Chutzpah Girls

Excerpted from Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women

Chutzpah [hoot-speh], noun:

A Jewish superpower: the daring to speak when silenced, to take action when others won’t, to try when they say it’s impossible, to persevere in times of doubt, to be yourself when it’s easier to conform, to stand tall when made to feel small, to believe when it all feels helpless, to shine your light in the face of darkness.

Ada Yonath, Crystallographer

20^th century, Born 1939, Israel

Ada was overflowing with questions about the world around her. How can we see color? Why do we have seasons? What makes the sound of thunder? Her poor Jewish family lived in a single room in a small apartment they shared with two other families in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem. But her mind was big, filled with ideas that could not be contained.

At five, Ada’s curiosity sparked an experiment to measure the apartment’s balcony. With measuring tape in hand, she balanced shakily on a ledge and fell to the pavement below. Ada broke her arm but not her inquiring spirit.

With the encouragement of a teacher who recognized Ada’s unique talents, Ada transferred to a special school for bright students. She cleaned, babysat, and tutored other children to help pay for her studies, all while working hard to get good grades.

In university, Ada studied chemistry and later earned her doctorate in X-ray crystallography to discover how to visualize tiny structures like atoms and molecules. She wanted to solve one of the great mysteries of science – how our cells make proteins. Proteins are like factory workers in our bodies. They build muscles, carry oxygen in the blood, and fight off infections. Without them, our bodies can’t function properly.

“I was described as a dreamer. I didn’t care.”

Ada wanted to map the structure of ribosomes, the tiny machines in our cells that make these proteins. Ribosomes were considered impossible to see using X-ray crystallography. “They didn’t believe I could do it,” she said. But Ada wasn’t afraid of hard work.

She experimented under different conditions and, after 25,000 attempts, succeeded in understanding what ribosomes look like and how they do their job. Together with other researchers, she mapped the protein-making process in 3D, helping scientists develop new medicines, like antibiotics, to fight diseases and save lives.

Ada earned a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the first Israeli woman to receive the prestigious honor. Today, Ada isn’t climbing balconies, but she will never stop asking questions.

Anne Neuberger, Intelligence & Cybersecurity Official

20^th century, born 1976, United States

Ladies and gentlemen, please prepare for takeoff. The passengers flipped up their tray tables and secured their seat belts. Barring a few bumps due to rough air, it should have been a smooth flight from Tel Aviv to Paris. It was anything but smooth.

Just after a stopover in Athens, terrorists took control of the plane and flew it to Entebbe, Uganda. It was a terrifying ordeal, but the State of Israel launched a daring rescue mission and saved the lives of nearly everyone on board.

As a child, Anne often heard the story of Operation Entebbe. Her parents, American citizens, were on the flight and among those rescued in the mission. The heroic actions by the government and soldiers of Israel inspired Anne to one day work to help the United States protect and save others.

“I believe that every person – and every woman – should use the talents God gave them.”

But Anne didn’t have professional role models to guide the way. She grew up speaking Yiddish in the Orthodox community of Borough Park, Brooklyn, where observant women like her didn’t work or worked flexible jobs that allowed them to raise children. When she expressed an interest in public service, people said, “Frum women don’t do that.” Frum is a term used to describe a very religious or pious person.

But Anne believed that your faith should never hold you back. She excelled in school and, after working in technology for several years, was assigned to work in the US Department of Defense through the highly respected White House Fellows program. Anne then joined the intelligence community, responsible for protecting America against national security and online threats.

After years of distinguished service, she became the first Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Threats, at the White House.

Despite her busy job, Anne remained a proud, committed Jewish woman and always managed to leave work early on Fridays to be home in time for Shabbat.

Benvenida Abravanel, Philanthropist

Medieval Era, Born 1473, Italy

It was called the Golden Age. For over a thousand years, a large Jewish community flourished in Spain. The oldest and most prominent of these Spanish Jewish families was the Abravanels. They were business leaders and scholars and held high government positions. Don Isaac Abravanel, the head of the family, even served as treasurer to Spain’s powerful rulers, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

One fateful day, the king and queen made a shocking decree. The Jews must betray their faith and convert to Christianity or be banished from Spain forever. Don Isaac tried to convince the rulers to change their minds, but it was useless. Along with thousands of brave Jews, the Abravanels chose their faith and left their beloved home behind.

