The Value of a Woman's Voice
A woman's voice, Kol Ishah, embodies the essence of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism. Our members reflect the spectrum of contemporary Jewish women: young and old, artistic, intellectual, professional, engaged at all levels of society, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, and friends. During these challenging times, when Jewish women worldwide are grappling with questions of Jewish identity and continuity, gender equality, and quality of life issues, our kol ishah – our internal and external female voice, individually and collectively – is more important than ever to our movement.
Mathilde Roth Schechter, our original kol ishah, founded Women’s League in 1918 to promote Jewish practice in homes, synagogues, and the wider community. In order to realize this mission, Mathilde, an active member of the board of the Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls, understood the value of all education, including Jewish education, particularly Jewish education. She was a pioneer in championing access to secular and Jewish education for women of all ages.
Education was the centerpiece of our mission in 1918 and it is our raison d’etre today. For Mathilde Schechter, the need for synagogue women to band together was evident. Over the years since, our work has ensured that our collective kol ishah has grown stronger.
In the early years pamphlets written by the able women who volunteered their time and energy fulfilled our educational mission. Today’s projects are more complex, more professional, and more expensive. Our Day of Study initiatives and divrei hokhmah mini-study modules are innovative sources for self-directed, sophisticated Jewish learning, and reflect our members’ hunger for intellectual engagement.
Thus, it is time to reach out to the membership of Women’s League and our friends in the movement who appreciate the role we play to launch a campaign directly to benefit our educational mission. We are calling it, appropriately, the Kol Ishah Society. A minimum gift of $54 to this new circle of membership will help sustain Women’s League’s ability to develop more state-ofthe- art educational resources for our sisterhoods and members. As a thank you, members of the Kol Ishah Society will receive a stunning bookclip and specially prepared study material for individual use. The Kol Ishah Society continues a 90-year tradition of strengthening and developing our individual and collective kol ishah.
Ann Goldman is the executive director of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism.
