Jewfem Blog

I don’t think I have ever felt this depressed the morning after an election. I simply cannot believe that Green Movement-Meimad did not get one seat. Not one seat! I cannot believe Rabbi Michael Melchior, the only man who has started to build a real vision for the future of Israel, one that is not just about security but about who we are as a people, a man who stands in his rabbinical attire and has the courage and foresight to say that a country that does not feed the poor and look after the environment is not a Jewish state – that he’s now out of the Knesset. I’m trying to wrap my head around this, and it’s giving me a migraine.

The incoming Knesset, if all remains as it stands today, will have 21 women, the highest ever in Israeli history, or 17.5% total. This puts Israel at 68th in the world, along with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, slightly behind the Sudan and Lithuania, but remarkably just slightly ahead of the Unites States, which stands in 69th place with 75 Congresswomen and 17 Senators, or 17.4% and 17.2% female representation, respectfully. This is an  improvement over 82nd place in the world, which is where we stood just yesterday.

Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi who was recommended for indictment by Attorney General Meni Mazuz, is cleared to be appointed as Av Beit Din, the highest post in the rabbinical court system in Israel. The Committee on the Appointment of Judges had made this proclamation and was all set to move forward, but an organization called Ometz, represented by attorney Boaz Arad, protested to the Supreme court to undo the appointment. Unfortunately, yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Committee for the Appointment of Judges. "Metzger's questionable morality makes him unfit for such a position as head judge," Arad told Ynet.

The fact that there is actually a woman running for Prime Minister has apparently gone unnoticed by those in charge of planning the future of the Prime Minister's Office. Today's Yediyot Aharonot reports that in the "White House of Israel" structure being planned in Jerusalem over the coming years, a massive edifice that combines the Prime Minister's residence and office, there will be "an elaborate kitchen for the First Lady" [mitbah lagveret harishona].

Printed in the Jerusalem Post, 13 March, 2009 "Women, stop crying! Calm down! No shouting. Control yourselves. We can't hear the eulogies with you going on like this." This is what the rabbis of Yavne have to say to women at funerals. "Oranit" was at a family funeral recently where women were not only forbidden from approaching the grave, but were forbidden from crying. "Some religious women of my family repeated what the cemetery woman had said," Oranit recalled. "Some said, 'If it's forbidden, it's forbidden. Let us calm down.' Others said, "We must not harm the sanctity of the dead. Women should not come near the graves. It will damage our wombs." The religious world is very creative at finding new and unthinkable ways to be cruel to women. This one, like so many others, is entrenched in religious powers that be, justified with a pseudo-religious language that asks women to sacrifice their entire selves for the sake of "the community", or in this case, "the city." According to Oranit, in Yavne, the rabbis have declared that due to a "high rate of deaths of young people in Yavne, we have vowed that women will not approach the grave during the burial - and that would be the Tikkun (healing) of Yavne," and that women are impure "because we menstruate and according to Jewish religion weare prohibited from walking amongst the graves." When will this horrible absurdity end? How can we fight this? Read Oranit's article on the Kolech website, in Hebrew or in English

"Women, stop crying! Calm down! No shouting. Control yourselves. We can't hear the eulogies with you going on like this." This is what the rabbis of Yavne have to say to women at funerals. "Oranit" was at a family funeral recently where women were not only forbidden from approaching the grave, but were forbidden from crying. "Some religious women of my family repeated what the cemetery woman had said," Oranit recalled. "Some said, 'If it's forbidden, it's forbidden. Let us calm down.' Others said, "We must not harm the sanctity of the dead. Women should not come near the graves. It will damage our wombs." The religious world is very creative at finding new and unthinkable ways to be cruel to women. This one, like so many others, is entrenched in religious powers that be, justified with a pseudo-religious language that asks women to sacrifice their entire selves for the sake of "the community", or in this case, "the city." According to Oranit, in Yavne, the rabbis have declared that due to a "high rate of deaths of young people in Yavne, we have vowed that women will not approach the grave during the burial - and that would be the Tikkun (healing) of Yavne," and that women are impure "because we menstruate and according to Jewish religion weare prohibited from walking amongst the graves." When will this horrible absurdity end? How can we fight this? Read Oranit's article on the Kolech website, in Hebrew or in English Printed in the Jerusalem Post, 13 March, 2009

The latest round of election commercials is particularly depressing....After watching this whole election production, I found myself really jealous of Americans. They had two years of vetting their candidates, of nitpicking every line of every policy platform, of dozens of debates and expert analysis on every significant issue including health care, economics, social policy, education, and yes, foreign affairs and defense. In they end, they now have a leader who is serious, smart, professional, and surrounded by people who worked really hard to get to where they are. What do we get? Two weeks of bad campaigns and it’s anyone’s guess who these people who are supposedly leading us, what they really believe, what they are capable of, whose wisdom they will rely on, and what they intend to do once in power. I feel like our country is being run by accident.

Every year, Mavoi Satum (lit., the Dead End), helps dozens of agunot and mesuravot get out of their unwanted marriages through a unique combination of legal and social services along with empowerment programs to help women rebuild their lives and their identities. Now it's our turn to do our part. Their annual fundraiser is coming up in February: the 11th annual Supper Quiz coordinated by the tireless and dedicated volunteer, Symma Freedman. Hundreds of homes have participated in this event over the years. Now, Mavoi Satum is looking for more homes to host in 2009. It has minimal effort -- inviting some friends for a night of fun-- but the impact is enormous. Below is an essay by Susie Komar about her experiences with the event. To learn more, contact Symma Freedman at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Helping chained women - no trivial matter! By Susie Komar What could there be in common between L, a gentle women in her early thirties trapped in an abusive marriage, and a gallery of Jewish sports heroes? Or between T, a young mother of two left with heavy debts after her violent husband left the country, and quotations from cartoon characters?

After watching the first official round of election broadcasts tonight, one thing is clear: a true Israeli is a man. The absence of women in positions of power, as announcers, and as opinion makers is only piece of the masculinity of Israeli culture. The entire discourse places women as outsider, and as lesser actors: less powerful, less intelligent, less central, less active, less knowing, in short, less. The most glaring example of this is undoubtedly the Likud’s attack on Livni, “Gadol aleha” – it’s too much for her. This is the ultimate diminishing of women, the infantalizing, a more aggressive version of the age-old “Don’t worry your pretty littlehead about it.” Women cannot handle the “real” work of politics. Particularly in the aftermath of the Gaza war, this discourse of women not being "real" leaders because they are not "real" men has returned with a vengeance. There is an unequivocal connection between the war, Barak's increase in numbers and Livni's reduction in numbers. The connection, of course, is gender. The discourse of leader as man, of citizen as man, is in full swing.

Yudit Sidikman, Judo master -- Kyu 9 (White belt) – Shotokan Karate, Black Belt Third Dan-Judo -- specializes inhelping women strengthen their inner resolve through self-defense. A resident of Efrat, she has been teaching for over 11 years, and is one of the founders of El Halev, a women's and girl's martial arts and self defense institution in Jerusalem. Here she shares some of the vibrant ideas that guide her work: [You can also read about this on the Kolech English blog, Jewish Women's Voice] I am one of the founders of EL HALEV and I am a self defense instructor. The reason that I am both of these things is that I truly believe in a woman's right and ability to protect herself. I believe that no matter what her size, shape or background every woman deserves to learn verbal and physical self-defense tools and strategies that could save her life.