In this authoritative, empathetic and ground-breaking biography, Pnina Lahav, in conversation with historian Trudy Gold, re-examines the life of Golda Meir through a feminist lens, focusing on Israel’s first and only female prime minister’s recurring role as a woman standing alone among men. The award-winning author of Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist Century returns with The Only Woman in the Room, the first book to contend with Meir’s full identity as a Jew, a Zionist leader, a founder of Israel and a woman, providing a richer portrait of her persona and legacy. She revisits the youthful encounters that forged Meir’s passion for socialist Zionism and reassesses her decision to separate from her husband and leave her children in the care of others

Despite derision from colleagues, she led in establishing Israel as a welfare state where social security, workers’ rights, and maternity leave became law, before withdrawing from politics after the disastrous Yom Kippur War. Pnina joins us online live from the US to reflect on Meir’s unique career, her complex relationship with the Israeli and American feminist movements, and the tensions between her personal and political identities.

Please note booking and registration for this event closes 10 minutes prior to the advertised start time.

If you book a ticket for this event, or any of the other digital streaming events at Jewish Book Week, you will receive a zoom link by email 24 hours before the event and a reminder email 30 minutes before the event starts.  If you have any issues accessing the link of have any queries about the event, please contact Jewish Book Week on info@jewishbookweek.com

Pnina Lahav is emerita professor of law and a member of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University. She is the author of the award-winning Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist Century. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Trudy Gold is the former C.E.O of the London Jewish Cultural Centre, and one of the founder members of the British delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. She has taught Modern Jewish History in schools and universities and for adult groups throughout the World. She has coordinated teacher training in Jewish History and Holocaust Studies in Eastern Europe and latterly in China. She is the author of The Timechart History of Jewish Civilisation and the student resources “Understanding the Holocaust” and the digital resource “Lessons of the Holocaust.”