in both the secular and Jewish communities. Some Jewish feminists chose to work for the rights of all women and some chose to work exclusively for women’s rights within the Jewish religion. This created a divide between the broader feminist movement that…
By Jackie Brettschneider, Research Intern, Center for Jewish History Alice Davis Menken was a social worker for the courts and correctional institutions of New York state and city. She worked to rehabilitate delinquent girls within the penal system. This makes her an interesting Jewish woman because of her desire to help girls with no one else to turn to. Seeing these girls as people,…
The First Female Ordained Rabbi: Regina Jonas By Jackie Brettschneider, Research Intern, Center for Jewish History As early as high school, Regina Jonas talked about becoming a rabbi. At the time not one woman was ordained to the position. Jonas’s pursuit came with many hardships and obstacles because she was a woman. Jonas, however, pursued ordination whole-heartedly because of her dedication to Jewish history,…