Jewish Women Singers: Raising Their Voices Across Generations

From Miriam dancing and praising the all mighty at the shores of the Red Sea to the powerful present-day voices of Barbra Streisand, Pink, Janis Ian, Carole King, Debbie Friedman, and others, Jewish women have been singing, composing, performing, preserving tradition and sometimes challenging it for thousands of years. 

In this follow-up to the lecture Vashti to Ginsburg: A Tradition of Jewish Female Resistance, we’ll explore the lives and music of Jewish women across time, cultures, and musical traditions. Some made explicitly Jewish music; others carried their Jewish identities into the worlds of popular music, folk, theater, and protest. Together, their stories invite us to consider who gets to have a voice, whose songs become part of Jewish memory, and what happens when women claim their place on the stage. 

Rabbi Batshir Torchio is a ritual and spiritual practitioner who has been engaging with folks for lifecycle events and learning. She was ordained at AJRCA in Los Angeles, where she learned with rabbis and scholars from across the broad spectrum of Jewish movements. Rabbi Batshir is moved by the translation and ownership of ancient ritual into contemporary meaning; to “make the old new, and the new, holy” (Rav Kook). In addition to her role as Senior Jewish Educator at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Rabbi Batshir also guides tours through Israel and Poland, and is a life-cycle officiant, both locally and abroad.