The Spanish Inquisition was a dark time. Longstanding Jewish communities were up- rooted, synagogues destroyed, schools shuttered, and libraries burned. But another member of the Abravanel family, Benvenida, the niece and daughter-in-law of Don Isaac, picked up the torch of leadership. Benvenida fled to Italy, where she worked to rebuild Jewish life in the Diaspora and create a haven for those who had lost so much.

“A model and a symbol of modesty, piety, wisdom, and power.” – Immanuel Aboab, Jewish scholar

Without the safety and security of a homeland, Jews were vulnerable. They were far more likely to become enslaved and forced from their homes again. Benvenida worked with important officials to strengthen the position of the Jews in new lands.

She paid ransoms to secure the freedom of over a thousand captured Jews. She enlisted the help of Spanish princess Eleonora di Toledo to fight a Roman decree pushing the Jews out of the Italian city of Naples.

With Jewish life disrupted, she feared Jewish culture would be lost and encouraged the use of the printing press to publish books to spread Jewish ideas. Benvenida knew Jews could survive without a home, but they couldn’t survive without their books.

Ruth Handler, Inventor

20^th century, Born 1916, United States

Ellie Goldstein, Model

21^st century, Born 2001, United Kingdom

Ruth shifted uncomfortably as she watched her children, Kenneth and Barbara, play in the living room. Kenneth rowdily amused himself with toy trucks and soldiers. Barbara quietly nursed her baby dolls.

Ruth was the tenth child of poor Polish immigrants and had to work jobs from a young age. She didn’t like how the baby dolls reinforced the narrow notion that little girls should grow up only to be housewives and mothers. She wanted to create a toy that would empower girls to believe they could do and be anything they wanted.

Ruth created Barbie, naming the toy after her daughter. The adult-shaped doll allowed girls to act out their imagined futures in proudly girl-centric make-believe scenes. A few years later, she launched a male doll named Ken, after her son, but he got second billing. In Barbie’s world, women took center stage.

“Barbie represents the fact that a woman has choices.” – Ruth Handler

Some criticized Barbie for presenting an unrealistic body image with impossibly long legs and a tiny waist, but there was no denying her popularity. At a time when opportunities for girls were limited, Barbie was revolutionary. She had hundreds of careers, from astronomer to zoologist. As a Jewish woman who experienced antisemitism, Ruth wanted Barbie to encourage young girls to love and accept all people, regardless of differences. The dolls were produced in different skin tones. One of Barbie’s friends was a black doll named Christie.

Barbie continues to promote tolerance and acceptance to this day. Nearly sixty-five years after the first Barbie, a Jewish girl named Ellie made history by helping to launch a Barbie with the genetic condition Down’s syndrome. Ellie, the first model with Down’s syndrome to appear on the covers of top fashion magazines, loves the new doll. “She’s glamorous, gorgeous, and darling,” Ellie said. “She is perfect like me, and I am perfect like her.”

Sarah Schenirer, Education Activist

Emancipation Era, Born 1883, Poland

It was Rosh Hashanah, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, but for Sarah, the New Year festival felt hollow.

The fathers and sons of her community were off visiting the great Polish hasidic rebbes in the towns of Ger and Belz, leaving the wives, daughters, and little ones at home in the capital city of Kraków. At synagogue, Sarah could barely hear the prayers in the walled-off women’s section. Most of her friends stayed outside and played games, seemingly unaware of the day’s importance.

At a young age, Sarah earned the nickname Little Hasid. She had strong faith in God at a time when many women of her generation were losing faith altogether. She loved learning Torah and was jealous of the opportunities her brothers had. While they could continue their Torah study in yeshivah after elementary school, she had to become a seamstress.

“My dear girls, the destiny of Israel is in your hands.”

When World War I broke out, Sarah fled Poland for nearby Austria. At a synagogue in Vienna, she heard a powerful sermon describing the role of women throughout Jewish history. She decided then to do all she could to rekindle faith in Judaism by providing Orthodox religious girls a strong education. With a blessing from important spiritual leaders, the Gerrer Rebbe and the Belzer Rebbe, Sarah started a school for 25 girls in her sewing studio.

The Bais Yaakov school integrated a love for Torah and mitzvot with secular knowledge, honoring the rich heritage of Judaism while embracing modern education. Over time and long after Sarah’s life, Bais Yaakov became a worldwide movement, with hundreds of schools worldwide, from Jerusalem to Johannesburg.

Sarah never had children, but thousands of Bais Yaakov students still honor her today with the loving nickname Sarah Imeinu, our mother Sarah, just like her namesake in the Torah, the first Jewish woman.

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