Rabbi Shoshana’s Sermon 9/4/2026

Dolly Parton, singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist

Gloria Steinem, journalist and icon of feminism 1934-2026

I hope you enjoyed the Torah reading this evening. You will get to hear it once again in a little more than two weeks: for many decades, the Reform movement has used this passage and the ones before it as the Torah reading for Yom Kippur morning, replacing the traditional instructions for the Yom Kippur sacrifice. I think it is the best possible reading for that sacred day, issuing to each of us an invitation to choose the path of life each and every day.

          This week, I’m remembering two women who did exactly that. Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem were about as different as two American women could be, but each of them taught powerful lessons about what it means to live life fully. 

          Gloria Steinem’s legacy is huge. She was a writer and journalist who felt more comfortable listening than speaking. But in the end, she learned to stand up, and her leadership was instrumental in helping advance women’s equality in the United States. She was notable for how much she prioritized the inclusion of all women within the feminist movement, countering the bias towards middle class white women that had previous dominated. I was touched by the article written by Orthodox rabbi Daphne Lazar Price that appeared on the Times of Israel website about the impact Gloria Steinem had on her life. One of her key takeaways from Steinem’s works was this one: if you don’t see yourself in the room, the room needs to change. As reported on National Public Radio, Gloria Steinem insisted on participating in events only if they included women of color as well. She forced the rooms to change. Maharat Price noted that women are rarely invited in; we often have to push our way in and face the opposition that results from being pushy. Gloria Steinem was gloriously pushy, and her drive cleared the way for women leaders like me.

          Over the last two days, I’ve come to a humbling realization: it is thanks to women like Gloria Steinem that, by the time I reached adulthood, I faced many fewer of the stumbling blocks that women of previous generations had had to deal with. I could get a credit card in my name and buy a car or even a house. Laws existed to protect me from sexual discrimination, harassment, or worse. I have seen the impact that her life’s work had on women twenty years older than me—many of whom are here tonight in person and on Zoom. My life has been immeasurably easier because of your hard work. 

          When Dolly Parton passed away on August 25, she was acclaimed for her beautiful voice, for the lyrical songs she wrote, and for her sense of style and sass. But even more than that, she was praised for what she did when she wasn’t on stage, for her innate kindness, empathy, and drive to make people’s lives better. That translated into a lifetime of charitable work which transformed hundreds of thousands of lives. For many years, she worked intensively to improve the lives of young people in impoverished Sevier County in eastern Tennessee, where she herself had grown up. She awarded cash prizes to kids who finished high school and lowered the dropout rate from 36% to only 6%. She created a scholarship fund to enable students to attend college. She provided disaster relief following both fires and floods in Tennessee. But she is best known for her foundation, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which continues to make an extraordinary impact. According to its website, the organization distributes three millions books to children under the age of five every month across five English-speaking countries. Over 330 million books have been given away since its founding. It’s hard to imagine a prouder legacy.

          Much work remains to be done. In 2022, the Supreme Court ignored nearly 50 years of legal precedents and declared that abortion was not a guaranteed freedom for women. As abortion has been outlawed in states including Indiana, women have found ourselves at a legal disadvantage and sometimes at risk for our lives. A study by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health noted that states that prohibit abortions may see as many as 9% more women dying from pregnancy complications because the life-saving medical treatments they need will terminate the pregnancy, and that is illegal. That is the extreme end of what has happened for women since a backlash against progressive values began to sweep across this country. It is very discouraging that these fights are continuing on more than fifty years after the start of the feminist movement. 

          Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library faces its own challenges. In 2025, Indiana governor Mike Braun removed the matching $6 million in funding from the Indiana budget, halving the number of books that could be distributed within this state. Charitable organizations have stepped in to help make up the shortfall, but it’s still disappointing to see our state exiting a program which has made such a difference in helping children develop literacy skills and nurture a love of reading and creativity. 

          This is the time of year when we ask ourselves big questions: Who am I? Who do I wish to be? What is my life’s work? What legacy do I wish to leave behind? In the lives of Gloria Steinem and Dolly Parton, we see women who felt that every moment should be put to use to make the lives of others better and more beautiful. May their lives inspire us in the work that we have left to do. Shabbat shalom!