During the summer 2005, the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute unveiled “Jewish + Female = Athlete”, the latest in its annual Jewish women around the world projects. Including a printed calendar, traveling exhibit and online resources, the project explores the strength of Jewish women athletes, both contemporary competitors and women whose achievements constituted milestones in sports history.

Our mission in this project is broad and ambitious: to raise awareness of the prominence of Jewish women in sports, to give Jewish women athletes the accord they are due, to dispel stereotypes about Jewish women, and to inspire a new generation of Jewish women athletes.

About HBI
The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute develops fresh ways of thinking about Jews and gender by producing and promoting scholarly research and artistic projects. Founded in 1997, the HBI is the first university-based research center to focus exclusively on Jewish women and Jewish gender issues. The Institute provides research resources and community programs for scholars, students and the public at large.

HBI is a division of Brandeis University, an esteemed research university founded in 1948, and the only secular, Jewish sponsored university in the United States. This year, Brandeis was ranked 31st among approximately 4200 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Brandeis University is not affiliated with any religious organization and its student body is about 53% Jewish. Its faculties in Jewish Studies and Women's Studies, along with other fields, are among the best in the world. The HBI was founded with start-up funds and an endowment from Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc., with the goal of disseminating instructive information about Jewish women throughout the world and across historical periods.

The Project: Jewish Women around the World
In 1999, HBI began producing a 12-month, Hebrew/English calendar featuring Jewish women around the world. Our overarching goal is to bring a fresh look at Jewish women’s experiences, achievements, and work into the daily lives of calendar users. To date, calendar themes have focused on scientists, leaders, rabbis, writers, and images of Jewish women around the world.

Response to “Jewish Women around the World” has been phenomenal: calendar users have requested we send multiple copies to their sisterhoods, boards of directors, friends, students, and book groups. One woman purchased a case of calendars in order to distribute copies to the 150 guests at her daughter’s bat mitzvah.

In addition to the beautiful, professionally-designed print piece, the project now entails a traveling exhibit. The traveling exhibit is available at a nominal cost to synagogues, JCC’s, libraries, schools and other organizations.

This year the calendar will be available online with supplementary resources on the subject of Jewish women athletes. We also hope to produce a study/program guide exploring the connections between Jews and sport.

In past years, the calendar has been provided free-of-charge to over 15,000 people. The total project budget, including distribution costs, is roughly $60,000. Our goal this year is to sell 5,000 copies of the calendar as a fundraising tool to support HBI research activities, while distributing 10,000 copies free of charge to children in Jewish communities around the world.

2005-06 Focus: Jewish Women Athletes
Our 2005-06 (5766) project features the stories of 27 Jewish women athletes, thirteen contemporary competitors and thirteen women who made sports history. In keeping with the goals of the project, the calendar and exhibit will

1. Explore Jewish women’s experiences that challenge the “usual categories” – when people think of athletes, they seldom think of Jews; when they think of Jewish women, they rarely think of sports. Our project breaks down stereotypes and invites participants to go beyond their initial assumptions about the gender of Jewish achievers and the arenas in which Jewish women make their mark.
   
2. Raise awareness of Jewish women athletes who, despite significant and ongoing accomplishment, remain largely unknown.
   
3. Explore the role physical culture has played in Jewish life
   
4. Highlight the prominent role of Jewish women in efforts to expand opportunities for women and girls in sport
   
5. Contribute to efforts encouraging the participation of girls and women in sports and physical activity, thereby promoting health and positive self-esteem.Why Jewish women and sports? For women, sports can serve as a source of empowerment. In her introduction to Nike is a Goddess: The History of Women in Sports Mariah Burton Nelson writes “Sports have freed women and continue to free women…from the belief that women can’t or shouldn’t achieve or compete or win.”
   
   While scant attention has been given to the topics of women in sport and Jews in sport, little to no attention has been given to the role Jewish women have played in sports worldwide, the importance of physical activity in the development of the health and self-esteem of Jewish girls, and the impact Jewish girls and women have had in the development of physical culture in the International Jewish community.

It is this void that the “Jewish + Female = Athlete” aims to fill.

Q&A with the Athletes

-> Emily Jacobson
-> Sada Jacobson
-> Daniela Krukower
-> Keren Leibovitch
-> Hagit Oz
-> Jillian Schwartz

Contemporary Athletes

Sports Legends