Three Groundbreaking Jewish Feminists - by Sharon Leder (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Three groundbreaking Jewish feminists-- women's historian Gerda Lerner, feminist Surrealist artist Susana Wald, and former CEO of American Jewish World Service (AJWS) Ruth W. Messinger--devoted their careers to a universal message inherent in the Jewish tradition-no one should be made into a stranger. Though different in their personal histories and professional fields they found ways to empower marginalized and outcast populations doing so publicly and intentionally as Jews after significant periods of having muted Jewish identity. Their lives raise the question: Is simultaneous commitment possible both to Jewish continuity and to helping non-Jewish strangers in need?

Ruth W. Messinger, probably the most well-known, made it clear and public only once she became CEO of American Jewish World Service that being Jewish means being your brother's and sister's keeper, regardless of their nation, race, sexual identity, class or religion. She expanded the Jewish universe of obligation to include non-Jews in crisis around the world.

Both Gerda Lerner and Susana Wald were Holocaust survivors who escaped to the Americas from dictatorships. Following the command in Exodus, "You shall not oppress a stranger . . . having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt," they connected their vulnerability as Jews in Europe to populations in the U.S., Chile, and Mexico also targeted by discrimination-women, Blacks, and indigenous peoples.

Gerda Lerner, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, demonstrated the existence of American women's history, including Black women's history, as academic fields of study. Why did she mute her Jewish identity until the last decades of her career when the first intifada in Israel broke out?

Susana Wald is one among few female Surrealist artists devoted to social change who is not known as "wife of . . .". Why did she mute Jewish identity for years, until the mass demonstrations for indigenous people's rights in Oaxaca, Mexico when she addressed audiences in person and on radio?

For Jews and non-Jews, this book illuminates how universal values drive three women to become public about Jewish identity because they view the purpose of Jewish life to be alleviating inequity and suffering of all people.

Review Quotes

"An engaging study of three women whose names and careers should be more widely known"...Leder's biography "explores the dialectic between...women's Jewish identities and their wide-ranging activism...A valuable...work that illustrates the tension between Jewish particularism and universalism". . . in the careers "of three different but similar Jewish feminists". . . . the late historian Gerda Lerner, surrealist artist Susana Wald, and Ruth Messinger, the former head of American Jewish World Service."

Kirkus Reviews

At HIAS, the Jewish community's global refugee agency, we describe the evolution of our mission as going from helping refugees because they were Jewish to helping refugees because we are Jewish. In Three Groundbreaking Jewish Feminists: Pursuing Social Justice, Dr. Sharon Leder takes us into the lives of three inspiring women, all leaders in human rights and social justice, and explores how their being Jewish influenced their own journeys for justice. This book should be reading for anyone - male or female, Jewish or gentile - interested in making a difference while on this planet and in making that difference with the empathy.

Mark Hetfield, President and CEO of HIAS, The Global Jewish Refugee Agency

Can one be committed to Jewish particularism-concerned with Jewish well-being and survival-as well as to universalist values of justice and equality for all peoples? In this fascinating study of three exemplary Jewish feminists, two of whom are Holocaust survivors, Sharon Leder explores how each woman wrestles with this question. Each one draws on her particular experience and professional field‒history, art, and international relations‒to arrive at a commitment to humanitarian service.

Robert Melson, Professor Emeritus Political Science, Purdue University. Author Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, and a memoir, False Papers: Deception and Survival in the Holocaust.

A profound meditation on the meaning of Judaism, social justice, and identity politics in the twentieth century, through the extraordinary lives of three Jewish women activists-- Gerda Lerner, Susana Wald, and Ruth W. Messinger. . . . A memorable read impossible to put down.

Marjorie Agosín, Professor, Wellesley College.