Tel-Chai Nation

Some progress may be made on making it possible for female judges to serve on religious councils:

The committee that elects rabbinic judges, or dayanim, will be forced to include at least three women if a draft bill passed by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday is ratified by the Knesset.

The judiciary committee contains 10 members: the justice minister (who also acts as the committee chairman) and another minister, two Knesset members, the two chief rabbis, two rabbinical court judges and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association. The proposed bill, drafted by MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli (Habayit Hayehudi), would require at least one of the ministers, Knesset members and Bar Association representatives to be women. In addition, the bill, suggests that an 11th, female, member be added to the committee, chosen by the Authority for the Advancement of Women. [...]

Mualem-Rafaeli said she wanted to make sure that the judiciary committee reflected the true face of the society.

"Fifty percent of the population is female," she said at the committee hearing. "With more women involved in the process, the Halachah (religious law) can be more Jewish."

Mualem-Rafaeli also said she respected Jewish tradition and wanted to preserve it for as long as possible.

And she is. But, as expected, not all Haredi politicians agree with her:

...MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) opposed the proposals. He said that by allowing more women onto the committee to choose rabbinical judges, "you'll turn Israel into a secular state."

Gafni also asked why such laws were not being promoted on the state judicial front, saying such changes would terminate the traditional and religious nature of the state. He said the changes would destroy the system and "divert the ship" away from the philosophy of haredim not standing apart from the rest of the Jewish nation.

MK Adi Kol (Yesh Atid), who comes from a secular background, supported the proposed bill and dismissed Gafni's protests, saying that such talk only distanced the average Israeli from Jewish tradition.

Exactly. That's just what backwards buffoons like Gafni simply can't get through their heads, that if they keep opposing women serving the cause of religion on a family council, it'll only harm the cause of Judaism. The women who want to serve on rabbinic councils simply want to contribute to helping religion, not hurting it. Plus, they too are religious, so it'll all in the name of Judaism that they're doing it.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Judaism, Knesset, misogyny