Browse by Category | Jewish Women's Archive

She'erit ha-Peletah: Women in DP Camps in Germany

Family played an important role in the lives of Holocaust survivors in DP (displaced persons) camps – in 1947, the birth rate in DP camps was one of the highest in the world. Women served as teachers and eager students, and they were active in the effort to open immigration to Palestine.

Frances Hart Sheftall

Frances Hart Sheftall became something of a public figure during and after the Revolutionary War, in spite of her own intentions. When her husband and son were captured by the British, she managed to earn money and raise her family alone. Her letters offer a vivid glimpse of the turmoil of this defining moment of American history.

Judy Sheindlin smiling to camera while sitting on grey prop stairs in purple suit and heels in front of grey backdrop

Judith Sheindlin

For two and half decades, former New York family court Judge Judith Sheindlin has riveted daytime viewers, racked up awards, and sold thousands of books to people hungry for the tough love of a tough Jewish mother. Millions of viewers who watch Judge Judy every day are treated to many Yiddish words and wisdom the jurist uses on a parade of deserving participants who enter her TV studio courtroom.

Shelamziyyon Alexandra

Queen Shelamziyyon Alexandra ruled Judea in the 1st century BCE. During her reign, which was the only time a woman inherited the throne from her deceased spouse, she deposed the ruling party that had supported her husband. In the place of that party, she appointed the Pharisees, whose heirs portray her positively in the rabbinic literature they composed.

Shelomith 1: Bible

The story of Shelomith relates to the Egyptian practices concerning parentage and how a child is named. Shelomith herself is not explicitly described in the narrative, but the story of her son shows the punishment issued to blasphemers of God.

Shelomith 1: Midrash and Aggadah

The narrative of Shelomith is used by the Rabbis as the exception that proves the rule of Israelite marital fidelity. One tradition relates that her son was born out of wedlock with an Egyptian man who deceived her, while another says that her son was born to an Egyptian man after the former murdered her Israelite husband.

Shelomith 2: Bible

Shelomith was the daughter of Zerubbabel, a governor (c. 520–510 B.C.E.) of the province of Yehud. The recent discovery of her name on a Judean seal suggests an honorable status in society.

Naomi Shemer

Naomi Shemer was a prolific singer and composer who built a unified Israeli cultural consciousness through her beautiful melodies. From the 1950s to the 1990s, Shemer wrote music that was performed throughout the country, including “Jerusalem of Gold” and “Lu Yehi.” In 1983, she was awarded the Israel Prize, and she continued to write new music until her death in 2004.

Mindel Cherniack Sheps

As a pioneering physician, biostatistician, and demographer, Mindel Cherniack Sheps was acutely aware of the role science could play as a powerful social force. She taught that peace, social justice, and science were inextricably bound; humanism in any field must be based on social equity and knowledge.

Amy Sheridan

Although American women had flown planes in WWII as civilians, Amy Sheridan helped open the skies to a new generation of women as the first Jewish woman to become an aviator in the US Armed Services.

Anna G. Sherman

Anna G. Sherman was one of the unsung heroes of the Hebraist movement in the United States. She taught Hebrew classes at the Teachers Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary for nearly forty years, inspiring hundreds of students, mostly adult women, to connect to their Judaism through the study of Hebrew.

Amy Sherman-Palladino

Amy Sherman-Palladino has based her television career around telling women’s stories, most memorably in the beloved series Gilmore Girls.

Lynn Sherr

Believing that the stories of strong women needed to be remembered and honored, reporter Lynn Sherr covered women’s issues as a journalist and brought the story of Susan B. Anthony to a new generation.

Abby Shevitz

In her work on AIDS and HIV, Abby Shevitz became an advocate for patients who often had no one else to turn to.

Catherine Lieber Shimony

From American Jewish World Service to Global Goods Partners, Catherine Lieber Shimony has dedicated her career to international development, helping women across the globe develop the skills they need to better support their families and lead their communities.

Shiphrah: Bible

Shiphrah (more commonly spelled "Shifra") is one of the two named midwives who serve the Hebrew women in Egypt and who contravene Pharaoh’s order to kill at birth all Hebrew males.

Shiphrah: Midrash and Aggadah

Shiphrah was one of the two Hebrew midwives who delivered the children of the Israelites during the Egyptian servitude. She is mentioned only once in the Bible, but the Rabbis identify the midwives with various Biblical heroines, thereby transforming them from secondary characters to central, fully developed figures whose annals spread over additional chapters of the Torah.

Vicki Shiran

Vicki Shiran was an Egyptian-born Israeli social activist dedicated to feminism, anti-occupation activism, and fighting discrimination against Mizrahim in Israel, all of which she viewed as interconnected. In 1999 she helped found Ahoti, For Women in Israel, which promoted the labor rights of lower-class women in Israel, and in 1981 she led a fierce fight against the Israel Broadcasting Authority for its exclusion of Mizrahim in its telling of the history of the Israeli state.

Kinneret Shiryon

The first female congregational rabbi to serve in Israel, Kinneret Shiryon went on to establish Kehillat Yozma, the first non-Orthodox congregation to receive funding from the state.

Sarah Shmukler

Sarah Shmukler was a nurse and midwife who emigrated to Palestine from the Russian Empire during the Second Aliyah period. Her short life was characterized by providing medical assistance to migrant workers in Palestine and by close friendships with her fellow pioneers.

Sarah Shner-Nishmit

Polish author and historian Sarah Shner-Nishmit traveled constantly to evade capture during World War II, working at a labor camp and joining a partisan group. Shner made aliyah in 1947 and subsequently began her writing career, which included children’s books and historical research. She also helped found Kibbutz Lohamei ha-Getta’ot, where she lived until her death.

Mania Wilbushewitch Shochat

Zionist and socialist, radical and revolutionary, Mania Shochat left behind her labor activism in Russia to come to Palestine, where she initiated the country's first collective settlement and helped to establish the Jewish defense group Ha-Shomer.

Sarah Shor

Sarah Shor, a painter, graphic artist, and theater designer, belonged to the modern Jewish cultural and literary circles of twentieth-century Russia and Ukraine. The notion of creating “modern Jewish art” influenced Shor’s artistic evolution, and works on Jewish motifs occupy a significant place in her oeuvre.

Dinah Shore

Dinah Shore, the quintessential American girl, was both America’s sweetheart in the 1940s and 1950s and a leading example of an independent woman in the 1970s. Her career as a singer and actress spanned over forty years and included stints on the radio and in the movies. Shore won nine Emmys, a Peabody, and a Golden Globe.

Viola Brothers Shore

Viola Brothers Shore was an accomplished writer, poet, and screenwriter during the 1920s and 1930s. In addition to writing for numerous publications, she wrote silent movie titles and original stories for many films and won awards for her may mystery stories.

Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change

The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women