Nadine Epstein - RBGs Brave & Brilliant Women: 33 Jewish Women to Inspire Everyone

Sitting in her Supreme Court chambers in 2019, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I had a conversation about why female role models are important to people of all ages, especially young people. She was particularly interested in Jewish role models because she was deeply Jewish and keenly felt the age-old connection between social justice and Jewish tradition. The humanity and bravery of Jewish women, she said, had always sustained and encouraged her when her spirits needed lifting. This book was born out of that conversation.

Together Justice Ginsburg and I drew up a list of some 150 women with indomitable energy who moved the world forward. It was no easy task to narrow that list down to those in this volume but we finally did. The women we chose lived in ancient times and in times nearer our own, in faraway lands and here in America, and they each had different talents and interests. Whether of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, or Middle Eastern Jewish descent or converts, they were guided or shaped by Jewish beliefs or values.

Some were poor and self-taught; others were rich and were fortunate to receive a better education than most women of their era.

Some had parents who understood and encouraged them; others had families who stood in their way.

Some had brothers who received preferential treatment; others had no brothers and were expected to do whatever sons might have done.

Some married and had children; others didnt, some by their own choice.

Some had hard lives; others never personally suffered.

Some lived to old age; others had lives tragically cut short by illness or accident, or were killed in the Holocaust. Many faced anti-Semitism as well as gender discrimination.

Some never saw themselves as torchbearers for other women; others were very conscious that they were trailblazers. A few were proud to be called troublemakers.

What they all have in common is that they transcended what was expected, allowed, or tolerated for a woman of their time. They chose difficult or unusual paths and stayed true to their talents and missions despite the obstacles. They achieved what was unimaginable, and the unimaginable led to the advancement of women, to breaking barriers in previously men-only fields, and to changing the world for the better.

However you read this bookfrom front to back, from back to front, or randomly dipping into the stories of these smart and strong womenyoull find at least a few women whose lives will inspire you to make a difference and maybe even to change the world!

When we began RBGs Brave & Brilliant Women, Justice Ginsburg was eighty-six, physically frail, and had already fought off cancer several times. Even when she learned it had returned, she kept working on this book, often sending me suggestions and edits faster than I could respond to them. She was determined that this book would be part of her legacy to you. This is but one example of how this strong-willed, forward-looking person never stopped fighting for what she believed in.