321 Jewish girls from
nine countries and 34 US states have their voices heard and matter.
Women only account for 30 percent of the leadership of Jewish communal organizations and produce less than one-third of the news media. To help change these statistics, space had to be made to create a new type of community. The Hadassah Foundation grantee organization jGirls Magazine is the first online magazine written by and for Jewish teen girls. Increasing their readership by 25 percent in the past year, jGirls reaches 20,000 readers from 60 countries.
jGirls
Magazine Editorial Board Alumnae Alyx Bernstein (left) and Sasha Hochman
(right) participate in an editorial board retreat. (Photo Credit: Shulamit Photo + Video)
Participants explore their ideas and voices through their contributions, build self-esteem, and increase their engagement in the Jewish community. Their distinctive editorial board provides 28 teens with board leadership and online curating experience.
“I felt like my voice was worthless, but now I know that I have a space where my voice can be heard. Where I can be powerful and loud without feeling like I am being judged or mocked. I want all girls to know what that feels like.”
-Alyx Bernstein,
jGirls Editorial Board Alumna and college student
A Haredi political party in Israel removes restrictions to women
running for office.
Itach Maaki members celebrate the landmark decision.
The Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) political party Agudat Yisrael, had a clause in their party’s charter that prevented women from joining the party and running for political office. Itach Maaki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice, a Hadassah Foundation grantee, managed ten women’s groups in their suit—lasting more than two years—against Agudat Yisrael. The women’s groups declared that the party promoted gender discrimination by using the word “men” when listing membership requirements.
As a result, in January 2019, the Israel High Court mandated that the party’s charter be amended to include women. The Court sent a clear message – excluding women in any political party is forbidden.
Supreme Court President Justice Esther Hayut states women must be able to obtain political party membership.
“There will not be any rules preventing acceptance of a woman as a party member… If the rules are not amended and any woman is barred from joining the party, she may petition the High Court.”
250
Israeli Jewish and Arab teens come together to discuss pressing issues
impacting their lives.
Jewish
and Arab high school girls in Israel often live in close proximity, yet they
are not afforded the opportunity to get to know one another. Thanks to grantee
partnerSHIN:The Israeli Movement for Equal Representation of Women, teen girls of
diverse backgrounds participate
in facilitated conversations about women’s rights, partake in leadership development programming, and meet
members of the Knesset.
In turn, the teens increase their
involvement in their local municipalities and become stronger advocates for
gender equality. The connections they make lead to reduced hostility, foster
respect, and create new friendships.
”When we just started the
activity, I thought that it will be nice to meet the Jewish girls. It was also
a chance to practice Hebrew as in my circles in the village we speak only
Arabic. With time I have come to appreciate the seminars and the meetings…I
became more aware of gender unjust situations and it made me determined to do
something about it. Our wonderful facilitator helped me decide my future as a young
woman.”
-Nazima Amash, SHIN program participant and high
school student
On December 10, 2019, Hadassah Foundation Board Members and guests were privileged to speak with Abby Stein, author of the recently published memoir Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman. Abby spoke with the board about the Hasidic community, her own experiences, and what it means to be a women’s foundation in 2020, as the definition of “woman” is ever-changing.
Abby Stein and the 2019 Hadassah Foundation Board of Directors
Abby began her presentation by introducing her personal background, then showing the Alma video “From Hasidic Rabbi to Transgender Activist, Abby Stein is Paving Her Own Way.” In this video, she walks around Williamsburg, where she grew up, speaking about her childhood. We then discussed the Hasidic community, the homogeneity within it, and how foreign it is from the Judaism that we know and practice.
Then, Abby described the Hasidic communities lack of acknowledgement of the transgender experience, reading the final chapter of Becoming Eve to the board. “The first thing I ever Googled was the phrase ‘boy turn into girl,’” she read. “I wasn’t expecting any results…. I thought I am not going to find anything. I am the only person in the world who would ask this question. I still have to try.” Later, she admitted that her goal, during the beginning of her advocacy, was to make the Hasidic community transphobic—at least then they would admit that there were transgender people, and transgender people living in Hasidic communities would know why they felt this way, and that they are not alone.
We also discussed gender in general. To contradict what we might assume about Judaism’s traditional reaction to gender, as well as what she had been taught in Hasidic yeshiva, Abby asked us how many genders we thought were recognized in traditional Judaism. Not one, she told us, not two, not even three, but at least six! And, she said, up to ten, depending on whose commentary you read.
To depict this diversity of gender, Abby read Mishnah Bikkurim 4:1-5 to the group:
(א) אנדוגינוס יש בו דרכים שוה לאנשים ויש בו דרכים שוה לנשים ויש בו דרכים שוה לאנשים ונשים ויש בו דרכים אינו שוה לא לאנשים ולא לנשים: (ה) רבי מאיר אומר אנדרוגינוס בריה בפני עצמה הוא ולא יכלו חכמים להכריע עליו אם הוא איש או אשה אבל טומטום אינו כן פעמים שהוא איש פעמים שהוא אשה:
(1) An Androginus (most likely - someone who has both male and female reproductive organs) is similar to men in some ways, and to women in other ways, in some ways to both, and in some ways to neither. (5) Rabbi Meir Says: Androginus is a (gender) category of its own, (because) the rabbis could not decipher whatever s/he/they is a man or a women. However a Tumtum is not so, as at times s/he/they is fully male, and at times s/he/they is fully female (but we can't tell which).
(Literal translation by Abby Stein)
This passage makes it clear—gender is not simply male and female, but requires a more nuanced view within halakha. Abby recalled her first day in her college “Intro to Gender Studies” class. The professor made it clear that gender was complex and non-binary—a common view in for 21st century scholars. But “you don’t expect it from a traditional Jewish text, and forget about Jewish for a second, people don’t expect it from a second-century text. One thing is very clear: that when it comes to gender, both within Judaism and historically, it’s a lot more complex than just male and female.”
In conversation with the group, Abby was asked how she sees the role of a women’s foundation in 2020. She stressed that it is important to “make sure, very consciously, that women who are not cis-gender are very consciously included. If you think about what is our mission, how do we not just stay relevant, but make sure that we are in front of everything and how do we stay engaging in the 21st century and in 2020, that is usually a good start.”
