Tel-Chai Nation

One of the heads of the rabbinical court is the kind of callous male supremacist who won't accept a woman to take management positions in the staff:

The ultra-Orthodox sector is protesting against last week's High Court of Justice decision to allow woman to head the Rabbinical Courts administration.

In a heated debate, attorney Batya Kahana-Dror—who petitioned the high court and is currently vying for the position of Rabbinical Courts director—and Rabbi Dov Halbertal, former Head of the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Israel, deliberate whether a woman should be allowed the fill the position.

"I meet the criteria," Kahana-Dror said. "In a situation in which 50 percent of the litigants are women, a special effort should be made to find a woman who will meet the criteria that the High Court of Justice designed in this ruling."

On the opposing side, Halbertal argued that "the court acted in an immoral manner that is not judicial. The dayanim (rabbinical court judges) are in on the level of a Supreme Court or a District Court, and the High Court Justices come and give them instructions."

Halbertal was then asked about the reasons for his opinion, to which he offered a resolute stance, much to the displeasure of Kahana-Dror: This is not a job for a woman.

Translation: the biblical Deborah was wrong to work as a judge in any capacity, and he's the kind of Haredi dumbbell who never honored Judaism to start with. Who wants to go by a warped, distorted reflection of the same. What's particularly irritating about gender bigots like these is that they obviously have no complaints over whether the judges in the high court could be biased and unfair to pro-Israel advocates. And that only compounds the selfish image they've long taken up.

Why do you think a woman cannot be appointed to a managerial position?

"There are two issues here," Halbertal continued. "First, when the Rabbinical Courts administration, which is autonomous, determines that it does not want a woman, the court cannot intervene.

And does that mean the rabbinical court's not in any way under state jurisdiction? I guess that's what this badly educated, extraordinarily selfish excuse for a man is saying.

"Second, there is a matter of modesty. These are Rabbis, Torah scholars, dayanim, who have to come into contact with the director of the Rabbinical Courts, and therefore it is not appropriate for the director to be a woman."

Another one of these "afraid of sex" positions, I see. Since when did interactions between the genders entail sexual relations in every way? It's hilarious how men like him turn what's not meant to be a synagogue per se into one that is, or into a Catholic diocese, which I figure is just what Haredism borrowed from, even as they may claim to resent Christianity. It's as peculiar as you think it is they'd draw from a religion they supposedly despise.

But Kahana-Dror rejected Halbertal's claims, insisting that they were predicated on little more that demagogic arguments.

"For over 15 years I have appeared at least three times a week with dayanim," she said. "The court burn the candle at both ends. On the one hand, it is an institution of the state with a monopoly on all marriages and divorces, and on the other hand, it will not accept democratic and liberal values of equality and preference for women."

Which is exactly the problem with Haredi mentality. Its gurus have led to an influence that's ruined the minds of many men and women alike.

The Jerusalem Post notes that the male judges are surely going to keep trying to prevent a woman from being elected to the judicial bench:

But don’t hold your breath, as there is still no guarantee that the Rabbinical Courts will select a woman for the top administrative position. The court’s ruling governs a woman’s right to be considered for candidacy, not right to be chosen by the all-male rabbis.

Affirmative action is as likely a policy as is egalitarian worship to the rabbinate’s outdated mind set. Some women’s activists are reasonably concerned that the Rabbinical Courts will either find a clever way to block women candidacies or simply not select them on principle.

In terms of reality testing, it should be noted that the decision allows women to administrate the Rabbinical Courts, but it does not permit them to become Rabbinical Court judges, no matter how highly qualified. The chief administrator manages human resources, budgeting and operations issues, but does not decide on issues of Jewish law.

Well that's got to change, and I'm sure there's way to make it clear to the rabbinical court's male supremacists that they'll have to agree to accept a modern day Deborah whether they like it or not. In fact, they'll have to agree to accept a non-Haredi member, if they're not doing that at the moment.

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