Saying yes to social change

BASYA LAYE

Since its founding in 1979, the New Israel Fund has been a major actor in Israel’s progressive landscape, granting more than $200 million to at least 800 nonprofit organizations. Inspired by Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which “ensures complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex,” the NIF’s stated focus is capacity building, leadership development and coalition building in Israeli society. Their priorities are to “strengthen and safeguard civil and human rights, bridge social and economic gaps and foster tolerance and religious pluralism for all its citizens.”

Later this month, Shira Ben-Sasson Furstenberg will be Vancouver for an evening of dialogue hosted by New Israel Fund Canada addressing current events in Israel, including the recent elections, women’s rights and the impact of social protests. The former coordinator of the Religious Pluralism Project at Shatil, NIF’s capacity-building arm, Ben-Sasson Furstenberg now works as a grant officer for the organization’s Jewish Pluralism Pool. A self-described liberal Orthodox woman working in a world typically considered the territory of the secular, she is an unlikely progressive activist. That said, she grew up in an active political family – her father, Dr. Menachem Ben-Sasson, a former MK, is now president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her grandfather, Dr. Yoseph Burg, was a National Religious Party leader and minister in several governments. Originally, however, she went the academic route, completing a master’s degree in cultural anthropology at Hebrew University.

“I grew up in a family in which you aren’t necessarily encouraged to take part in politics, but you see that as a possibility, so it doesn’t seem unattainable,” she told the Independent. “I remember that once, as a small child, I visited the Knesset. I was in the cafeteria, wearing denim overalls, and [Menachem] Begin saw me: ‘What a lovely little boy,’ he said. In front of your eyes, you see examples of people whose lives are dedicated to the public good and at the same time are still as accessible as Saba (Grandfather). So it is not ‘written in the heavens.’”

It was a job search that originally brought her to NIF. “Everyone knows that Shatil’s website is the best place to look for jobs if you are interested in nonprofit organizations or social change,” she noted. “I was at the Knesset Research and Information Centre and a friend, who had been my commander in the IDF, and who is now the associate director of ACRI [Association of Civil Rights in Israel], told me to keep my eyes open since a job would be coming up on the website that was tailor-made for me. I remember reading the ad and feeling like I was holding the winning lottery ticket – I met all the requirements. But friends were telling me to forget about it since Shatil would never hire an Orthodox woman, especially for the pluralism position. Lo and behold, they hired me! Eight years have passed and I still feel that this was a very pluralistic move on behalf of the Shatil and NIF management.

“For the six years that I served as coordinator of Shatil’s Religious Pluralism Project, I was in charge of assisting dozens of Jewish pluralism organizations, and offering Shatil’s services, which include capacity building, trainings and workshops, coalition building, lobbying and media work. I also worked to tailor ad-hoc partnerships around such issues as get (Jewish divorce) refusal, core curriculum for ultra-Orthodox schools and civil marriage.

“Currently, as grants officer of NIF’s Religious Pluralism Pool, I am in charge of 40 grantees that we fund through NIF’s core budget, as well as through partnerships to promote freedom of religion.”

Though Orthodox women have been more limited in their public roles, either by choice or by exclusion, Ben-Sasson Furstenberg said she has not encountered many barriers in her professional life. “My late grandfather, Dr. Yoseph Burg … when asked if he was more national or religious, used to say that he was the hyphen [between them]. This has guided me in every arena where there is a challenge to be involved with people who lead a different life. In the IDF, it wasn’t an obstacle to be an Orthodox woman if you didn’t make it an obstacle.

“Being active in both [liberal and Orthodox arenas] has been an advantage, but there are a growing number of liberal Orthodox people who hold progressive values – I am not alone. My husband and I have been deeply involved in founding and leading an Orthodox egalitarian minyan (HaKel) in the Baka neighborhood in Jerusalem. Raising our children in such a congregation and inviting our parents for chaggim and smachot has been life transforming for us. It is so normal for me to be and live as a liberal Orthodox woman that it is hard to be reflective about how different it is from anyone else’s life.”

