Celebrate Your Jewish Mother!
Mother's Day is just around the corner, and soon I will be heading to New Jersey to spend some time with my own mother who, in past years, has enjoyed a Mother's Day that involves gardening with her daughters. Something I've always loved.
Often, what people celebrate on Mother's Day is the unpaid and under-valued labor of women as nurturers. Here at the Jewish Women's Archive, we celebrate this labor every day of the year along with the myriad ways mothers, and women at large, have touched our lives and transformed our world.
This year, JWA initiated a Mother's Day campaign and, interestingly, many women honored other women (and men) - not just their mothers or daughters - with gifts to the Jewish Women's Archive. So, here's a celebratory shout-out to those who were honored. Some of their names are:
Ida Abramowitz, Rosalie Abrams, Bunny Adler, Lucille Alderman, Joyce Antler, Ruth Aronson, Jocelyn Axelson, Omi Baby, Ella Bloom, Hilary Marcus, Susan Warren, Samantha Blumberg, Merry Bodziner, Leila Bogan, Lillian Maiken Brest (in memory), Sarah Asher, Libby Chazan, Judy de Jonge, Sharon Deutsch, Barbara Dobkin, Joan Edelstein, Lynn Faber, Linda Ferren, Lillian Adlow Friedberg (in memory), Caroline Friedman, Frances Gelfand (in memory), Merle Goldman, Jamie Gordon, Reena Gordon, Sarah Greenberg, Hilary Grilley, Mildred Guberman Kravetz, Eliza, Mira, and Emma Hayward, Joan Herman, Gloria Hesseloff, Shirley Izen, Eleanor Jacobson, Evelyn Johnson, Judith Joseph, Tina Kahn, Fern Kamins, Celia Katz, Shirley Kestenman, Sheila King, Hannah King, Matthew King, Chaya Korenblit, Ida Kramer, Merrily Laytner, Estelle Linder, Sara Brest Malatsky (in memory), Roslyn Marcus, Marilyn Meyerhoff, Iris Soiffer Miller (in memory), Getrude Mokotoff, Mrs. Agi Moss, Ellen Moyer, Beth Newburger, Ottilie Memelsdorff, Alisa Plastrik, Lucia Pruzan, Jayne Raphael, Natalie Roberts, Linda Roos, Bernice Roseman, Leslie Rosen, Barbara Rosenblit, Karen Scates, Jane Schapiro, Joan Scheuer, Sharon Fivel Schwartz, Harriet Lipman Sepinwall, Madeline Shavelson, Roberta Shriber, Richard Jonas Scheuer (in memory), Maryon Stone, Beverly Stuhlman, Maretta Swartz, Sterra Tackeff, Helen Tramiel, Sharon Ungerleider, Helga Weiss, Natalie Wolf, Joan Yospin, Audrey Zimmerman, Emily Rubenstein, Shelly Tenenbaum, Carol van Oosterwijk.
You can celebrate your mother, too, by contributing to our new JWA-moderated photo collection on FLICKR: Jewish Mothers: The Way We Were, The Way We Are in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month AND Mother's Day. Who's a Jewish mother to you today? Who was she years ago? Let us know by sharing your photos.
Happy Mother's Day!
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Before you close this article, please consider supporting the Jewish Women’s Archive and uplifting Jewish women’s voices.
At JWA, we preserve the voices of Jewish women and gender-expansive people past and present, share them freely with millions online, and empower a new generation of Jewish feminists to lead with courage, creativity, and conviction.
But none of this happens without you. JWA is an independent nonprofit— we rely on people, like you, who believe that history belongs to all of us and that the voices of Jewish women must remain powerful, and heard.
This month, a generous JWA board member will match every gift dollar for dollar—up to $35,000—through June 30. Your contribution goes twice as far right now.
Every contribution—no matter the size—helps us document, teach, and inspire through Jewish women’s stories.
It takes less than a minute to make a difference.
Thank you for being a part of the JWA community,
Judith Rosenbaum, CEO
