Norma Baumel Joseph (born 1944 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) is an American-born Canadian professor and Jewish feminist activist. In 1990, Joseph was successful in working with the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

to pass a law that would protect Jewish women in need of a '' get''. She currently serves as Professor of Religion at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

and Associate Director of the University's Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies.

Biography

Joseph was born in

to Moishe (Murray) Baumel and Madeline (née Kohn). Moishe was a salesman who had emigrated to the United States as a child, and Madeline was a typist-secretary who arrived in the United States as an infant. Both sides of Joseph's family were heavily engaged in Jewish occupations. In 1965, she married Rabbi Howard Joseph who, five years later, became the leader of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

's Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. She received a B.A. from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

in 1966, an M.A. from the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

in 1968, and a Ph.D in religion from

in 1995. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the legal decisions of Rabbi

Moshe Feinstein Moshe Feinstein (; Lithuanian pronunciation: ''Moishe Fainshtein''; ; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, and ''posek'' (authority on ''halakha''—Jewish law). He has been called ...

concerning the separate spheres for women in the

Jewish community Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. The dissertation was nominated for a Governor General's Gold Medal award for excellence. In 1975 she began teaching at Sir George Williams University. Joseph has published widely in scholarly books and journals as an expert in Jewish feminist thought. She serves on the editorial board of ''Women in Judaism'', on the advisory board of the Journal of Religion and Culture, on the advisory council of

JOFA The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) is an Orthodox Jewish organization providing educational services on women's issues, with the aim of expanding "the spiritual, ritual, intellectual, and political opportunities for women within the f ...

, and on the international board of the

Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brook ...

. In 1995, she received the Leo Wasserman Prize for the best article published in American Jewish History that year for "Jewish Education for Women: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s Map of America" (vol. 83, no. 2, 205–222). Her teaching and research areas include women and Judaism, Jewish law and ethics, and women and religion.

Jewish feminist activism

From the early 1970s she promoted women's greater participation in Jewish religious and communal life. In 1988 Joseph acted as one of the founding members of

Women of the Wall Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, ''Neshot HaKotel'') is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, in a fashi ...

, where, alongside

Anat Hoffman Anat Hoffman (; born April 2, 1954) is an Israeli activist and the former executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, also known as IRAC. She is the director and founding member of Nashot HaKotel, also known as Women of the Wall. ...

and other notable Israeli and Jewish feminists, she carried a Torah to the women's section of the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

. She is a member of the advisory board of Kol ha-Isha: A Feminist House of Study in Jerusalem, sponsored by the Conservative movement. Joseph has been particularly active in the issue of ''

agunot An aguna or agunah (, plural: , ''ʿaḡunoṯ'') is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her marriage as determined by traditional halakha (Jewish law). The classic case is a man who has left on a journey and has not returned or has gone into battle ...

,'' women denied divorce. As a founding member of the Canadian Coalition of Jewish Women for the ''Get'', she successfully worked with the Jewish community and the Canadian Federal Government to pass a law in 1990 (Divorce Act, ch.18, 21.1) that would protect Jewish women in difficult divorce situations and aid them in their pursuit of a

Jewish divorce A , ghet, or ''gett'' (; , plural ) is a document in Jewish religious law which effectuates a divorce between a Jewish couple. The term is also used to refer to the divorce itself. The ''get'' is a 12-line document written in Aramaic. The re ...

. Following the Canadian success, Joseph helped form the International Coalition for Agunah Rights, an international coalition of women's groups advocating for ''agunot''.

Honours and awards

Joseph won the Leo Wasserman Prize from the American Jewish Historical Society for the best article of 1995 in the journal American Jewish History. She was recognized by the National Council of Jewish Women (Montreal chapter), which chose her as its Woman of Distinction in 1998; by the Montreal Jewish community, which presented her with the Jacob Zipper Education Award in 2000; and by Jewish Women International, from which she received the Leading Light, Woman of the Year Award in 2002. Joseph was a recipient of a

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; , CRSH), often colloquially pronounced 'shirk' (), is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and training in the humani ...

research grant on gender and identity in the

Iraqi Jewish The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...

Community of Montreal. She was the 2019 recipient of the Louis Rosenberg Canadian Jewish Studies Distinguished Service Award.

References

External links

Jewish Women's Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Norma 1944 births Living people Jewish Canadian activists Academics from Brooklyn Activists from Brooklyn Academic staff of Concordia University Concordia University alumni Brooklyn College alumni City University of New York alumni Canadian people of American-Jewish descent American emigrants to Canada Orthodox Jewish feminists Jewish women activists Canadian Orthodox Jews American Orthodox Jews Jews from New York City Jewish academics