It can be confusing for Diaspora Jews to work through the complex role of religion in Israeli society, and the struggle for pluralism, religious and otherwise, in Israel seems to be at a crossroads – the religious right has become more powerful and, at the same time, the number of people demanding an end to the Orthodox institutional monopoly is increasing. She sees some potential for progress with the sidelining of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the current coalition government.

“This is, perhaps, especially true when it comes to the role of women in Israeli society as relates to the Women of the Wall, the (verbal and sometimes physical) assault of women and girls, and the exclusion of women from the public sphere,” she explained. “We have not achieved systemic changes in a long time but we have achieved some incremental achievements, or ‘baby’ steps. I do think there is a window of opportunity. For example, for the first time ever, due to the diligent work of NIF grantee Neemanei Torah VeAvodah, the words ‘status quo’ don’t appear in the coalition document of the current government (meaning that the new government may be open to changing the religion-state status quo). Also, young and dynamic grassroots initiatives such as NIF grantee Be Free Israel are growing and there is an awakening in the field.

“We are playing a sort of tug of war,” she continued. “When we use all our strategies, we can efficiently challenge the growing extremism in Israeli society. Our efforts to counter gender segregation is a wonderful example of how, together, we have created real change. In cooperation with all our organizations and partners, we were able to work from many angles simultaneously: monitoring the situation on the ground, combined with professional and legal work, organizing and amplifying voices within the community, and lobbying. Perhaps the most significant result of our … concerted effort is the recent decision by the attorney general that exclusion of women from the public sphere is to become a criminal offence. Currently, several different government ministries are implementing our recommendations on how to address this worrisome phenomenon.”

There is still cause for concern over increasing polarization in Israeli society, however. “On the one hand, extremism, which appears in the public sphere and the education system, on buses, at the Kotel and in the streets, has a polarizing effect,” she said. “We have an obligation as both a Jewish and a democratic state to oppose extremism. On the other hand, I think that we need to be responsible and to differentiate between the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community and their constituency, as they are not a homogenous bloc. I am constantly learning that we have partners in all communities who respect the rights of others.”

There are many challenges that lay ahead to achieve full equality for all of Israel’s citizens, but significant change could come from strong civic leadership. “In Israel, the municipal level feeds the national political arena,” she explained, “and it is the former where leaders grow. So the upcoming municipal elections in the fall are a wonderful opportunity for women and representatives of disadvantaged communities to put forward leaders and create bottom-up change.

“In the long term, there is much to be done. Though there is some good legislation in place, it is not always reflected in the situation on the ground. Legislation needs to be enforced more broadly, and women and other minorities must be empowered and assisted in accessing their legal rights and in challenging barriers – both real and self-imposed.”

Legislative change needs to happen in Knesset, but the court can also have a role in addressing issues of civil rights and inequality, she said. “Throughout the years, the courts have played an essential role in paving the way for incremental achievements towards greater religious freedom and equality. For instance, the High Court decided that Reform Rabbi Miri Gold had to be paid by the state for serving as a community rabbi. Other examples include rulings against segregation on the buses or against removing women from public ads. For many years, the courts were the only place where we could get support for our values. On civil marriage, however, every time our organizations tried to go to the High Court for a ruling, it expressed support but sent them back to the Knesset. Now we understand that it is critical to have a multi-pronged strategy, and we also need to work to change public opinion and influence the government, so we are diversifying our limited resources to support an array of activities.”

A more pluralistic Israel “would be a dream come true,” she added. “It would be a place where there is more than one way to be Jewish. It would be a place where women can elect the chief rabbi, who could be non-Orthodox, or even a woman! It would be a place where women could not be refused a get so easily. It would inherently be more pluralistic, not only in breaking the ultra-Orthodox monopoly, but also in how it treats its minorities and disadvantaged communities – asylum seekers, Palestinians, Mizrachim, etc. It would be based on the talmudic verses [about] “70 faces of the Torah” and “these and those are the words of the living God.”

The controversy over women’s prayer at the Western Wall has been another issue that has made headlines, and a court win in favor of the women who want to pray more openly was met with enthusiasm in and outside Israel. To ease tensions with the ultra-Orthodox, who oppose any changes to accessibility, Israeli politician and Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Natan Sharansky proposed a compromise that would see an area called Robinson’s Arch expanded, providing a unified entrance to the Kotel area. The board of Jewish Federations of North America backed the plan, though it has been “losing support” from both sides, according to reports.

