In 1890 Hannah Greenebaum Solomon, a young Jewish social activist from a wealthy Chicago family, was appointed to a committee to plan the 1893 World Parliament of Religions to be held at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In addition to helping ensure a wide presence of women and Jewish representatives, Solomon also organized a Jewish Women's Congress to be held at the same time as the Parliament. That meeting established the National Council of Jewish Women, and Solomon served as its first president from 1893 to 1905.

Still going strong 115 years later (and without even a name change), NCJW is back in Chicago this year for its 44th national convention, which takes place March 9 to 11 at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel in downtown Chicago.

Since the organization holds a national convention only once every three years, each convention, where policy is set for the next three years, becomes highly important. This year's is no exception.

In some ways, NCJW is a very different organization from the one that Solomon founded. In other ways, it's very much the same. It's more the times that have changed, as NCJW's list of accomplishments reflects.

In the 1890s and early 1900s the organization established "Sabbath schools" in communities without synagogues; advocated for children in court proceedings; provided vocational training for children; established "penny lunch programs" in public schools; advocated successfully for the passage of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote; and more.

During and after World War I, NCJW teamed with the Red Cross to raise $4 million for the relief of populations suffering due to the war and advocated for America's entrance into the League of Nations. In the 1950s and '60s the organization launched an initiative designed to protect civil liberties during the McCarthy era and expanded its overseas scholarship programs. By the 1970s and '80s members published the first nationwide survey of day care facilities as well as a study of foster children, became involved in child abuse prevention and celebrated the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Between 1990 and 2000 NCJW increased its advocacy activities at all levels of government, launched an action alert network, started a program to support organizations serving at-risk children in Israel, participated in state and national anti-gun-violence Million Mom Marches, and more.

At the upcoming 2008 convention the organization will discuss current and future campaigns involving such issues as helping women gain access to contraceptive information; advocating for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education in public schools; and working to ensure that lifetime judicial appointees to the federal bench uphold women's right to reproductive choice.

Although the issues may be different, the organization's basic mission has changed little since Hannah Solomon refused to restrict her involvement to serving tea to the men and formed a women's organization instead. As set forth in a statement of national priorities, that mission involves advancing the "status and well-being of women, children and families"; enhancing the quality of Jewish life; ensuring and advancing individual and civil rights; and supporting "a secure Israel and the well-being of all its people."

As the principles attest, NCJW has something of a dual nature. It's a Jewish organization that works for social justice for women and families - not just Jewish ones - in the United States and Israel.

But there's no contradiction here, says Carole Levine, an Evanston woman who has served as a national board member for the last six years and has been involved in the national organization and her local section in many different capacities for 28 years. (NCJW chapters are called sections; there are four in the metropolitan Chicago area.)

"The Jewish piece is that everything we do is based on Jewish values," Levine says. "We go back to those Jewish values as we take positions. We're not a religious organization, but we're a Jewish organization. Our Jewish faith and values underlie all of our positions."

She adds that sometimes the organization will work around specifically Jewish issues, such as hate crimes in the United States and segregation of women on buses in Israel.

"In our mission statement, we say that we are inspired by Jewish values," says Cindy Wolfson, the Illinois state public affairs chair. Those values include "taking care of the less fortunate, making sure everyone is treated fairly." In Israel, NCJW has funded initiatives to further Jewish and Arab cooperation in a number of areas, established the Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel Aviv University, and "has been very vocal about women having the right to have a Jewish divorce," Wolfson says.

Levine, whose national board position is as public policy chair, frames NCJW as "the premier Jewish women's social action organization. Over our 115-year history we've been at the forefront of social change, women's rights, reproductive choice, children's issues, issues around immigration." In the organization's birthplace of Chicago, "there is an incredibly rich history of work on these kinds of issues here," she says.

One example: When some Illinois pharmacists refused to fill prescriptions for certain contraceptives, "we were standing side by side (with other organizations) urging the governor to take action so women could get what they need," Levine says.

NCJW could get involved quickly because of the organization's flexible structure, she says. "We operate by a set of principles, broad enabling statements that allow us to take action on issues and topics. They are not specific to a piece of legislation. Resolutions around reproductive choice," for example, "were broad enough so we could take action" on the pharmacy issue.

