Jewish women discuss goals at conference

Hailing from campuses across the Midwest, more than 40 Jewish female students gathered at Hillel this weekend to celebrate accomplishments made by Jewish women and to discuss ways women in the Jewish community can prepare for the 21st Century.

The goal of the three-day conference was to create an environment in which Jewish women could address issues that concern them and to energize women on campuses across the Midwest, as well as provide a place for debate and discussion, explained LSA senior Danielle Gordon, one of the event's organizers.

"This is the first time a Midwestern conference for (Jewish female) students has been organized," Gordon said.

Friday evening, Susan Weidman Schneider, editor in chief of Lilith, an independent Jewish women's magazine, helped kick off the conference "Jewish and Female: What to Change and What to Celebrate As We Approach the Year 2000."

The conference was held to "talk about the past, present and future," Schneider said in her introduction. Schneider is an author and speaker on Jewish feminism and has appeared on major national television talk shows, including Good Morning America and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Throughout her speech, Schneider described many advancements that Jewish women have to be grateful for, but she also emphasized what Jewish women need to change as the 21st Century approaches.

Of the many reasons to celebrate that Schneider listed, she stressed two in particular.

"For the first time we have models for almost everything we want to do or be as Jewish women," Schneider said. "For the first time we have Jewish feminist history."

Schneider said that throughout history, Jews have moved from one location to another, and for this reason, few Jewish women's artifacts - objects that have represented their lives - have been preserved. But finally, she said, Jewish women are being recognized for their contributions.

Changes that still need to be made, Schneider said, include creating equality for women in positions of power in the Jewish community.

"Less that 25 percent of all board members are women," Schneider said, referring to statistics from national Jewish organizations.

"What we want is both equal access, but also equal value," she said.

Many women in the audience took Schneider's comments to heart and acknowledged that they could relate to what Schneider was saying.

"Susan Weidman Schneider has helped shape the lives of many Jewish women for over two decades," said Lili Kalish, an LSA senior and a former Lilith intern.

Jennifer Leavitt, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said she attended the conference because she wanted to learn more about Jewish feminism.

"I want to use this as an opportunity to develop myself and more fully realize what my beliefs and ideas are," Leavitt said.

The conference included workshops, storytelling and a performance by Kol Hakavod, a Jewish a cappella group at the University.

Gordon said the conference attracted Jewish female students of different ages.

"I'm excited that it got the younger classmates interested (in Jewish feminism) ... and that seniors felt inspired as Jewish women to keep doing what we do," Gordon said as the conference wrapped up yesterday. "It was a successful weekend."

02-15-99