“I actually thought that it was a good compromise,” Ben-Sasson Furstenberg said, “but I worry that it will be difficult to implement due to the complexity of a site with so many vested interests. Meanwhile, the Sobel ruling that the Women of the Wall are also a legitimate expression of the ‘local customs’ at the Wall, is extremely important.” Jerusalem District Court Judge Moshe Sobel ruled that reading the Torah and wearing of tallitot and tefillin in the women’s section does not contravene the law.

“I was at the Kotel with my 13-year-old son on the last Rosh Chodesh, and we will be going again next week,” she said. “Frankly, I do not personally prefer a separate women’s tefillah, nor do I feel a special importance to pray at the Kotel, but I believe strongly that the Kotel must not be controlled and run by the ultra-Orthodox monopoly. It belongs to all of the Jewish people: men, women, Orthodox, non-Orthodox, Israeli and Diaspora Jews. If my friends from Women of the Wall can spearhead this struggle, I stand with them.”

On other issues, it can be difficult to gauge from outside the situation in Israel. On the one hand, there have been significant social protests in recent years; on the other hand, there are those who downplay the economic situation, problems of racism and other domestic concerns. According to Ben-Sasson Furstenberg, the economic difficulties, at least, are not a matter of opinion, but of fact, and must be addressed.

“It’s not about whining. There is hard data about the huge social and economic gaps. This government may give me hope for some improvement in the religious pluralism arena, but its social and economic directions are a continuation of [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s direction. In contrast, the people’s voice is clear – they want a kinder society. Unfortunately, I don’t see this reflected in the current proposed state budget.”

While NIF has been criticized for some of its funding choices, Ben-Sasson Furstenberg said granting guidelines are available on the website for anyone to read. Those guidelines exclude projects that “participate in partisan political activity; promote anti-democratic values; support the 1967 occupation and subsequent settlement activity; violate the human rights of any group or individual, advocate human rights selectively for one group over another and/or reject the principle of the universality of human rights; condone or promote violence or use violent tactics; employ racist or derogatory language or designations about any group based on their religion, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation; works to deny the right of the Jewish people to sovereign self-determination within Israel, or to deny the rights of Palestinian or other non-Jewish citizens to full equality within a democratic Israel; or engage in activities at odds with the positions, principles or vision of the New Israel Fund.” An organization that receives support must be a registered nonprofit.

“Our funding portfolio is diverse and includes civil and human rights, social and economic justice, programs promoting equal rights in the Arab community, as well as religious pluralism,” she said. “There are extreme and loud voices out there who are trying hard to silence democratic and progressive values but, at the same time, increasing numbers of Israelis – and certainly the majority of North American Jews – share our values and hold them dear. Our mission has always been to help Israel live up to the dream of its founders, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. We have an obligation to make sure that this dream is realized and that the beautiful work carried out by the NIF family is heard just as loudly as the ethnocentric, theocratic, ultra-nationalistic and Messianic-fundamentalist voices.”

Do Israelis need the help of Diaspora Jews to bring about these changes?

“Your voice and involvement is critical!” she said. “Like NIF’s current president, Rabbi Brian Lurie, I, too, believe that the most important role Diaspora Jewry can play now is to ensure that Israel remains a democracy. Civil and human rights, pluralism and tolerance are in your DNA; we are still a relatively new democracy and we have a long way to go for Israelis to truly understand and internalize the essence of a democracy. Ask your leaders to talk to our leaders about the values that you care about! Carefully choose the places you visit and the organizations you support. Stand with us and our organizations, and join us in believing that a more just, pluralistic and compassionate Israeli society is possible.”

Ben-Sasson Furstenberg is taking part in events in Montreal and Toronto, as well, also hosted by NIFC, which, she said, “has been pivotal in bringing the issues of democracy and equality in Israel to communities across Canada…. It is a very exciting time for NIF and for NIFC.”

To register for the free talk, which is being held June 18, 7:30-9:30 p.m., at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture, call 1-416-781-4322 or visit nifcan.org.

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