Jewfem Blog

Less than half of the eligible voters in my city exercised their electoral rights last week. The overwhelming majority of the adult population chose to stay home from the municipal elections for reasons ranging from indifference to protest, or perhaps mostly just boredom. Alongside some indications that the elections resulted in “more of the same” (such as the appalling number of women elected – only three out of 17 municipal seats in Modi’in, or 17.6%) some of the elections signaled significant shifts in Israeli ideologies.

Hinda Hoffman, a gentle, warm, thoughtful and extremely intelligent woman who I’m privileged to call friend, neighbor, and mentor, turned 66 today. She retired earlier this year from one of the most important positions at Hebrew University: academic adviser. I can honestly say that without Hinda, a woman whose quiet influence radically altered the way students are treated in her one corner of the university, I would not be where I am today.

Hinda Hoffman, a gentle, warm, thoughtful and extremely intelligent woman who I’m privileged to call friend, neighbor, and mentor, turned 66 today. She retired earlier this year from one of the most important positions at Hebrew University: academic adviser. I can honestly say that without Hinda, a woman whose quiet influence radically altered the way students are treated in her one corner of the university, I would not be where I am today.

Israel ranks 56th out of 130 countries in terms of its success in promoting gender fairness, according to the annual 2007 Gender Gap Index released this week by the World Economic Forum and Harvard and Berkley Universities. Israel trails way behind most Western countries, even behind the Philippines and Mongolia. In certain areas, Israel ranked particularly low: in salary gap, Israel ranks 119th in the world, in parliamentary representation, Israel ranks 75th, and in governmental representation overall, Israel ranks 81st.

This morning, I had the most wonderful opportunity to have a long, leisurely breakfast with two of my favorite women, Annie Eisen and Ariella Zeller. We were marking Annie's 35th birthday over coffee and omelets in the warm Modi'in air -- and I thought to myself, there is no better way to celebrate a woman's life than in the company of women friends. It was a treat, one that we ought to splurge on more often. I think about the turning points in my life, those Oprah-aha moments when I came to truly understand something new about the world and about myself, and there were always friends involved. Our friendships, when true, help us become who we are.

Reposting a 2007 essay published in the Jerusalem Report entitled "Westward Ho!" Negotiations between university staff and the treasury officially broke down this morning, so it looks like Israel is headed for another higher education strike. Ho-hum, can someone please pass the salt? The incapacitation of our educational system has become so routine that it barely even registers a headline. Over the past two years, we have had an extended teacher strike, a drawn out student strike, a semester-long senior professor strike followed by a junior lecturer strike, and a whole series of parent strikes around the country. This situation shouldreally give us pause. The educational system is, in fact, crashing. I wrote about this last year in an essay published in The Jerusalem Report. I’m reviving the essay here because the situation has only deteriorated. I say this with great sorrow, as someone who spent 13 years at Hebrew University as student and employee, holds a doctorate in education, and not least of all has four children sprawled through the educational system in Israel. The educational system in Israel is very, very depressing. I hope that the next Israeli government successfully places education as the top priority. I have some suggestions for how to do it, but I willwait until the next Education Minister is in place and then post my “Close Down the Education Ministry” post. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, here is my article about higher education in Israel: Westward Ho!

Miriam sang. Deborah sang. The women in the Temple sang. But today, in modern Israel, women are forbidden from singing, at least in public. Over the past few months, there has been an increasing number of incidents in which women have been asked not to sing in the Knesset, in the army, and in IDF and Holocaust memorial ceremonies. But some women refuse to take this quietly. Read about their singing protest on the Kolech blog, Jewish Women's Voice.

Kadima head Tzipi Livni may yet inspire me to break one of my cardinal rules: I may yet hang a nice big sign outside my house that reads Livni for Prime Minister.

I am thrilled to report that my friend Elise Rynhold is number five on the list of the local Shahar party in Modi’in. That is reason enough for me to vote for Shahar in the municipal elections in November. Elise, a dynamic, super-intelligent, activist and energetic woman, the kind of woman who knows how to get things done and has an amazing head on her shoulders, has spent a good portion of her career in the service of the Jewish people

One in Nine. That’s how many women will get breast cancer in her lifetime. It is the most common form of cancer in Israel. And it is diagnosed in 4,000 women in Israel each year. Worldwide, a woman dies from breast cancer ever 75 seconds.