By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

An increasing number of books are offering female role models for Jewish tweens and teens to emulate. However, that doesn’t mean that adults won’t also find much to enjoy in “Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women” by Julie Esther Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer (Toby Press). The work not only features one-page biographies of each woman, but artistic interpretations of each woman’s achievements.
The authors’ definition of chutzpah helps explain their choices: They write that chutzpah is “a Jewish superpower: the daring to speak when silenced, to take action when others won’t, to try when they say it’s impossible, to persevere in times of doubt, to be yourself when it’s easier to conform, to stand tall when made to feel small, to believe when all feels hopeless, to shine your light in the face of darkness.” In their preface, they note their book contains “one hundred real-life tales of proud Jewish women who shaped history, rewrote the future, and helped create a better world.”
The women chosen range from the well-known to those with whom reader may not be familiar. Some might wonder if the information about the biblical women (including the matriarchs) is historically accurate, but those women have served as role models over the centuries. The authors do include women from every major time period, showing that even when women had fewer rights, they were still able to make a difference in the world. Among the better known women are Anne Frank, Deborah Lipstadt, Emma Lazarus, Golda Meir, Henrietta Szold, Mayim Bialik and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. However, it is the unfamiliar women that may intrigue readers. There are too many interesting women to list here, but a few that stood out are: 
Beatie Deutsch, born in 1989, an Orthodox woman who runs marathons. Her career proves that athletic prowess and modest dress can co-exist. Deutsch notes that “there are a lot of messages out there telling runners to look and dress a certain way... The focus should not be on how your body looks when you run.” 
The philanthropist Benvenida Abravanel, born in 1473, who used her money and influence to save more than a thousand Jews from slavery after the Spanish Inquisition. She also encouraged the use of the printing press in order to help preserve Jewish texts and culture after the expulsion from Spain. 
Edith Eger, born in 1927, who combined unusual careers. Eger was a gymnast and dancer in Hungary until she was expelled from the Olympic team because she was Jewish. Eger and her family were taken to Auschwitz, where she was forced to dance for the infamous doctor, Josef Mengele. After the war, she became a psychologist so she could help others who had suffered during the war. When sharing the story of her life with audiences, she “[ends] every talk with her signature ballet high kick.”
Canadian Judith Feld Carr, born in 1939, who, after the Six-Day War, worked to rescue Jews from Syria. These Jews were forbidden to leave Syria, even though it was no longer safe for them there. Even after the death of her husband, which left her a single mother, Carr didn’t stop working to save those in danger. In the end, she was able to save more than 3,000 Syrian Jews.
Meera Jacobs Mahadevan, born in India in 1930, who proves that an unexpected sound can help one discover one’s life path. When walking by a construction site in India, Mahadevan heard the cry of a baby. She soon discovered this was not the only child at many work sites throughout India, where no childcare was available for women who were working to feed their families. Meera helped open hundreds of childcare centers at construction sites across India.
The astronomer Vera Rubin, born in 1928, who had difficulty pursuing her chosen career. Rejection didn’t stop her, and neither did astronomy observatories that didn’t offer women’s restrooms. (Vera handled that problem by “cut[ting] out a paper skirt and tap[ing] it to the figure of the man on the bathroom door sign, making it a women’s room!”) She also championed equal rights for women and mentored others interested in astronomy. 
Readers will discover their own favorites, and younger readers may be inspired to follow their dreams or, at least, be introduced to new possibilities for the future. Parents may want to read “Chutzpah Girls” with their children so they can discuss both the difficulties these women faced and the way they successfully overcame them.