NCJW Israel Program Report, February 2009
In this edition:
- Message from Shari Eshet
- News From the Knesset
- Update From the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program and Scholarships
- Reading for International Agunot Day
Message from Shari Eshet
I write these remarks the day Israel's eighteenth prime minister is elected on February 10, 2009. Whoever is elected will be faced with the devastation of the "third sector" -- the grassroots organizations who provide services to at-risk populations and who are themselves struggling with reduced resources as a result of the global economic disaster. It is these groups who help forge new strategies and new attempts to sustain a safety net for those who have been most affected by the global economic disaster. For many years now, organizations like NCJW have taken up the responsibility of providing additional funds for grassroots initiatives. And organizations such as NCJW have spoken out for those who have no voice. The new prime minister must somehow sort through the wreckage and devise ways to meet the country's most serious needs.
March 9th is International Agunot Day; a time to speak out for those who have no voice -- for those who choose to move on and make a new life for themselves out of an unbearable marriage. Please speak out for them. Below, I have included a special reading that NCJW traditionally sends out every year. Please share it with your friends, your NCJW section, and your community leaders. On the eve of Purim, when we celebrate Queen Esther and her courageous and powerful actions on behalf of her Jewish community, we urge all to take action and speak out against this human rights violation. We seek the right for all Jews to live free of oppression, as did Queen Esther so long ago.
Let us hope that the new administration in Israel brings peace and prosperity to the region.
Shari Eshet
Director of NCJW's Israel Office
News from the Knesset
On January 25th, Naomi Houminer and I were invited to represent NCJW at an award ceremony at the Knesset honoring 10 outstanding grassroots organizations in Israel -- two of which we have been honored to fund over the years: The Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women and the Economic Empowerment for Women program. Speaker of the House Dahlia Itzik requested that this year be dedicated to the women of Israel and the grassroots organizations that help fight their causes.
Watch the video clip from the award ceremony.
Update From the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program and Scholarships
A record number of 32 students registered for the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program (WGSP) at Tel Aviv University (TAU) for the 2008-2009 school year . Moreover, the program has a new website and while only one page is in English, it is a beginning. More exciting news from TAU is the creation of a new master's program in Gender Studies. While we do not directly fund it, we can take some credit for the success of the bachelor's program, which was the stepping stone for this new program. The master's degree program will officially open in the second semester. 33 women have already registered, including business-women, members of the Knesset, legal advisors, and directors of companies. Five scholarships were awarded this year to students in the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program. Three were students who received need-based scholarships in the past. Two recipients are new students to the program. We wish them all good luck and hope that the financial assistance they receive from NCJW will make it that much easier for them this year.
Suggested Reading for International Agunot Day
For International Agunot Day: March 9, 2009 Fast of Esther
Thousands of Jewish women, all over the world are being denied the basic right of free choice in divorce by a system that allows only a man to divorce his wife -- as in Halachic Law. In Israel, because of the absence of civil marriage and divorce, there is only the Halachic option open to couples both in marriage and in divorce. Moreover, this status -- of Agunot can occur wherever a woman who wants a Jewish divorce or get is denied one by her husband. The National Council of Jewish Women sees the withholding of a Jewish divorce as a serious violation of a woman's free choice to liberate herself from a marriage. The right to divorce should be as the right to marriage, a choice made by equal partners. On the Eve of Purim, when we celebrate Queen Esther and her courageous and powerful actions on the part of the Jewish people, we urge all community leaders to take action and speak out against this human rights violation. We, as Queen Esther did so long ago, seek the right for all Jews to live, free of oppression and in accordance with Jewish values.
We raise our voices
In the name of our sisters, the Agunot
Who suffer in chains
Which bind them to unwanted marriages
We raise our voices
In the name of our sisters, the Agunot
With compassion and love
When love and compassion had fled their homes
We raise our voices
In the name of our sisters, the Agunot
When we call on the judges of Israel
To rule against oppression
We raise our voices
In the name of our sisters, the Agunot
When we call upon the Rabbis
To use their power for good alone
We raise our voices
In the name of our sisters, the Agunot
To call for the freedom from tyranny
In the spirit of our tradition of human rights
We call for action
In the name of our sisters, the Agunot
To profess NCJW's tradition of Jewish values
Through education, advocacy and a powerful call for equality, justice and tikkun olam