The Union of Jewish Women (UJW) was a trade union and the first national Jewish women's society in Britain. The UJW was formed with the intention of bringing women's perspectives to matters of importance to the Jewish community.

Formation

The UJW was formed in 1902. Poor Russian Jewish immigrants settling in the East End of London created demand for services for this community. The UJW was formed to address issues that Jewish women faced through activism. It was inspired by the

National Union of Women Workers The National Council of Women exists to co-ordinate the voluntary efforts of women across Great Britain. Founded as the National Union of Women Workers, it said that it would "promote sympathy of thought and purpose among the women of Great Brita ...

(NUWW), which had been established in 1895. In 1900, a group of Jewish women gathered at the home of Lady Louisa de Rothschild and decided to organise the May 1902 Conference of Jewish Women.

Work

The Union declared itself to be an "all-embracing sisterhood," forming a "bond between Jewish women of all degrees and all shades of opinion, religious, social and intellectual." The Union organized a system of volunteers trained to help women seeking employment and to assist Jewish charitable institutions. Before World War I the UJW was composed primarily of upper-class women who had little contact with the working class women the organisation was created to help. The UJW had mixed success; in 1924 the Council of the

United Synagogue The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations (including 7 affiliates and 1 associate, ), comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest ...

voted against the franchise for women, though many of those individual synagogues had already agreed to support it. In order to be more effective, the UJW joined many women's organisations to promote further extension of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. The UJW dissolved in 1930.

Notable members

* Alice Model *

Eleanor Nathan Eleanor Joan Nathan, Lady Nathan (1892–1972) was a British politician and member of the London County Council (LCC) from 1928 to 1934 for the Liberal Party and from 1937 to 1948 for the Labour Party, serving the last year as the council's chair ...

* Lady Louise De Rothschild (founding member) * Nina Salaman

References

{{Reflist Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Defunct Jewish organizations Jewish organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1902 Defunct women's organizations Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom Jewish women's organizations