An Orthodox Response to Gender Segregation
in Israeli Society

An Evening of Conversation with
Dr. Hanah Kehat of Kolech: Religious Women's Forum

Moderated by Professor Sylvia Barack Fishman

Recently, issues of gender segregation in Israel have made mainstream news.  Often portrayed as an issue of secular versus religious interests, many of the leading figures advocating on behalf of women are in fact from within the Orthodox community.  Join Dr. Hanah Kehat for a discussion about women’s rights in Israel from an Orthodox perspective.  Hanah will focus on recent controversies in Israel such as gender-segregated seating on public buses and the recent incident in Bet Shemesh where extremists harassed an eight year-old Modern Orthodox girl.

Tuesday, February 14
8:00 pm
Congregation Shaarei Tefillah
35 Morseland Avenue
Newton, MA

Please RSVP here.
Questions?  Call the NIF office at 781-444-7889.

Hanah Kehat is founder and chairwoman of “Kolech: Religious Women’s Forum," an NIF grantee organization which promotes women’s rights through a consensual process of change from within Orthodoxy.  The organization advocates on behalf of Agunot (women unable to obtain a divorce) and abused women, addresses the taboo subject of sexual harassment in the Orthodox community, is active on behalf of women’s rights within the Rabbanut, and promotes increased religious roles for women within Orthodoxy.

Sylvia Barack Fishman, Chair of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis University, is the Joseph and Esther Foster Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life, and also co-director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.  She is the author of seven books and numerous articles on changing Jewish families and intermarriage, American Jewish literature, film, and other cultural expressions, and developing understandings of Jewishness.