"Jewish weddings are layered, emotional, and deeply communal. Being part of that community allows me to photograph them with care, confidence, and a real understanding of what you’re building and why it matters."
Eliana Melmed helps Jewish couples capture their day authentically: buff.ly/CmMEk0r
During the Holocaust, Miriam Novitch smugged printed materials disguised as a Christian Russian tutor. She passed information to the underground, acquired documents for Jews, and helped find hiding places until she was caught in June 1943.
She was born this week in history in 1908: buff.ly/KVxhnKk
Guita Sazan grew up in a Jewish family in Tehran during the reign of the Shah. She was a teenager during the Islamic Revolution and was inspired to join the struggle, becoming a practicing Muslim. But as time went by, the regime became more repressive.
Revisit our podcast episode: buff.ly/LfiFQnc
Danielle and Galeet Dardashti's grandfather was a famous singer in “the golden age” of Iran. Revisit our podcast episode with Galeet and Danielle exploring what it was like to connect with their family’s Persian musical tradition and what happened when the family left Iran: buff.ly/Ay64BGY
JWA is celebrating the stories, scholarship, resistance, creativity, and leadership of Jewish women and gender-expansive people all year long (But this month is extra special) ✨
📷 Jewish girls, Tunis, 1887.
Liz Swados was a composer, writer, and director. At the core of her legacy is a dedication to giving voice to the unheard, helping others survive and thrive despite mental illness, and bringing joy and humor to the darkest aspects of our world.
Read more in our encyclopedia entry: buff.ly/h9Zz4Mx
"In being an orthodox feminist, I often find myself having to apologize for or justify one half of that duality because claiming both is an invention of the 20th century."
—As an Orthodox Woman, Rivkah Bas Me’ir Helped Me Understand My Place in Jewish Liturgy, RVF Fellow Neima Fox:
Our upcoming Online History Course starts next week!
Join JWA, Central Synagogue, and world-renowned experts Thursdays at 8 PM ET for bold conversations about some of the most exciting artists from the 20th century to today.
Register: buff.ly/qyPobww
Ahava Rosenthal reflects on her grandmother, Clara Lander—scholar, advocate, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq's first woman president—whose name was removed from the library created to honor her.
As the Gallery centers Inuit art, Rosenthal explores shifting remembrance: buff.ly/KdBJiNy
"Rivkah Bas Me’ir Tiktiner was the first woman to author a Yiddish book work, Meneket Rivkah. Published posthumously in Prague in 1609, it is a Yiddish ethical guide for women.
—Neima Fax, "As an Orthodox Woman, Rivkah Bas Me’ir Helped Me Understand My Place in Jewish Liturgy" buff.ly/kWu0feu
Judith Butler explores gender, hate speech, being a Jewish thinker, alternative kinship structures, non-violence, vulnerability, and other complex aspects of existence.
They were born this week in history in 1956. buff.ly/UFVbQrE
Dancer Margalit Oved left a mark on twentieth-century Jewish culture through her interpretations of biblical tales. Her performances blended elements from the Yemen of her childhood, the Israel of her adolescence, and the Los Angeles of her adulthood.
She died on February 5, 2026. buff.ly/w17nbsB
During WWII in the Netherlands, Galinka Ehrenfest defied Nazi censorship through children's books.
"El Pintor" books had content that inspired children to use their imagination. Many of the contributors to the books lived in hiding; Ehrenfest used proceeds to cover their expenses: buff.ly/IfnzObK
Secular Humanistic Judaism understands Jewish culture as something created over thousands of years, with religion as one expression among many. The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism has ordained ~100 rabbis and community leaders since 1987—women making up half: buff.ly/aIcCabk
"And despite the darkness of this exile
My poem sets fire against a mirror."
Through her writing and activism, Alicia Partnoy bears witness to the atrocities of Argentinan dictatorship, embodying remembrance and justice with insights on solidarity.
