Holy Rebellion or Religious Egoism? The Achievements of Religious Zionist Feminism and the Rabbinic Illiberal Backlash in Israel

This lecture is based on the groundbreaking research presented in Holy Rebellion: Religious Feminism and the Transformation of Judaism and Women’s Rights in Israel (Brandeis, 2024). Co-authors Tanya Zion-Waldoks and Ronit Irshai will delve into the emergence, achievements, and challenges of Religious Zionist (Dati) feminism in Israel—one of the most dynamic and influential movements within contemporary Judaism and Israeli feminism. Drawing from sociological, theological, cultural, and legal perspectives, the lecture will explore the dual narrative shaping this critical moment in Israeli society. On one hand, it will spotlight the remarkable strides made by Religious Zionist feminists in challenging gender inequities within Orthodox Judaism and Israeli society at large. On the other, it will analyze the rising illiberal backlash involving rabbinic authorities seeking to reverse these gains. The authors will discuss the pivotal role of Israel’s judiciary—particularly the Supreme Court—in navigating these tensions and will introduce their book’s innovative theoretical frameworks: the “Narrative Ripeness Test” and the “Dignity Test.” They will also address the broader societal dynamics at play within a “Jewish and democratic” society in crisis. This lecture is a must for anyone interested in the complex interplay of religion, feminism, law, and activism in Israel and beyond.

About speakers:
Tanya Zion-Waldoks, a tenured assistant professor at the Seymour Fox School of Education at Hebrew University, investigates intersections of gender, education, religion, and politics. She studies feminist activism for social change, gender equality in education, and anti-racist activism in Israel. She published in top journals and her recent book, with Ronit Irshai, is Holy Rebellion: Religious Feminism and the Transformation of Judaism and Women’s Rights in Israel (Brandeis University Press, 2024). She previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University, and her work is supported by the Israel Science Foundation.

Ronit Irshai is an associate professor and the former head of the gender studies
department at Bar Ilan University in Israel; a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman institute in Jerusalem (For pluralistic Judaism), a member in the board of the Reckman center at Bar Ilan University (For women rights) and a member Kolech; – A religious feminist forum. She has been a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School during the academic year of 2007-2008, a visiting scholar at the Hadassah Brandeis Institute in fall 2016 and a visiting Professor at Gindal Global University in February 2019 in India. Her work focuses on the judicial and theological intersections between Jewish law (Halakhah) and feminist and gender insights, from diverse Jewish-denominational perspectives, but especially from the Orthodox angle. She has written numerous articles and book chapters. Among them articles on halakhah (Jewish Law), theology and gender; Fertility and Jewish law; Sexual injuries, halakhah and Israeli Rabbinical courts; Jewish religious feminism; Jewish feminist theologies and Jewish law and LGBTQ people. Her first book: Fertility and Jewish Law – Feminist Perspectives on Orthodox Responsa Literature was published by Brandeis University Press in 2012. The second book on abortion was published in Hebrew by Magness press, in 2022 and the third book, Holy Rebellion, on Modern-Orthodox Feminism in Israel (together with Dr. Tanya Zion-Waldoks) was published by Brandeis University Press in spring 2024. She also co-edited a Jubilee book in honor of Prof. Tamar Ross.