Although the Book of Esther read this past week tells us she was queen —like Queen Vashti before her— the significance of these women is not for royalty. It is for their courage and determination in the face of danger, to refuse to abide by limits placed upon women as less than equal stature human beings.
Just as Vashti’s individual stand on principle defiantly broke ground for Esther’s daring to save her people, the lives of the Jewish women of color, Indigenous, Mizrahi, and Sephardi women cited below stand tall among women known and unknown everywhere and across time, breaking new ground for all.
May we be of merit to join in building the road forward, honoring known and unknown alike who came before us to lead the way, acknowledging known and unknown alike all around us today, and teaching the generations who follow. May rememberance of them all light our way ahead.
Stronger together. Stronger than hate.
Stronger because of diversity.
All blockquoted e-card text & images by permission, Laura Belinfante, Director of Digital Strategy, WeRepair.org — some links were added. Readers can send e-cards using https://werepair.org/meet-the-women/
For music while reading, click diaries here or here or here.
Siona Benjamin is a painter originally from Bombay, now living in the US. Her work reflects her background of being brought up a Bené Yisra’el Jew in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim India. In her paintings she combines the imagery of her past with the role she plays in America today, making a mosaic inspired by both Indian miniature paintings, transcultural myth and iconography. She has her first MFA [Master of Fine Arts] in painting and a second MFA in theater set design. She has exhibited in the US, Europe, and Asia. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 2011 for art project titled: Faces: Weaving Indian Jewish Narratives, and a second Fulbright in 2016-17 for an art project titled: From Motherland to Fatherland: Transcultural Indian Jews in Israel. She is represented by ACA Galleries in New York. View art of Siona Benjamin via this link.
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Rabbi Michelle Dardashti dresses up as Vashti Dardashti on Purim and comes by it honestly: her grandmother hails from the Persian city of Shushan; her grandfather, “Nightingale of Iran,” was famous for singing in both the Shah’s palace and Teheran’s synagogues. Daughter of Iranian teen-idol turned American cantor and American folk-singer of Eastern European descent, Dardashti’s Judaism is multicultural, meta-denominational, musical, and global. She’s worked in Jewish communities from Montevideo, to Jerusalem and New York. A proud former Dorot Fellow in Israel and MTM Fellow at B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan, Dardashti was ordained at JTS and now serves as Rabbi of Brown RISD Hillel & Associate Chaplain at Brown University where she strives to nourish a Judaism that is broad, deep, and engaged with the world.
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Erika Davis was born, raised and educated in Ohio but considers herself a Brooklyn Jew. She’s a Jewish diversity advocate who works as a consultant for a variety of Jewish organizations. Erika is on the Board of Keshet [Hebrew: קשת keshet, lit. "rainbow"] and a volunteer for the Jewish Multiracial Network. She writes for blogs, websites, magazines, and online newspapers about the intersection of gender, sexual orientation, race, and religion. Erika is a gardener, a potter, a sewist, and all-around maker of things. She works as an independent birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, and yoga instructor confronting racial disparities for black birthing people. She collects houseplants and lives with her wife on their urban farm in the Puget Sound region of Washington.
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At the age of 25, Alma Hernandez made history as the youngest and first Jewish Latina lawmaker elected [in the U.S.]. She has both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Arizona and has further public health training from Johns Hopkins. As a humanitarian, she has been on medical missions to Ghana and Panama serving those in need. Politics and Public Health have played a major role in her life and continue to do so. She began her political involvement at the young age of 14 and had the opportunity to serve as a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. She currently serves on Health and Human Services and Federal Relations committees [as Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 3rd district]. She is a dog mom to 5!
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Dr. Tarece Johnson is an entrepreneur, diversity & inclusion expert, poet, author, activist, and advocate. [She attended La Universidad del Sagrado Corazon in Santurce, Puerto Rico, earned her MPA from Columbia University in New York, her MBA from Emory University, and her EdD from Capella University.] As a public figure, Dr. Johnson aims to make a difference in her community, nation, and the world through her acts of service, kindness, and love. As a leader in the local NAACP, Alliance for Black Lives, and March On Georgia, she has worked tirelessly on issues impacting marginalized people and communities. She fights passionately against discrimination, anti-semitism, systemic racism, oppression, injustice, ignorance, and hate. Dr. Johnson is the mother of two children, has traveled around the world, and is multilingual. Her multicultural experiences led her to create Global Purpose Academy and The Global Purpose Approach. She is co-founder of Multicultural Jewish Alliance.
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Hazzan Sabrina Sojourner is a seasoned Spiritual Leader whose spoken word midrashim create a larger vision of who we are as a people, inspiring us to take better care of ourselves, each other, and our planet. [“Parashat Toldot - Clogged Wells and the Endless Reservoir”] She’s among many Jewish Women of Color calling the broader Jewish community to stand together “at the intersection of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism… against white supremacy, patriarchy and religious oppression in all its forms…” [She has been a Democratic shadow representative in congress — Out and elected, 1994, and as Scholar in Residence at the Oseh Shalom Reconstructionist synagogue in Laurel, MD] she recently launched, Training the Heart to Listen, [a “Conversational approach to diversity, equity & inclusion based on Jewish values”], a new tool for congregations to create transformational conversations for diversity and inclusion.
