In Israel today, there are many synagogues that incorporate the names of women. Examples in Jerusalem include Ohel Rivka and Ohel Nehama in Kiryat Shmuel, Ohel Sarah in Meah She’arim and Bet Rahel in Knesset Israel. The association of synagogues with the names of women is not a new phenomenon and has deep historical roots in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora.
What is unique in Jerusalem is the number of streets that are named after famous women in Jewish history: names such as Rivka and Zipporah from the humash; Devora and Yael from the Book of Judges; Michal, Batsheva, Avigail and Avital, four of King David’s wives, as well as his sister Zeruiah, the mother of Joab. Walking in Jerusalem, one can also find streets named for Naomi and Ruth; and for Judith after the Hanuka heroine of the Apocryphal book that bears her name (as well as after Lady Judith Montefiore). Rechov Beruria is appropriately next to the street that carries R. Meir’s name among others of the tannaitic period. The famous Jewish Queen Shlomzion (Salome Alexandra–the first woman to rule Judea and its last independent ruler) has her own street in downtown Jerusalem as does Queen Helena (Helena of Adiabne- in modern day Iraq) who converted to Judaism and came to live in Jerusalem in 40 CE. Twentieth century figures commemorated by streets include poets, Rachel, Leah Goldberg and Zelda; founder of Hadassah, Henrietta Szold; World War II heroines; and, of course, Golda Meir. One hopes that other names of Jewish women from our nation’s past and present will be attached to new Jerusalem streets in the future.
There are also places and towns in Israel that carry names of women such as Mazkeret Batya, named after the mother of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and Pardes Hana, named for his cousin. And to return to the Jerusalem area, not only is the matriarch Rachel’s name made immediate to us by Kever Rahel, but also by Rahel Imeynu Street in the German Colony and Kibbutz Ramat Rahel in Arnona. Nor should one forget the Hulda gates, the two sets of gates that are now blocked on the southern wall of the Temple Mount, named after the prophetess Hulda.