c. 2004 Religion News Service

BOSTON _ By the year 1880, there was only one house in Santa Fe, N.M., that could boast running water and gas appliances. Those who might be surprised to learn that might feel even more so to learn that the woman who tended to that house was a Jew.

Flora Spiegelberg, a German-born Jewish pioneer woman who traveled across America to settle with her husband in Santa Fe, is one of many whose lives might otherwise be forgotten if not for the Jewish Women’s Archive.

As this year marks the 350th anniversary of the first Jewish settlers’ arrival on American shores, the JWA has launched a number of efforts to ensure that women’s stories are integrally woven into the greater community’s celebration.

“Stories Untold: Jewish Pioneer Women 1850-1910,” which is on display through May 26 at the Boston Public Library, renders the stories of women like Spiegelberg using a multimedia art technique that draws on computer technology, authentic quilt patterns and the women’s own words.

In Boston, the JWA is also sponsoring a film series, docent tours and even a Mother’s Day discussion on Jewish mothers.

But the major goal of the 9-year-old JWA, particularly in the 350th anniversary year, is to draw attention to its “virtual archive,” a massive online collection, accessible at http://www.jwa.org, of oral histories, photos and historical documents that chronicle the long and diverse history of Jewish women in America.

In September of 1654, a group of 23 Jewish men, women and children arrived on a ship called the “St. Cathrien” at New Amsterdam, which today is New York. Where exactly they came from is not known for sure, but many historians believe they originated in Recife, Brazil, where the Portuguese had recently captured the land from the Dutch.

The group was searching for religious freedom, business prospects and a new home. It was this fact, which distinguished these Jews from Jewish men who had previously come temporarily to America in search of commercial success, which led to the 1654 date as the beginning marker for Jews in America.

And, the JWA argues, the rationale for the date confirms that the presence of Jewish women in that group symbolizes the importance of women in Jewish history.

“They represented not just random individuals, but a community, not only to us, but to the authorities in New Amsterdam at the time,” said Karla Goldman, who is the historian-in-residence at the Brookline, Mass.-based JWA.

Goldman, author of “Beyond the Synagogue Gallery: Finding a Place for Women in American Judaism” (Harvard University Press), chronicles Jewish women’s stories over the past 350 years.

But despite all the progress of the feminist movement _ and all of the new scholarship on Jewish women that has been developed over the past three decades _ Jewish women’s stories remain victim to what JWA leaders have called “historical amnesia.”

And it is not only in public arenas like politics, but within the religious sphere of Jewish life in America that women’s voices have had an impact.

The very differences among the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements can often be traced to issues involving the role of women in the synagogue, from mixed-gender seating to reading from the Torah to rabbinical ordination.

“There was a very clear pattern of Americanizing,” said Goldman, “The difference between Orthodox and Conservative Judaism was defined around mixed seating as an issue, and other gender-related issues have remained quite important in defining the different denominations.”

But previous celebrations of Judaism in America, the 300th in 1954 and the 250th in 1905, relegated women to the sidelines, historians say.

“When we look back at the differences between the 250th celebration, the 300th celebration and the 350th, one of the biggest differences will be the recognition that women played a significant role in American Jewish history,” said Jonathan D. Sarna, a professor of Jewish history at Brandeis University.

“For far too long, their involvement was overlooked,” said Sarna, whose recent book “American Judaism: a History” (Yale University Press) is an ambitious narrative of the history of Judaism in America.

Sarna said that the issue of women’s rabbinic leadership in the Orthodox movement is a defining issue facing Jewish women today.

“It’s the clash between general cultural values and traditional Jewish values,” he said, “Each movement is trying to figure out the extent to which those can be compatible, and the extent to which they want them to be compatible.”

“Women’s leadership is definitely the central issue,” agreed Blu Greenberg, founding president of JOFA: The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance.

Greenberg says that the journey of American Jewish history has been leading to today’s discussions, many of which center on rabbinic ordination for Orthodox women, or the development of new leadership roles for women in the synagogue.

From women reading from the Torah at women’s prayer groups to “partnership minyans,” in which Orthodox men and women worship together and share leadership of the service, Greenberg sees progress in her community.

“It is a unique moment,” she said, “I think what has happened in the past has been working toward this moment.”

“We are very close to witnessing women being qualified, recognized and certified as rabbinic authorities,” she said.

Meanwhile, JWA leaders say they hope that at the next major Jewish anniversary, the group’s help might not explicitly be needed.

“The goal is for a place like the JWA to render itself out of business,” said Gail Twersky Reimer, executive director of the JWA. “Will that happen 50 years from now? It might, but I think real transformation takes a lot longer than that.”

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So the group’s efforts continue in full swing in anticipation of the larger celebration in September on the actual anniversary. A curriculum on Jewish women’s history for high- and middle-school-aged Hebrew school students is set to be released in early summer, and the JWA’s long list of expert speakers continue a busy schedule into the fall.

At the heart of it all, says Reimer, is a sense that history is an important teacher.

“I think all of what happened in the past around women’s struggles needs to inform the future,” Reimer said.

DEA/JL END ROSSI