A story collection
Women
When the glass ceiling was as thick as a wall, they broke new ground in every field, and often paid a personal price for it. Read about these inspiring women here.
Olga Sarah Fisher
A mother and her three daughters opened their home to persecuted refugees when doing so meant certain death. Their uncompromising courage led them to convert to Judaism at the end of the war and build their lives in Israel.
Isabel Pedro
Behind the quiet appearance of a European architect was one of the Mossad's boldest female agents. She infiltrated enemy countries, drew secret maps, and always came back to tell the tale.
Irma Lindheim
The stammering American millionaire who became one of the Zionist movement's most compelling speakers. She gave up a life of luxury in a grand estate to milk cows and live in a shack in the valley.
Elizabeth Eidenbenz
The Swiss teacher who established a maternity hospital in an abandoned building on French soil under occupation. There, under the watchful eyes of the Nazis, she saved hundreds of babies and mothers from deportation to the camps.
Alice May Carey
The idealist who believed all denominations and religions could be united in a spiritual center in Jerusalem. Her dream came true for a brief historical moment, leaving a mark of hope on the city's landscape.
Alice von Battenberg
The wife of a Greek prince and mother of Prince Philip, she sheltered Jews in her home during the Holocaust and became one of the Righteous Among the Nations, buried in Jerusalem.
Elisheva Bihovsky
The non-Jewish poet who bound her fate and soul to the Jewish people and to the poet Rachel, and paid for that choice with painful loneliness and dire poverty.
Alma Rosé
The virtuoso violinist who fought for her friends' lives with a conductor's baton at Auschwitz. With every note her orchestra played in the inferno, she bought another moment of life and hope for 40 women.
Asenath Barzani
Centuries before the world had heard of feminism, one woman in Kurdistan headed a yeshiva and ruled on matters of Jewish law. Meet the "Tanna'it" who combined Kabbalah, poetry, and spiritual leadership, and shattered every glass ceiling imaginable.
Bruria Kaufman
The brilliant mathematician who worked closely with Albert Einstein in his final years and solved equations that captivated the world. The researcher who left the pinnacle of American academia to help build the Weizmann Institute and Israeli science.
Bracha Fuld
A young Haganah member killed by British gunfire on the streets of Tel Aviv while securing an operation to bring in illegal immigrants, she became a symbol of the struggle for free immigration.
Batya Makov
The independent, determined woman who proved that initiative and hard work are not the preserve of men alone. She amassed her fortune with her own two hands and became one of the most influential figures in the early days of settlement.
Deborah Teitelbaum
The dedicated scientist who labored for years in the laboratory on the molecular research that led to the drug Copaxone. The researcher behind the great Israeli medical achievement that gave millions of people with multiple sclerosis around the world a new lease on life.
Deborah Omer
She brought Herzl, Ben-Gurion, and Sarah Aaronsohn into the hearts of children, yet carried a painful family secret within her. The fascinating story behind the national author who taught generations how to immerse themselves in the pages of history.
Dvora Kalfus Nehushtan
"The Irgun's number one female fighter" marched barefoot through the mud and took part in blowing up the British planes at Lydda, to clear the skies over the country for ships carrying immigrants.
Dona Gracia
The most powerful woman in 16th-century Europe, she ran an underground escape network for conversos. Centuries ahead of Herzl, she acquired land in Tiberias to establish an independent refuge for Jews.
Hadassah Lampel
The brave signaler whose calm voice was the last sign of life from the burning half-track at Latrun, reporting under fire until her final breath.
Helena Kagan
The doctor who fought epidemics, ignorance, and dire poverty to save Jerusalem's children. She treated everyone without distinction of religion or nationality, and became the mother of modern medicine in the Land of Israel.
Princess Jeanne Merkus
One was a writer and lover of Moshe Dayan, while the other was called the Dutch Joan of Arc, and their lives ran parallel
Jacqueline Kahanoff
The beautiful, bold intellectual from Cairo who redefined Israeli identity. As a standard-bearer for Mediterraneanism, she fought social injustice and broke new ground in thought.
