The popular feminist slogan “The personal is political” conveys a groundbreaking insight of feminism in the 1960s and 70s. In discussing their personal lives with one another, feminists began to realize that issues they had considered individual and private – conflicts in relationships, obstacles at work, frustrations meeting gender expectations – were actually shared by many women. These personal issues had structural causes, and therefore needed to be addressed in political terms, not on an individual basis.

Many Jewish feminists have been deeply influenced by other women – public leaders, family members, and mythical figures – whose legacies inspired their actions and activism. These feminist foremothers continue to serve as role models and a source of pride and strength for many women today.

Feminist change often requires that women face powerful institutions – from the government to the medical establishment to the synagogue – and challenge their assumptions, expectations, and rules. Some Jewish women have changed these institutions by confronting them from the outside, while others have transformed them from within.