WUNRN
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/06/29-israel-gender-politics-religion
Israel - New Politics
of Religion & Gender
On
June 18, the Center for
Middle East Policy (CMEP) at Brookings hosted a groundbreaking discussion
exploring religion, politics, and gender in contemporary Israeli society.
The event marked the launch of a new research initiative examining important
changes in Israel’s politics and society. The discussion was moderated by CMEP
Fellow Natan Sachs, and featured
panelists Adina Bar Shalom, president and chairwoman of the Haredi College of
Jerusalem, and Member of Knesset Rachel Azaria of the Kulanu party. CMEP
Director Tamara Cofman Wittes
provided welcoming remarks and introduced CMEP’s new research initiative.
Status, opportunity, and women in the public sphere
Azaria
began by describing her experiences working to combat issues of segregation and
attempts to remove images of women from the public sphere— something she
personally experienced when running for office in Jerusalem. In Israeli society
today, Azaria noted, the loudest voice against fundamentalism is coming from
Orthodox feminism. According to Azaria, the efforts to promote women’s causes
in religious societies has also served as a bridge between Orthodox Jewish
women and Israeli Arab women, who grapple with similar challenges and have also
begun to fight for a voice in their communities.
Bar
Shalom presented her vision for improving educational opportunities for both
men and women in the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community, something she has
pioneered through her college. Previously, most ultra-Orthodox had few
opportunities for higher education, both because they lacked basic education in
key disciplines—such as math and English—and because of societal barriers to
entering mixed-gender universities. Her college offered preparatory education and
an environment constructed to suit ultra-Orthodox norms. Bar Shalom noted is
something she has been strongly criticized for from certain parts of the Haredi
community, but for which she got crucial support from her father, the late
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Bar Shalom remarked that throughout Jewish
history, ultra-Orthodox Jews were often at the height of academia and
intellectual life in their respective communities, and there is no reason that
this should not continue, she said. She firmly believes that children in the
ultra-Orthodox community need to understand the world as it is, and grow up to
have a choice between becoming rabbinical scholars— something she noted the
majority will not attain— and joining the general workforce, but in order for
that to happen they must be given the requisite tools to advance in society.
The future of women’s representation in the Knesset
Bar
Shalom said that though she chose not to run for the Knesset in the last
election, despite invitations to do so from existing parties, she hopes that in
the coming years Orthodox women will have a voice in the Knesset. Azaria noted
that in the last election there was an effort by ultra-Orthodox women to run
for the Knesset and to have their voices heard.
According
to Bar Shalom, the lack of women’s representation in the Knesset is a problem
across the political spectrum, not simply an absence of Orthodox women. Bar
Shalom stressed that increasing women’s participation in elected government
will ultimately depend on women themselves leading the charge. The majority of
the seats currently are occupied by men and they will not simply give them
up—it is up to the women to fight for them.
Gender, religion and politics in the 20th Knesset
Azaria
said she anticipates that the current coalition will likely grapple with a
number of issues on the fault lines of religion and state— including the budget
(particularly the issue of child subsidies), reforming the rabbinical courts,
the issue of certification of kashrut (Jewish religious dietary laws), and the
ongoing struggle to find a feasible legislative compromise regarding army
service for ultra-Orthodox men. However, due to the narrow coalition, Azaria
said that in regard to personal-status issues, little progress can be expected
for the time being.
On
the matter of finding the balance between religion and state, the panelists
were in agreement that religion should not be used as a means for stymieing
social progress. Azaria noted that while Israeli society is very liberal, the
religious authority is Orthodox. The challenge for Israeli society today is to
find a language for traditional, but liberal, Judaism. Azaria argued that
attempting sweeping social changes through legislation alone is not sufficient
to bring about this change. She proposed two key steps that Israeli society can
take to further this goal. The first step, according to Azaria, is for
traditional and secular Jews to take on a greater role for anything having to
do with Judaism, rather than abdicate this responsibility to the ultra-Orthodox
community, in particular by surrendering the issue to the ultra-Orthodox when
negotiating coalition agreements. The second step is for both the Orthodox and
ultra-Orthodox societies to change from within, a process that she noted is already
occurring, to some degree.
Bar Shalom remarked that Judaism is a religion to live by, not to perish by, but that for religion to thrive, its laws and traditions must be suited to the times. Those elements that work, she argued, should be adapted and what no longer works should remain in the past.