Hannah Greenebaum Solomon

"The Jewish Woman" Magazine Cover, October 1921

Benevolent Societies and Tzedakah

Examine different ways that American Jewish women historically—and we today—fulfill the obligation of tzedakah (charity) and gemilut chesed (acts of loving kindness).

https://jwa.org/teach/golearn/oct05

Women of Valor: Jewish Heroes Across Time

Learn about the lives of three trailblazing women and get some practical ideas for how to bring their stories into your community in creative ways.

https://jwa.org/teach/profdev/webinars/mar13

Death of Hannah Greenebaum Solomon, First President of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)

December 7, 1942

Before women earned the right to vote.

https://jwa.org/thisweek/dec/07/1942/hannah-greenebaum-solomon

October 8, 2010

Mazel Tov, Nancy Kaufman!

Leah Berkenwald

Nancy Kaufman, a longtime friend of the Jewish Women’s Archive, has been named the new CEO of the National Council for Jewish Women (NCJW). NCJW’s President Nancy Ratzan described Kaufman in terms that would be familiar to anyone who has worked with her:

Nancy is a dynamic, bold, and visionary leader, who is devoted to NCJW’s commitment to deliver the voices and actions of progressive Jewish women as a powerful force for social change.

Topics: Organizations and Institutions

https://jwa.org/blog/mazel-tov-nancy-kaufman

Judith Rosenbaum on the 1893 Jewish Women's Congress Thumbnail

Unprecedented Jewish Women's Congress Meets in Chicago

September 4, 1893

On September 4, 1893, the Jewish Women's Congress opened as part of the World Parliament of Religion at the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition.

https://jwa.org/thisweek/sep/04/1893/jewish-womens-congress

Hannah Greenebaum Solomon was the founder and first president of the National Council of Jewish Women. In creating the first national association for Jewish women, she redefined the roles they could play in American society.

Club Movement in the United States

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Jewish women shifted from benevolent work to social and personal reform, often through aiding immigrants and young, vulnerable women. They facilitated educational opportunities to learn about Jewish history and ethics, which in turn helped inform their aid work. These efforts created a space specifically for women in American Jewish society.

Lizzie Spiegel Barbe

Lizzie Spiegel Barbe, a member of a prominent Chicago family, devoted more than fifty years of her life to being a clubwoman and leader within the Chicago Jewish community. Like other “Jewish Clubwomen” of this era, Barbe was motivated to establish leadership roles for women that had previous not existed within the organized Jewish community.