One of the earliest firsthand accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust was written in 1944 by a 21-year-old Jewish woman. Revolutionary in many ways, it would remain her only book. She never wrote again, living out her life quietly and modestly. Who was Renia Kukielka?
Around the World in 15 Years: The First Israeli Woman to Travel the Globe
Schlomit Flaum left behind no family, no one to preserve her memory. Yet she did leave something extraordinary—a groundbreaking book, the first Hebrew-language travelogue written by a woman from the Land of Israel, during an era when women rarely ventured beyond their homes. Her memoir reveals a turbulent, fascinating life marked by profound loneliness, and recounts remarkable encounters with individuals who shaped the course of history.
Athaliah Reigns Over the Land: The Bloody Story of the First Jewish Queen
She was the first queen of Judah, yet few know her story. And those who do often view her with contempt. Was our first queen truly a murderer of infants, or was she a strong woman unjustly vilified by history?
The Guardian Angel of Jerusalem’s Children: Dr. Helena Kagan
How many people can credit themselves with establishing and developing an entire medical field? In the early 20th century, pediatric medicine practically didn’t exist in the Land of Israel. Enter Helena Kagan. With her rare combination of professionalism, hard work, and dedication, she built up the field of children’s medicine in the Holy Land from scratch. This is the story Israel’s first pediatrician.
A Woman as She Is: The Story of Rachel Katznelson-Shazar
She was a different sort of feminist Zionist leader, establishing an alternative female ideal in the pioneering era of the Zionist Second Aliyah. Alongside widespread social activity, she raised her special child, without shame or concealment, in an era when such a thing was highly unusual. She also found time to edit one of the first Hebrew-language women’s monthlies and win the Israel Prize. Despite this, she is still remembered and commemorated mostly as the “President’s wife.” The time has come to get to know this incredible woman in her own right.
Women on the Homefront in 1973: How the Kibbutzim Coped With War
When the Yom Kippur War broke out, the women of Kibbutz Beit Alfa mobilized to protect the delicate fabric of community life, something that happened across Israel. They were determined and resourceful, despite the uncertainty and anxiety: “All we thought about was how we’d survive the next day.”
The Ballad of Golda Meir and David Ben-Gurion
She was “just a girl from Milwaukee” when he was already the famous “Ben-Gurion.” He was a few steps ahead of her throughout their public and political careers. Still, Golda Meir and David Ben-Gurion formed a delicate and meaningful friendship, which ended suddenly due to an ugly political scandal. After years of detachment, towards the end of his life, Ben-Gurion tried to reconcile with her. Did it work?
The Woman Who Ignited the Hasmonean Rebellion
Very few know her story. It isn’t taught in schools and certainly not in kindergartens, but according to the midrash, Hannah, daughter of Matityahu, sister of the Maccabees, was a key figure in the Hanukkah story. What does the midrash tell us of the woman who stood up to protect her Jewish sisters? How did she use her wedding day to spark the fire of rebellion in her brothers?
Separation: The Origin of the Women’s Section in the Synagogue
Some of us find it hard to believe that in Talmudic times women and men prayed together in the synagogue. When did a separate gallery for women become mandatory in Orthodox synagogues, and how did the separation of men and women in the prayer service come about?
A Farewell Letter From the Besieged Jewish Quarter
“Remember me in happiness”: The last testament of Esther Cailingold, a soldier and teacher who fell in the battle for the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City during Israel’s War of Independence