Read our new encyclopedia entry: buff.ly/2zON7BK
Born this week in history, Yiddish novelist Chava Rosenfarb is one of the few Holocaust survivors who transmuted their experiences into fiction rather than memoir.
Her work "Der Boim Fun Lebn" (The Tree of Life), chronicling the destruction of the Jewish community of Lodz. buff.ly/tXh87Z6
Have a good weekend, lovers 💘
📷
1. Sephardic Jewish couple from Sarajevo, 1900
2. Elana Dykewomon with her partner Dolphin Waletzky.
3. A man and a woman embrace at the Israeli airport shortly after immigrating from Ethiopia, c 1980
4. LGBTQ trailblazer Charlotte Charlaque and Toni Ebel, 1933
In our new episode of Can We Talk?, we talk to Stephanie Butnick, founder of the Jewish lifestyle newsletter GOLDA, about sparking Jewish joy through rituals, books, art—and shopping. Listen here: buff.ly/8SojXcT
Madame Goldye Steiner was an African-American vocalist who enjoyed two successful careers—one as a soloist performing operatic pieces, and one in Yiddish theater for the khaznte (Ashkenazi liturgical music) movement.
This Black History Month, read about Steiner in our encyclopedia: buff.ly/wGXN3AK
"I wanted clothing that could keep up with the kind of life I was living—expressive, elegant, and rooted, but also adaptable and functional."
JWA sat down with Elke Reva Sudin to discuss her impressive artistic and entrepreneurial pursuits. Read more: buff.ly/JaSwIBL
JWA Book Talks wrap up Feb 12 with Deborah Heiligman, author of "Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America: A Love Story"
A love letter and a rallying cry for the country to live up to its founding ideals, this YA biography chronicles the life of groundbreaking activist Emma Goldman.
jwa.org/events
Registration is officially open for our upcoming Online History Course ✨️ Unruly Visions: A Century of Jewish Women Artists ✨️
Join us March 5 - 26 with Central Synagogue and world-renowned experts for conversations about exciting artists from the 20th century to today.
Register: jwa.org/events
"But it was sobering to realize that I would become a mother without my own to guide me. It added a new dimension to my year of mourning."
—Anjelica Ruiz: buff.ly/nVKOXiZ
As the first Latin American woman to be ordained a Conservative rabbi in 1994, Analía Bortz merged her identity as Latina with her careers in the rabbinate and medicine to help Latin American Jewish women achieve equality.
She was born this week in history in 1967.
buff.ly/t5ANQEt
Thinking of artist Helène Aylon on her birthday today.
Raised as an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, Aylon began by creating art in the 1970s focused on anti-nuclear and eco-activist art, and subsequently devoted more than 35 years responding to Judaism’s male-dominated textuality.
JWA Book Talks continue Feb 5, 8 PM with Wendy I. Zierler, author of "Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry."
Interweaving memoir with Hebrew poetry, "Going Out with Knots" illuminates Zierler’s literary mourning journey in the aftermath of loss.
Register at jwa.org/events
Know a teen writer who is passionate about Judaism, feminism, and social justice? JWA is accepting applications for the 2026-2027 Rising Voices Fellowship! ✨
More info and apply: buff.ly/eqLXT3D
“If I had to name a single quality characteristic of global feminism, it would be connectivity—a capacity dangerous to every status quo, because of its insistence on noticing.”
—Feminist writer Robin Morgan, born this week in 1941: buff.ly/kwCPV6S
"We retell the [Exodus] narrative of our freedom every year, plagues included. But this year is different. This year, Pharaoh is in the streets of Minneapolis, tacking teenages and pepper-spraying journalists."—Lucy Marshall for JWA
buff.ly/7zIl2yD
Persian Jewish family from Hamadan, Iran, 1924. #NewToTheArchives
📷 Repository: Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History (24-P-1996). buff.ly/GWdqud3
