Many pundits have already designated 2018 “the year of the woman.”

After all, a record number of women are running for the Senate and the House in November.

And outside of the political sphere, women everywhere are demonstrating their might, demanding their voices be heard, speaking truth to power, and ultimately, changing the world.

We need look no further than the pages of this magazine each month to see extraordinary women repairing the world. And this month is no different. In fact, this particular issue is chock-full of stories of Jewish women making a difference in our own community and beyond.

While, in the pages that follow, you’ll read profiles of many extraordinary women, you’ll see no section devoted to women — and that’s intentional. A retired JUF News editor and a sage mentor of mine used to say she hated the notion of devoting one chunk of the magazine to women. You see, back in the day, publications would publish inserts just for women — often called something generic like “Women’s News.” My mentor thought it patronizing to restrict half the human population to one space or section.

Indeed, we women are too powerful, too influential, and too ubiquitous to be contained.

So, in adherence to her wisdom, JUF News doesn’t have a “Just for Women” section. Instead, this month we focus on “Jewish Travel,” a theme relevant to women and men alike.

But, maybe it’s not pure coincidence that so many of the stories throughout this issue, focusing on global themes, in fact, do chronicle extraordinary women often journeying across the world to make change.

This month, you’ll read about some of these courageous and dedicated women repairing our broken world abroad — as well as right here in our own backyard.

Women like Chicago Jewish treasure Andrea R. Yablon, winner of this year’s Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award, Federation’s highest honor bestowed each year at the Annual Meeting. Longtime leaders in the community, Yablon and her late husband, Marshall, dedicated themselves to the welfare of the Jewish people here at home, in Israel, in Ukraine, and elsewhere. President of the healthcare consulting firm she founded with Marshall nearly 40 years ago, Yablon was a pioneer for her time in both the secular and Jewish world, even having a bat mitzvah, something few girls of her generation did.

Yablon’s acceptance speech resonated with me — a woman of a younger generation, faced with fewer glass ceilings to break than she had. “My commitment to tzedakah as well as to Jewish communal activity,” she said, “gives meaning to my life and is my responsibility as part of the Jewish people.”

There’s no doubt that Yablon, who cares deeply about transmitting Jewish values to the next generation — l’dor v’dor — would certainly be impressed with Sophie Draluck, our youngest trailblazer — just 16 — featured in these pages.

Not too long ago, Draluck was shocked to learn that many women and girls in Africa lack access to sanitary products. Draluck — a Diller Teen Fellow — further discovered that many impoverished women and girls right here in Chicago can’t afford sanitary supplies either. So, she transformed her outrage into action, raising funds and collecting supplies for those in need.

We profile powerhouse Ruth Messinger, the former longtime CEO of the American Jewish World Service and a champion of human rights in the developing world. Named by The Jerusalem Post as the sixth most influential Jew in the world, Messinger will impart leadership lessons to an audience at Spertus this month.

We also share the story of Lara Logan, a CBS News reporter who spoke at this year’s JUF Lion Luncheon. The award-winning war correspondent, most famous for her coverage of the Arab Spring, recounted the traumatic events leading up to her brutal rape in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Though she herself is not Jewish, Logan’s story of resilience struck a chord with the women at the Lion Luncheon. She considers her story “a gift,” she told them, if it can help others find healing in their own lives.

And, you’ll meet Ariella Rada, a diplomat and former commander in the Israel Defense Forces, who recently joined the Chicago team of the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest. As a little girl, Rada and her family fled war-torn Ethiopia and made aliyah, finding better Jewish lives for themselves in the land of Israel.

So, after reading about all these incredible women, maybe we’ll call the newly-minted Jewish year — 5779 — the “Year of the Woman” too.

Then again, as my mentor would remind us, we can’t be confined to just one year.

Because isn’t every year our year?