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2018
Due ot some illegible text for 2018 biographies, other sources are cited &/or paragraphsed as needed. The illustrations are by an artist whose name was not accessible — it will be edited in if/when found.
April Baskin (from biogs at Jewish Women's Archive and Women's March Steering Committee webpage)
is daughter of a white Jewish mother and a black Jewish father, fully engaged in Reform Jewish community from earliest age, graduated in Sociology from Tufts in 2007, served as president of the Jewish Multiracial Network 2010 to 2013, and worked at InterfaithFamily as Director of Resources and Training. From 2015 to 2018 she was the Union of Reform Judaism’s Vice President of ‘Audacious Hospitality’, reflecting the URJ’s commitment to welcome of marginalized Jews. She is a Bend the Arc’s Selah Leadership Network member, has served on the leadership team of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable since 2017, and together with Yavila McCoy (see below) and Abby Stein, was one of three Jewish women appointed to the 2019 Women’s March Steering Committee.
Angela Buchdahl is the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi[2], and the first Asian-American to be ordained as a hazzan (cantor) anywhere in the world.[3][4][5][6]
She is also the first woman to become both a rabbi and a cantor; others had become one or the other, but not both.[7][7] In 2012 she was named by Newsweek as one of "America's 50 Most Influential Rabbis",[8] and was recognized as one of the top five in The Forward's 2014 "Forward Fifty", a list of American Jews who have had the most impact on the national scene in the previous year....[9] [More at that wik link, see also JWA]
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Carolivia Herron 71, is the daughter of runaway slaves on her mother’s side and Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews on her father’s side. Though raised in a Christian home, she had been attracted to Judaism since she was a child, even before knowing that Judaism was a part of her family roots. Twenty-five years ago, while working as a university literature professor, she took Jewish studies courses and had a bat mitzvah celebration.
[TOI] “Finally, I felt my lineage was complete,” she said.
Though by and large her experiences as a Jew of color have been positive, she has gotten the occasional confused look and question: “Are you Jewish?”
“Many Jews of color find that question very bothersome,” she said. “To me, I take it as an opportunity to tell my story.”
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Ilana Kaufman [JWA — see also Keshet interview]
Working with organizations in California and beyond, Ilana Kaufman has drawn on her personal experience as a queer Jewish woman of color to advocate for diversity and inclusivity. Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and an African American father, Ilana Kaufman was raised by her mother in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood. She attended Congregation Sherith Israel, one of the city’s oldest synagogues. Kaufman studied sociology at Humboldt State University, where she was active in the Jewish Student Union. After receiving a Master’s degree in Educational Pedagogy from Mills College in Oakland in 1997, Kaufman spent a decade and a half working in independent schools in northern California. In 2012, she made the transition to working in the Jewish communal world by joining the staff of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. Working with numerous foundations, federations, synagogues, and Hillels on college campuses across the country, Kaufman has facilitated trainings for communal professionals and community members to recognize and address racism ... through reflection, programming, and policy changes. Her public speeches and published writings provide visibility for Jews of color and LGBTQ Jews in Jewish institutions. As of 2018, Kaufman is the Public Affairs and Civic Engagement Director for the East Bay for the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council.
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Loolwa Khazzoom [wik] (Arabic: لولوا خزوم) is an Iraqi American-Jewish[1] writer who writes about Jewish multiculturalism as well as the cultural traditions and modern struggles of Sephardi, Mizrahi, Yemenite and Ethiopian Jews.
She is involved in the Jewish Multicultural Project as well as the organization Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA). In 2003, Khazzoom edited "The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage," the first English-language anthology devoted to the writings of Mizrahi Jewish women.[2] Contributors included Rachel Wahba, Ella Shohat, and Lital Levy.
Khazzoom is featured in the documentary, Young, Jewish, and Left.
References: [1] Amazon.com: Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism: Books: Susannah Heschel,Danya Ruttenber [2] Loolwa Khazzoom, ed., The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage (New York: Seal Press 2003).
External links ⁎ Loolwa Khazzoom ⁎ Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa ⁎ Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution from the Jewish Women's Archive
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Yavilah McCoy [Women’s March Steering Committee 2019 webpage]
(born November 8, 1972) ... is the founder of Ayecha, a nonprofit Jewish organization [for] Jewish diversity education and advocacy for Jews of color in the U.S. Raised in an Orthodox family, Yavilah studied at Yeshiva University High School and Hebrew University [of] Jerusalem. She has taught Judaic Studies, Hebrew, and English Literature in elementary and secondary schools. In directing Ayecha from 2000–2008, she worked with rabbis, synagogues, schools, federations and multiple agencies to increase awareness of Jewish diversity and expand inclusion for Jews of color. As an anti-racism activist, she has provided training and consulting to numerous social justice agencies both within and outside of the Jewish community. In 2008 she became director of the New England Curriculum Initiative, a non-profit educational consultancy that services 600 prep schools across the nation with religious diversity resources. In 2009 Yavilah co-wrote and performed The Colors of Water, a Jewish gospel musical describing the matriarchal journey of four generations of her African-American Jewish family. In 2014 she established Dimensions Educational Consulting [in Boston] through which she continues to support organizations in expanding their relationships across race, religion, identity and culture [and is CEO].
