JWI's History

Jewish Women International (JWI) is born in 1897 as Ruth Lodge No. 1, the Daughters of Judah, B’nai B’rith’s first auxiliary, just as 19th century women are beginning to emerge from the home and into the public sphere.

By 1909, the first permanent B’nai Brith Women (BBW) group is founded in San Francisco to “promote sociability,” but members soon turn their attention to volunteer activities that can improve the community around them.

During World War I, members do their patriotic duty rolling bandages, nursing in military hospitals, and providing hospitality to the troops.

By 1920, while women’s right to vote is won, BBW is still denied official recognition by B’nai B’rith - yet they begin to take a stand on issues they care about. In 1927, their interest in serving young girls inspires junior auxiliaries that become B’nai B’rith Girls.

The women’s groups start their own fund for the relief of Jews in Europe, an effort that gains momentum as Nazi persecution grows.

By 1940, BBW drops the term “auxiliary” in favor of chapters and elects its first national president, Judge Lenore Underwood Mills of San Francisco.

In this era of women’s emancipation, the women’s group achieves the recognition of B’nai B’rith Girls as a national organization on par with Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA), the B’nai B’rith boys’ group.

With the start of World War II, BBW members work diligently for the war effort.

The young survivors of the Holocaust who arrive in Palestine after their wartime trauma find care and opportunity to heal at the Children’s Home in Jerusalem, a facility for which BBW assumes full responsibility. BBW chapters raise millions of dollars to support the home, now known as The Jerusalem Hills Therapeutic Centers.

By the early 1950s, BBW has come into its own as a vibrant organization with an independent agenda. BBW purchases land in Israel and builds a new facility for the Children’s Home.

In 1951, BBW introduces its own national newspaper, “Women’s World.” In 1953, for the first time, women delegates vote at the B’nai B’rith convention.

BBW joins forces with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to introduce the Dolls for Democracy program, which tells the stories of historic changemakers to teach young children tolerance and inspire them to create change in our democratic society.

BBW answers President John Kennedy’s call for a “new frontier” by speaking out for civil rights, working to combat illiteracy and poverty, and advocating on behalf of housing for senior citizens.

Through Operation Stork, a first-of-its-kind program undertaken with the March of Dimes, members work to educate lower-income women about the importance of prenatal care.

BBW then funds the construction of a major new addition at the Children’s Home in Jerusalem.

In the late 1960s, and continuing into the ‘70s and ‘80s, BBW’s focus shifts toward activism in the women’s movement. In 1972, BBW becomes the first Jewish organization to back the Equal Rights Amendment and in 1968, five years before Roe v. Wade, BBW calls for laws to protect women from having to seek illegal abortions - a right to which the organization holds firm to this day.

BBW takes stands on such issues as pay equity, family and medical leave, teen pregnancy, women’s and infants’ health care, and displaced homemakers. They also speak out on behalf of the Soviet Union’s embattled Jewish community, serving as a convener for the Women’s Plea for Soviet Jewry.

In July 1988, a 41-year-old BBW member in Gaithersburg, Md., is shot and killed by her estranged husband. This shocking murder spurs the organization to break the silence about domestic abuse in the Jewish community.

By the late 1980s, BBW’s growth as an organization devoted to its own agenda of programs and concerns sets the stage for a shift in its historic relationship with B’nai B’rith.

In 1990, BBW and B’nai B’rith reach a formal agreement that recognizes BBW as an independent organization, affiliated with B’nai B’rith - but five years later BBW declares its full independence by changing its name to Jewish Women International (JWI).

In keeping with its new identity, JWI establishes its award-winning national magazine, Jewish Woman.

A widespread JWI study of attitudes about interfaith marriage leads to a book for Jewish grandparents wishing to pass their Jewish heritage on to grandchildren from interfaith marriages.

JWI launches the Prejudice Awareness Summit, a program that reaches thousands of middle school students in cities throughout the U.S.

JWI’s domestic abuse education and awareness activities grow in communities across the U.S.

In 2001, JWI hosts the first of what will become its signature annual event – the Women to Watch gala luncheon and awards ceremony, honoring 10 Jewish women making an impact on their communities, their professions, and the world.

Beginning in 2003, JWI organizes three bi-annual International Conferences on Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community, gathering the community for intensive training and planning in person, while rabbis and cantors from every Jewish denomination join forces virtually in the JWI-coordinated National Clergy Task Force on Domestic Abuse. JWI also creates the National Alliance Against Domestic Abuse, which offers monthly training webinars for professionals in the domestic violence field.

Starting in 2010 JWI expands its advocacy network to engage a broad community of activists committed to violence prevention, reproductive choice, women’s health, and economic security.

In 2012, JWI lays the groundwork for a new Young Leadership initiative to create a network of young, professional Jewish women and build a pipeline to the next generation of women leaders.

JWI's inaugural Young Women’s Leadership Conference is held in 2013, giving hundreds of young professional women an opportunity to both network with one another and be mentored by accomplished Women to Watch honorees.

In 2014, in partnership with SDT sorority and ZBT fraternity, innovative SafeSmartDating healthy relationship workshops are piloted on college campuses, followed by the Green Light Go initiative, launched at George Washington University in 2015, to promote consent and address the pervasive college culture of sexual violence. Also in 2014, JWI introduces Boy to Mentsch – a first-of-its-kind public awareness project, tailored to boys and their fathers, promoting healthy masculinity in Baltimore’s ultra-Orthodox community.