How could any list by a nice Jewish girl about influential Jewish women fail to include her own mother in the number one slot? But my editor was adamant: "Only famous women", she insisted. Which means that not only do I have to exclude my amazing mum from this article, but also my two amazing sisters and my amazing daughter, all of whom regularly inspire me, in their different ways, to be a better person. But I digress …
It was much harder to complete this list than I thought it would be: I was trying to be ‘balanced’, but there aren’t that many inspirational Jewish women out there in between the 1st and 20th centuries.
That’s not their fault, of course; but it does mean that my top 10are very skewed towards contemporary public figures.
The list below is not an impartial analysis, but rather a more personal take: a celebration of, and public thank you to, the women who have had the biggest impact upon my own life. I have catalogued them in chronological order according to when I first became aware of them, starting with my earliest impressions and moving towards more recent influences.
Sarah
Was there ever a time when my namesake, the first of the biblical Matriarchs, was not a part of my life?
When I was a child, I knew her as Abraham's wife and Isaac's mother. As I grew older she became the woman who suffered in silence when her husband gave her to another man in order to save his own skin; the woman who so desperately wanted her husband to be happy that she encouraged him to take another wife, only to discover too late that 'younger models' can evoke extreme jealousy; the woman who laughed at God (truly, my parents named me well...); and, of course, the woman whose husband unilaterally decided it was ok to murder her only child.
Her stories, and her silences, continue to give me pause for thought. What a wonderful coincidence that I should have been born in the week following the parasha that is named after her.
Judith Kerr
As a young child I adored The Tiger Who came to Tea; when I was seven or eight I devoured When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and its two sequels.
I knew the latter was written by Judith Kerr; but it was not until many years later that I realised she was the author of the former too. Nor should we forget the 'Mog' series, culminating in the utterly brilliant Goodbye Mog. Her books are as fresh now as they were when she originally wrote them.
Rabbi Jackie Tabick
Our family regularly enjoyed Shabbat afternoon tea with Caroline, Martin and their children.
Jackie cropped up in conversation fairly regularly round the table. I didn't really know why, and grown-up chit-chat was a little too boring to make it worth my while following properly or asking my parents about her on the way home.
However, you could tell from the tone of the voices that, whatever it was she was doing, it was clearly a little risqué. Another 15 years were to pass before my growing involvement with the progressive Jewish community meant I finally learned why she had been so often spoken about.
Since then I have met Rabbi Jackie on a number of occasions, most memorably when she was part of a panel discussion/Q&A with other early pioneers of female Jewish religious leadership. She endured a staggering amount of sexism during her years studying for s'michah; for her trailblazing perseverance alone she should be on everyone's 'top 10' list.
Barbra Streisand
I cannot remember a time when I didn't sing, or when I didn't want to be a singer. I first saw Funny Girl when I was about 16. I was instantly hooked, and she has been a gently guiding light ever since … although I confess I dropped any aspirations to perfectly manicured nails very early on!
Lilith
I spent 13 formative years in Jewish educational establishments. Why, oh why, was I never taught anything about the wonderfully rebellious Lilith?
In Jewish folklore, Lilith appears as Adam's first wife – created at the same time as him rather than 'from' him. I cannot help but take inspiration from a woman who raised her voice when what was expected of her was silence.
Professor Jennifer Temkin
If I were permitted different sizes of lettering to indicate relative importance, Jenny Temkin (as I knew her then) would be printed in font size 72.
I began my third year at the LSE an overly-confident young thing who thought that all those supposedly oppressed wimmin should stop whingeing and just get on with showing the world what they were capable of.
Thanks to Professor Temkin and a course entitled 'Women and the Law', I ended it a feminist. Lectures on how victims of rape and sexual assault are treated by the legal system inspired me to keep reading, and talking, about the injustices - not to mention the double standards - continually experienced by women subjected to sexual violence (Brock Allen Turner for President, anyone?). Lectures about prostitution and related sex trade work have me continuing to read, and think, about the subject more than 30 years later.
Most importantly, though, a lecture about domestic violence led me to buy an 'insurance policy' in the form of a small-but-perfectly-formed flat. In the early years the mortgage payments almost bankrupted me; but thanks to Professor Temkin I will always have somewhere to live.
Susan Brownmiller
It was through the course booklist that I came to read Against Our Will. Brownmiller's book – which argues that rape is an expression of power rather than lust/sex – is widely credited with changing public outlooks and attitudes, and also the law, about rape.
Andrea Dworkin
Another booklist gem. Descriptions of Dworkin, a feminist most often remembered for her role as a speaker, writer, and activist in the anti-pornography movement, are usually prefaced with the qualifying adjective "radical".
Her central objection to pornography was that it fuelled rape and other forms of violence against women. The older I get, and especially now in the era of 24/7 smartphone-delivered gonzo porn, it seems to me that much of her thinking seems not so much radical as eminently sensible.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Surely I don't need to explain why she makes the cut?
Elana Sztokman
You may not have heard of Elana (writer, educator and activist within the Jewish feminist community, who is pictured above), but she's the reason you're reading this article.
I met her at the 2015 Limmud Conference. Her passion when speaking out in support of Jewish women's interests, and her tireless work calling out inequalities and injustices against women both in Israel and within the Jewish community more widely, shone through.
Elana’s energy levels that week lit a spark which ultimately resulted in my deciding that it was time to take all the stuff whirling around in my brain and begin to put pen to paper.
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