...Yavilah is an educator, activist and spiritual teacher. [Across 20 years, she has worked extensively in multi-faith communities … to engage issues of diversity, equity and inclusion as] a Jewish woman and a person of color and has designed numerous tools and methods [for students and educators to explore differences and reach] for tangible solutions in allied engagement. ... Yavilah is a certified trainer for ADL’s World of Difference Institute, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the National Coalition Building Institute. She is a certified coach for the Auburn Theological Seminary Pastoral Training program and is a renowned speaker, educator, and spiritual practitioner.
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Alysa Stanton [wik] (born c. 1964) is an African-American Jew. On June 6, 2009, she was ordained as the first African-American female rabbi.[1][2] In August 2009 she began work as a rabbi at Congregation Bayt Shalom, a small majority-white synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina, making her the first African-American rabbi to lead a majority-white congregation.[3] Stanton converted to Judaism at age 24 and first studied and worked as a psychotherapist ….Contents: •1 Early life and education • 2 Career • 3 See also • 4 Footnotes • 5 Further reading • 6 External links
[JWA] Born into a Pentecostal family in Cleveland, Stanton moved with her family to Denver when she was 11. There she earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s of education in counseling and multiculturalism from Colorado State University. Initially introduced to Judaism by a Christian uncle who enjoyed attending local Shabbat services, Stanton converted in 1987. Following a career as a therapist specializing in grief counseling, she felt drawn to apply her counseling skills to the rabbinate, and entered Hebrew Union College. When she was ordained in 2009, Stanton ... insisted that being [hailed internationally as the “first” female African-American rabbi] not overshadow her work at Bayt Shalom synagogue in Greenville, NC, a majority-white congregation that hired her after her ordination [the first such congregation to be led by an African-American rabbi]. There, she attracted new families and expanded the b’nai mitzvah program and the religious school. Her contract ended in 2011, the same year she developed a chronic illness after a difficult surgery. Stanton is currently focusing on several book projects and continues rabbinical activities in both private and public settings, nationally and abroad.
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Rachel Sumekh [JWA]
Born to parents who had emigrated from Iran, Rachel Sumekh grew up in the Iranian Jewish community of Los Angeles. As a student at the University of California-Los Angeles, Sumekh wanted to use the extra money on her meal plan at the end of the semester to help the hungry in her community. The first drive she organized, in the fall of 2009, provided about 350 meals to people near her campus. Since then, the organization she founded, Swipe Out Hunger, has provided more than 1.2 million meals across the US, supported by students at over twenty universities. Sumekh has turned her focus to hunger on campuses, working to address the food insecurity experienced by one in ten university students. For this work, she was recognized as a “Champion of Change” by the White House in 2012 and was included on Forbes Magazine’s list of “30 Under 30 for Social Entrepreneurship” in 2017. Sumekh lives in Los Angeles, where she is a leader in the Iranian Jewish community and continues to expand the impact of her organization nationwide.
[TOI]
Think of her as a modern-day Queen Esther.
Rachel Sumekh, the founder of Swipe Out Hunger, a national initiative focused on ending college student hunger, is a community leader, activist and proud Jew. She is also the daughter of Iranian immigrants and a Persian woman of color.
“Since the time of the Megillah, our community has told the story of a Jewish woman of color saving our people,” said Sumekh, 26. “Women, and women of color, are often the unsung heroes. This holiday is an opportunity to celebrate those voices.”
In an innovative Purim-inspired campaign, three organizations — Repair the World, Jewish Women’s Archive and the Jewish Multiracial Network — are banding together to raise awareness about Jewish women of color, and their unique contributions to the Jewish communal narrative. The campaign — called #ShareHerStory — aims to celebrate the stories of Jewish women of color, Mizrahi and Sephardi women by sending e-cards highlighting [their stories].
...“This is our modern riff on mishloach manot,” said Tamara Fish of the Jewish Multiracial Network, referencing the [Purim] custom to exchange food gifts. “Instead of sharing food, we’re sharing stories.”
The Purim saga also provides powerful commentary on what it means to be a “cultural outsider,” said Fish. “Esther was a woman, a Jew and an orphan; in so many ways she was ‘othered.’ Still, she was able to hone her influence and shift the narrative. “It all came down to her choice to act, rather than to be silent.”...
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With thanks to https://www.jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/, Jewish Women’s Archive.org [https://jwa.org/], Repair the World.org [https://werepair.org/].
Share YOUR story as a Jewish Woman of Color, Indigenous, Mizrahi, and/or Sephardi woman. All self-identified women, genderqueer folks, and non-binary people are welcome to record their stories. https://jwa.org/shareherstory
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