"Our goal is not to have massive, long, encumbering resolutions but to enable our membership to act on things. We are very proud that all of our resolutions fit into a brochure. They're not pages and pages long," Levine says.

At each convention, she explains, the membership votes on new resolutions, which will serve as the organization's policy guide for the next three years and determine what its primary focus will be.

"Voting on national resolutions is the process that got me hooked on this organization," Levine says. "I went to my first national convention in Chicago and listened to some of the brightest, most capable women discuss back and forth, argue with each other, then reach agreement. I have always loved the resolution process, because in terms of social action and advocacy everything flows from these resolutions."

This year, proposed resolutions include endorsements for comprehensive sex education in public schools; affordable and accessible universal health care coverage; gun control policies; participation of Jewish women in all aspects of Jewish life; laws that provide equal rights for same-sex couples; immigration laws that facilitate a path to legal status; the abolition of the death penalty; the elimination of genocide and human trafficking; greater empowerment for women in Israel; the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; and more.

In addition, the convention - designed, in the words of national president Phyllis Snyder, to "make our mark on the future" - will include numerous speakers, workshops and training sessions and special events, including a dinner celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary. Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Susan Weidman Schneider, founder and editor-in-chief of Lilith magazine, will receive the "Woman Who Dared" Awards, and Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, direction of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, will serve as scholar-in-residence.

A kind of convention-within-a-convention will be an Israel plenary focusing on the Jewish state's 60th anniversary. Members will look at the NCJW's successes there in the past 60 years and plan for the future.

Working to advance the organization's goals in Israel "is one of our major core missions," according to Donna Gutman, an incoming board member from Chicago. "For those who are too young to have been around and know what happened 60 years ago - and that's most of us -- this will be a big presentation," she says. "It has become such an important component" of the organization's mission.

Also, beginning with this convention, the organization is paring the size of its board (from 36 to 19) and officers (from 10 to seven), a move designed to increase efficiency and speed in advocating for women, children and families, Levine says.

The convention "is a good way of charging people up," according to Robin Frank, a member from Flossmoor who will become the new national recording secretary at the event. "And having it in Chicago is all the more special since we started here." Participating in voting on resolutions, she says, send a message to members that "your thoughts matter."

Gutman is particularly eager to attend the convention because "basically we do a lot of idea sharing, and idea sharing is so key for women, to really engage with each other, to see what's working for them, what are the challenges and the needs." The convention, she says, is "a shot of steroids; we re-energize each other."

One of the challenges she describes gave rise to NCJW's newest campaign. It will receive much attention at the convention, with the opening session devoted to it. It's called Plan A: NCJW's Campaign for Contraceptive Access, and it's designed to "educate and empower individuals to advocate for women's universal access to contraceptive information and health services," according to the organization's Web site.

The site goes on to say that Plan A "is poised to help individuals and groups stand up and speak out" against "an extreme religious minority (that) is increasingly influencing policy and practices - spreading misinformation, blocking women's access, and signaling that access to complete and accurate information and to safe and effective contraceptive options can no longer be taken for granted."

Programs have already been implemented at the grassroots level, including some in Chicago, Levine says. They address issues of access to contraception for low-income women and others as well as issues of sex education in schools - a separate but closely related issue. In this area, NCJW has devised a survey members can use to find out the policies of various public school districts..

"It's kind of shocking to find out how different the curricula is" from district to district, in Illinois and elsewhere, Wolfson says. "The federal government provides $7 million for abstinence-only sex education, and we are working with other organizations to get Illinois to refuse that money. This has been going on for a while and it's hard (for school districts) to turn down free money," she says.

She adds that there is wide variation in district policies and some Illinois districts already have abstinence-only education, which NCJW opposes. The way that has come about "is insidious and sneaky," she says. "When they disperse funds for abstinence-only education, they can go to a school and give them money to teach sex education. That's a nice thing for schools to hear and a lot say OK."

NCJW is currently working in coalition with Planned Parenthood and a number of other organizations to pressure the governor to refuse such funds. In addition, Wolfson says, a bill will soon be introduced into the state legislature requiring schools to teach "comprehensive, medically adequate" sex education, which NCJW will support.

"We're one organization among many that might be working on an issue; it takes all of us together to get things moving," Wolfson says.

