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When Gloria Steinem identified as a Jew most

September 3, 2026 · 1 min read

This story was originally published in the Forward . Click here to get the Forward’s free email newsletters delivered to your inbox.

Gloria Steinem , the journalist and organizer who became the most recognizable face of America’s modern women’s movement, died Wednesday at her New York City home. She was 92.

For more than half a century, Steinem pushed American women to imagine lives beyond the limits society had set for them. She co-founded Ms. magazine, helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus and turned phrases like “sexual harassment” from unnamed experiences into subjects of national debate.

Steinem was the daughter of a Jewish father, Leo Steinem , and a Protestant mother, Ruth Nuneviller . She was raised without much religion and generally described herself as secular, but she was unequivocal about where she stood when Jews were targeted: “Never in my life have I identified as a Christian,” she said , “but wherever there is antisemitism, I identify as a Jew.”

Her mother taught her to value her Jewish roots. Steinem told the Forward in 2015 that her father rarely discussed his heritage; it was her non-Jewish mother who presented Judaism to her as…

Source: Religion News Service · Read the full story →

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Πέτρος Λαμπρόπουλος

Her mother, who was not Jewish, taught her to respect her father's roots. This shows how important family heritage is, even when you don't grow up in the religion. At a time when anti-Semitism is rearing its head again, Steinem's stance is simple and clear.

Photini Campbell

Her mother teaching her to value her father's Jewish roots even though she wasn't Jewish herself really stuck with me. That's the kind of quiet family example that lasts. I wonder if that's what made Steinem so clear about standing with Jews whenever antisemitism showed up.