Zehara Levitov
The first female fighter pilot, carrying within her the grief of losing her beloved Shmulik, who had fallen in battle; their story of love and loss became the defining myth of the 1948 generation.
Zelda
The mysterious ultra-Orthodox woman from Jerusalem who turned the world of Israeli poetry upside down with her enchanting candor. How did her quiet, profound poems become enduring classics and the tangible symbol of Holocaust Remembrance Day?
Haviva Reik
The fighter who embarked on a suicide mission behind Nazi enemy lines for the sake of her tormented brothers and sisters. She parachuted into the unknown in Slovakia, organized the uprising, and fought bravely until she fell.
Hemda Ben-Yehuda
The woman behind the reviver of the Hebrew language, she was a brilliant writer and the first Hebrew fashion journalist. With wit and grace, she coined new words and led a genuine cultural revolution.
Hannah Meisel Shohat
The determined agronomist who rebelled against the gender conventions of her time and founded the Young Women’s Farm to make working the land a liberating force for Hebrew women.
Hanna Maron
Theater's Guinness World Record-holder overcame a devastating terrorist attack and returned to light up the stage. Eight decades of creative work and a hundred roles made her the undisputed queen of Hebrew acting.
Yehudit Yehezkeli-Galili
The woman who worked in the shadows and took part in daring intelligence operations and arms smuggling. Under assumed identities and a heavy veil of secrecy, she served the country in its most dangerous places.
Judith Montefiore
The daughter of a wealthy aristocratic family who chose arduous journeys, illness, and danger on the roads of the ancient East. Alongside her husband Moses, she crisscrossed the Land of Israel and invested her fortune in building the Jewish community.
Yona Wallach
An uninhibited creative force who moved between total madness and rare poetic genius, shaking Hebrew culture to its core. The story of a wild aristocrat who crossed every conceivable boundary and remained a mesmerizing enigma until her final day.
Yelizaveta Feodorovna
A Russian princess murdered by the Bolsheviks, whose last wish brought her to her eternal rest on the slopes of Jerusalem's Mount of Olives.
Yael Rom
She was the first woman to break the glass ceiling and complete the IDF flight course; as a transport pilot, she flew the paratroopers to Mitla for Operation Kadesh.
Leah Abushdid
She was called "the fairest of women" and rebuffed Itamar Ben-Avi's desperate courtship until he threatened to end his life, in a tempestuous romance torn between ancient tradition and a new language of love.
Lea Gottlieb
The woman who survived the inferno in Europe with her two daughters and turned a modest dream into the Gottex fashion empire. How did a determined Israeli designer conquer the world's most prestigious runways with swimwear?
Leah Goldberg
She called herself "not a beautiful woman" and suffered through unrequited, unfulfilled loves, yet transformed that tormenting loneliness into the heights of Hebrew poetry.
Leah Tannenbaum
The young woman from the ultra-Orthodox world who captured the hearts of the region's most powerful Muslim leaders. Her tumultuous life story moved between forbidden loves, centers of power, and extraordinary political complexity.
Mira (Miriam) Ben-Ari
The brave radio operator of Nitzanim who refused to evacuate, shot the Egyptian officer at point-blank range, and fell to ensure the honor of the kibbutz's fighters.
Melania Karlovna
The Christian noblewoman who crossed every social boundary when she chose to marry the poet Shaul Tchernichovsky.
Mania Shohat
The fiery revolutionary from Russia who conceived the cooperative commune, founded "Bar-Giora" and "Hashomer," and led underground arms operations that shaped the Hebrew defense force.
Maria Rosetta Shapira (Miriam Harry)
The daughter of Moses Wilhelm Shapira, she wrote under the pen name Miriam Harry and described her childhood in the Old City of Jerusalem in her work.
Miriam Baratz
The pioneer who paved the way for women in Degania's cowshed, and became the first woman to marry and establish a family in the "mother of the kibbutzim and collective settlements."
The Sturman Family
The matriarch of a dynasty that lost a husband, sons, and a grandson in Israel's security campaigns, and remained an enduring symbol of steadfastness and endless sacrifice in the Harod Valley.