Another important initiative that will be spotlighted at the convention is called BenchMark. It's designed to "ensure that judges appointed to the federal bench will maintain and uphold a woman's right to reproductive choice," Levine says.

The campaign started four years ago but is still ongoing. "We have an administration that's trying to push through more and more judicial nominees who aren't qualified," she says. She adds that surveys show that 92 percent of the Jewish community is pro-choice.

Right now, NCJW is asking members to write to their senators, who confirm or reject nominees to the federal bench, about Richard Honaker, a nominee to the U.S. District Court from Wyoming whose record "reveals a disturbing pattern of hostility toward reproductive freedom and opposition to the wall separating religion and state" - another key issue for the organization - according to the NCJW Web site.

The site also ranks judicial circuits on their record of protection of reproductive rights; the 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, receives a grade of D.

With so many Jewish organizations, women's organizations, and Jewish women's organizations, why choose NCJW? Its passionate supporters say it's unlike any other group for those who embrace its focus and message.

Robin Frank, the new national recording secretary, says she originally became involved because "they stand for what I believe in. It's not only pro-choice. They're for women, children and families, here and in Israel. I like the advocacy they do."

Frank, the former president of the South Cook Section in her Homewood-Flossmoor area, recently visited Israel and saw firsthand some of the programs the organization promotes and funds, such as the gender studies chair at Tel Aviv University, which she proclaims "fabulous, the only gender studies program in the Middle East."

"I just believe in what the organization does," she says. "The other Jewish women's organizations are wonderful, but some are more focused on Israel or Eastern Europe. We seem to be more global. We touch more lives with what we do and how we do it. It gives you the opportunity to be hands-on, to write your senator, to do advocacy, or to be philanthropic if that's what you want to do."

She is deeply honored, she says, to be chosen for the national position, "honored that they felt I was ready for that and that it gives me the opportunity to have my voice heard."

Carole Levine, too, says that even after many years of being active in NCJW, she is still impressed that the organization gives members the opportunity to do so much grassroots advocacy and community service.

"Anyone can sign up for action alerts on issues, and when an alert comes through, in less than 30 minutes you can get an e-mail on that issue to your senators or congressmen, whether it's about reproductive choice, civil rights or human rights. Some have even gone to the Knesset and the prime minister in Israel."

She's quick to note that as a non-profit organization NCJW can't endorse candidates for public office. "We're extremely careful about that," she says, noting that at the convention, during a "Promote the Vote, Protect the Vote" session, "there will not be a mention of a candidate. We work very hard with sections across the country to make sure they're following that," she says.

Recalling the NCJW's origins and Hannah Solomon's refusal to serve in a subsidiary role, Levine says that "I can't tell you that our mission is drastically different, but over many years there have been changes in laws and tactics. That's basically what's changed."

So, too, has the role of women - it's doubtful that Hannah ever envisioned that one of her gender could become president. To that end, Levine says, "the fact that women have more power has really enhanced our ability to move forward. All of our rights are continuously threatened. We have a generation and a half of young women who have never known what it means to be without certain rights, and those rights are threatened."

In Illinois alone, she says, "there will be introduced anywhere from five to 10 anti-choice bills that will make it harder and harder for women even to have access to contraception. There is this entire generation of women 30 and younger and I can't tell you they really understand that. It's never been an issue for them."

It's the same situation, she says, with voting rights. "In the 2004 election how many young single women just didn't vote? That in itself says, wait a minute, we make up more than 50 percent of the population and we're struggling to get women elected to political positions. We have a long way to go."

To Levine, that means that the organization is needed now more than ever. "There's never been a time when NCJW could sit back and breathe a sigh of relief and say, we're done," she says. "We need to continue to work, to build, to move forward on behalf of women, children and families."

Donna Gutman, the incoming board member, says NCJW asks "what are the needs?" and when members find a need in a community, "we work toward bettering it. Improving the quality of life for women, children and families is the banner that goes over the tops of our heads when we create new programs."

She likes that the organization "looks at root causes. We don't put a Band-Aid on, we go into surgery and remove the organ that's hurting the whole body.

"NCJW women understand how powerful they can be to create social change and make the world a better place," she says. "They don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk. You can change one little thing and make a big difference. It's like throwing the pebble in the water and seeing how far it goes."