March 7, 2012-- Hadarat Nashim
While Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu debate the fate of the Middle East--whether or not and when to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities--back home in Israel another kind of war is being waged: the one about the role of women in an increasingly ultra-orthodox religious environment.
A number of recent incidents there have brought this to full public attention. Ironically, not unlike here in the United States where Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, all the Republican presidential candidates, and every GOP senator with the exception of Olympia Snow have signed on to limit medical coverage for women's access to contraception. (Note--no one is talking about not having medical insurance pay for vasectomies.)
In Israel, so similar to what transpired recently in the U.S. Congress, at a women's health and Jewish law conference, women were barred from speaking from the podium; ultra-orthodox men spat on an 8-year-old girl who they deemed was immodestly dressed (this could have meant her skirt ended only at mid-calf); the chief rabbi of the army air force resigned because the army refused to give in to his demands that religiously-orthodox soldiers should be allowed to opt out of participating in army-sponsored events where women were allowed to sing on stage, including singing the national anthem; posters appeared all over the city depicting the Jerusalem police chief as Hitler because he instructed bus lines with mixed male and female seating to drive through orthodox neighborhoods; and vandals blacked out the faces of all women whose images appeared on publicly displayed advertising posters.
This movement even has a high-toned new phrase--hadaret nashim, which is Hebrew for "the exclusion of women"-- and it is being hotly debated.
The ultra-orthodox, or Haredim, who deny the legitimacy of the state of Israel--to them it will not exist until their version of the Messiah appears--have nonetheless becoming an increasingly powerful force in the Israeli government. Without their support in the Knesset, Netanyahu would not have the votes needed to have been elected prime minister. Their influence derives from their high birth rate (on average ultra-orthodox couples have seven children) and as a result now number more than one million in a total population of 7.8 million.
In addition, the Haredim do not contribute proportionately to the Israeli economy, nor do most of their young people serve in the military. Also, the government offers direct per-child subsidies to large families, which constitutes a huge burden on Israeli taxpayers. And since the community places Torah study above all other activities . . . allowable only for men, few have have jobs and thus the unemployment rate for men is over 60 percent.
Sharia is coming to israel and orthodox Jews, not Islamists, are leading the effort. Though they haven't yet gotten around to calling women who use contraception prostitutes and sluts.
A number of recent incidents there have brought this to full public attention. Ironically, not unlike here in the United States where Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, all the Republican presidential candidates, and every GOP senator with the exception of Olympia Snow have signed on to limit medical coverage for women's access to contraception. (Note--no one is talking about not having medical insurance pay for vasectomies.)
In Israel, so similar to what transpired recently in the U.S. Congress, at a women's health and Jewish law conference, women were barred from speaking from the podium; ultra-orthodox men spat on an 8-year-old girl who they deemed was immodestly dressed (this could have meant her skirt ended only at mid-calf); the chief rabbi of the army air force resigned because the army refused to give in to his demands that religiously-orthodox soldiers should be allowed to opt out of participating in army-sponsored events where women were allowed to sing on stage, including singing the national anthem; posters appeared all over the city depicting the Jerusalem police chief as Hitler because he instructed bus lines with mixed male and female seating to drive through orthodox neighborhoods; and vandals blacked out the faces of all women whose images appeared on publicly displayed advertising posters.
This movement even has a high-toned new phrase--hadaret nashim, which is Hebrew for "the exclusion of women"-- and it is being hotly debated.
The ultra-orthodox, or Haredim, who deny the legitimacy of the state of Israel--to them it will not exist until their version of the Messiah appears--have nonetheless becoming an increasingly powerful force in the Israeli government. Without their support in the Knesset, Netanyahu would not have the votes needed to have been elected prime minister. Their influence derives from their high birth rate (on average ultra-orthodox couples have seven children) and as a result now number more than one million in a total population of 7.8 million.
In addition, the Haredim do not contribute proportionately to the Israeli economy, nor do most of their young people serve in the military. Also, the government offers direct per-child subsidies to large families, which constitutes a huge burden on Israeli taxpayers. And since the community places Torah study above all other activities . . . allowable only for men, few have have jobs and thus the unemployment rate for men is over 60 percent.
Sharia is coming to israel and orthodox Jews, not Islamists, are leading the effort. Though they haven't yet gotten around to calling women who use contraception prostitutes and sluts.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:29 AM
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