Israel’s minister of religious affairs appoints women as latest reform

“Strong women broke through the glass ceiling today, when it comes to providing religious services. Some 40% of the heads of local religious councils, whom I appointed today, are women. I was very excited to meet with them.” Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana (Yamina Party) tweeted this on Tuesday, together with a photo of himself with the women he had just appointed.

In a Facebook post, also from Tuesday, he wrote that when he first entered the Ministry of Religious Affairs ten months earlier, he was shocked to discover no women in senior positions. As he put it, “In the entire history of the state of Israel, up until today, the Minister of Religious Affairs had never appointed a woman to be in charge of a single religious council. As of today, there are six. … And this is just the beginning.”

Inevitably, Kahana’s boasting of a “gender revolution” sparked an uproar in the ultra-Orthodox religious establishment. They had already tagged the minister as an enemy of Judaism and accused him of succumbing to the Reform movement. Bringing women into the religious services network is revolutionary for Israel. It is also part of a larger revolution spearheaded by this energetic minister.

Ever since he first entered the Ministry of Religious Affairs as part of the new government, Kahana has pushed ahead with far-reaching reforms in religious services, conversions, and kosher food supervision. All of these areas have been dominated by the right-leaning Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox since the founding of the state. In fact, Kahana’s reforms signify the first major shakeup in the way the Ministry conducts its business, and it has happened in a very short time. The Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox parties, which dominated the Ministry for years, are helpless to counter this activist minister, while he seems to be making a show of defying their influence.