Women and American Judaism: Historical Perspectives

In April 1998, the front page of the Los Angeles Times proclaimed that Jews "live in extraordinary times, when American women have transformed their status in Judaism, creating one of the most dramatic cultural shifts in centirues of Jewish history." At the end of the 20th century Jewish women had redefined how they lived their Judaism: innovative religious ceremonies welcoming the birth of daughters proliferated, girls came to mark their bat mitzvah, and Jewish women turned out for feminist seders and became rabbis. These essays show, however, that since colonial times Jewish women have continually reshaped their roles. Offering a gendered overview of three centuries of American Jewish religious life, they raise key questions about how women from across the nation conceptualized their ideas of Jewish womanhood even as they transformed their roles at home, in synagogues, as volunteers, and in the public eye.