Nechama Pukhachevsky
The woman who rebelled against the conventions of the colony, fought for equal rights for women, and wrote daring Hebrew literature. The first Eretz-Israeli woman writer refused to remain on the margins of history and paved the way for all women.
Netiva Ben-Yehuda
The clear-voiced fighter who brought the language of the Palmach into the heart of Israeli culture. With no barriers and no filters, she fought for the country's independence and for the spoken language.
Selma Lagerlöf
The renowned Swedish author of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, whose journeys and special connections with the Land of Israel deeply influenced her.
Ada Fishman
The uncompromising revolutionary who refused to accept women's inferior status in the world of work. She founded an entire community and fought on the political front for equality and social justice.
Paula Ben-Gurion
The strong, direct, and sharp-witted woman who stood like an impregnable wall behind the nation's leader. Her tempestuous personality made her a symbol, to the point that some called him "the husband of the Prime Minister's wife."
Clorinda Minor
A leader of a Christian sect who believed that the coming of Jesus was bound up with the Jews' return to the Land of Israel, and her connection to a writer and a famous story
Keren Tendler
The only female airborne mechanic in the Yasur fleet, she fought for the chance to reach the front and fell in the Second Lebanon War when her helicopter was shot down.
Rebecca Guber
The pioneer who lost both her sons in the War of Independence, and chose to rise from the depths of grief to become the "Mother of the Sons" who helped establish the settlements of the Lachish region.
Rebecca Grabovsky
The mother who paid the highest price of all for the revival of the Jewish people and the defense of the homeland in the Land of Israel. From the unbearable grief and loss of her sons, she emerged as a symbol of resilience and inner strength.
Rivka Chizik
A younger sister in the heroic family of Sarah and Baruch Chizik, who paid with her life at just 17 for draining the Lake Kinneret marshes and sanctifying pioneering labor.
Regina Jonas
Berlin in the 1930s was not ready for a woman to stand on a stage holding a rabbinical ordination certificate. The tragic and inspiring story of the first female rabbi in history, who refused to let convention stop her.
Rudolfina Menzel
The brilliant researcher who studied the canine mind and harnessed dogs' senses to save human lives. She identified and developed the Canaan Dog, making it the national breed of the State of Israel.
Rachel the Poet
She arrived in the country as a romantic tourist on her way to Paris, but fell desperately in love with it and became a pioneer who chose words and fields, and went on to become a poet and a national myth.
Rachel Habashush
The daring Irgun fighter who never hesitated to lead complex and dangerous operations. With rare courage and composure, she repeatedly evaded British intelligence in pursuit of the cause.
Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi
The pioneer who plowed the land, founded a farm school for women, and inspired the masses. Jerusalem’s streets welcomed her with admiration as she went on to become an exceptional president’s wife.
Shulamit Kishik Cohen
The Israeli spy who operated in the heart of Beirut, embedded in Lebanese government circles, saved thousands of Jews, and escaped the gallows in a historic prisoner exchange.
Sarah Ita Felman
The ultra-Orthodox widow who refused to give in to hardship and built a flourishing orchard with her own hands in the wilderness. With iron determination, she protected her family and rightly became known as the "Mother of Hebrew Citrus Growing."
Sarah Shmukler
Berl Katznelson's beloved and his legal wife are buried side by side in the Kinneret cemetery, joined by an extraordinary bond and a shared understanding shaped by one great love.
Tamar
From Judah's daughter-in-law to Absalom's sister: the biblical women who refused to be passive victims and broke society's rules. The story of clever, daring women who risked their lives and used their wisdom to change the course of history.
Tamar Eshel
The life of the "Israeli Wonder Woman" seemed straight out of a thrilling spy novel. She served in British intelligence, worked for the Haganah, and devoted decades to security and women's rights.
Tamar Bornstein-Lazar
The woman who brought a mischievous monkey from Petah Tikva to life and sent him off on adventures around the world. Israel's most prolific writer, she made Kofiko and Chipopo childhood friends to millions of Israelis.
Tirza Atar
Alterman's daughter, who carried the weight of a great creative legacy on her shoulders and wrote more than 500 songs that became engraved in our souls. A life of beauty, rare musical talent, and quiet tragedy that ended in a painful fall from a balcony.