Every year, the JFSJ presents Women of Valor Awards to Jewish women who have distinguished themselves in social justice work, through action, philanthropy and values. On April 5, the ceremony, held for the first time in Boston, honored local women Judith Obermayer, Shulamit Reinharz and Hannah Yarmolinsky.

“We’re excited to hold the 11^th annual award celebration in Boston, after ten years in New York City,” said JFSJ President and CEO Simon Greer. “Boston has a rich legacy of social justice and women’s leadership, and this city has contributed so much to the growth of the organization.”

The Jewish Fund for Justice was established in 1984, with a mission to combine tzedakah (righteous giving) and tikkun olam (repair of the world) through grantmaking, technical assistance and education. Last year, the group merged with The Shefa Fund to form a broad, national Jewish organization solely committed to social change philanthropy and fighting poverty in America. At present, 27 staff members in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles offices manage a 3 million dollar funding allotment. The dinner was the organization’s first major event.

“I come from a family where Judaism and social justice were inextricably linked, where Martin Luther King and Goodman, Schwermer and Chaney were heroes,“ said Greer at the Westin. “At the end of the day, to be Jewish means that you side with the underdog,“ he added. “We’ve been insiders and outsiders, and that is something Jews bring to our social justice work as a unique perspective.”

At a discussion forum and in individual remarks, recipients shared heartfelt observations prior to accepting their awards. “The only reason that my parents survived the Holocaust was that there was an underground,“ said Reinharz. “If people can be organized, things can happen, including saving lives.”

Reinharz has focused upon Jewish women in society as well as on community development and student empowerment. She has authored and edited ten books and over 60 articles.

“For the last 20 years or so, I have devoted a lot of my energy to bringing the stories of women’s lives out of obscurity,” said Reinharz, who regards the early 19^th century social scientist and journalist Harriet Martineau as the first sociologist, and Manya Wilbushewitz Shohat, the founder of the first kibbutz, as critical to the history of Israel. She has also emphasized the role of American Jewish women in the American Zionist movement. “I have tried to create a new model of what it means to be a woman,” she said, “not one of deficits but one of assets and aptitudes.“

At Brandeis, Reinharz created programs for the Prevention of Violence against Women and Children, and on Women and Health. The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, which she launched in 1997 in partnership with Hadassah, publishes books, journals and conducts research on Jewish women around the world. In 2001, she created the Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC), which now has 70 scholars. “I love going to work every day,“ she said, “and if I get an award for doing what I like to do, than perhaps that can serve as an inspiration for some people.”

“The Jewish Funds for Justice is a kindred project,” she added.

“The passion for me is that there are people out there that need help,“ said Hannah Yarmolinsky, a fourteen-year-old student at Newton South High School. Yarmolinsky has worked with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) and through Temple Israel to address issues including affordable housing, healthcare and working conditions at nursing homes.

“This is the first time we’ve honored a teenager,” Greer said, noting that this has opened up their work to future generations.

“I am profoundly grateful for this award, both for the wonderful honor bestowed on me and for the opportunity to reach a broader community about the work of JFSJ,“ said Obermayer. “I believe that the new organization is much greater than the sum of its parts, and will be able to make a real difference.“ Pictures of the Katrina damage, she noted, spelled out how much work is to be done, not just in New Orleans, but nationwide.

Obermayer’s social justice record is longstanding. She chairs a JCRC committee on economic development investment, helped found and co-chairs the AJC’s Black Jewish Economic Roundtable, and is Treasurer and an Executive Board Member for JFSJ as well as the Jewish Vocational Service. She continues to provide economic development support to women and minority entrepreneurs.

“There is a lens through which you see the world,” said Rabbi Zecher to the three honorees. “You know that in your heart, something is informing you.”

In Boston, the Brazilian Immigrant Center received a 2005 grant, as did Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, which campaigns for fair labor practices, the Boston-area Youth Organizing Project, the Metrowest Interfaith Communities Acting for Hope (MICAH), and Tekiah: A Call to Action. The Greater Boston Synagogue Organizing Project, said Greer, “helps synagogue members work for fairness and equality within the broader community.“ He spoke of adapting and exporting “the Boston model” to other cities. JFSJ is also launching “Just Congregations,” a national program of congregation-based organizing, to be directed by Rabbi Jonah Pesner, formerly of Temple Israel, in conjunction with the Union for Reform Judaism.

“We are very proud of our honorees, who have distinguished themselves as individuals who have made a difference in the lives of Boston’s least powerful residents,” said Greer.

For information, or to donate to JFSJ’s work, please visit www.jfjustice.org or call 212-213-2113.