Female soldiers leave IDF event after ordered to sit in separate section
The commanders of the women soldiers decided to have the women board buses and leave after some objected to their being directed to a separate area cut off from the main event.
By Anshel PfefferAbout 100 female soldiers left the main celebration sponsored by the Israel Defense Forces marking the end of the Simhat Torah holiday on Thursday after they were asked to move to a separate women's section.
The traditional "Hakafot Shniyot" event, which comes after the holiday's formal conclusion and includes dancing with the Torah, was held in the Eshkol regional council area in the south. The commanders of the women soldiers decided to have the women board buses and leave after some objected to their being directed to a separate area cut off from the main event.
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Female soldiers at Simhat Torah celebration at the Eshkol Regional Council. |
| Photo by: Eliyahu Hershkovitz |
The separate women's section was set off by cloth sheeting, but according to one of those present "it was very hard to feel connected to the event there." The event was attended by about 500 people, including a mix of civilians and soldiers, among them, about 100 women soldiers. Those in attendance said before the request was made for them to move, the women had been dancing at one side, separately from the men and also separated by a long table. The women soldiers were then ordered by an officer from the military rabbinate to go to a separate, closed area about 50 meters away, following complaints over the initial setup.
Orthodox Jewish religious authorities call for separation of men and women in certain circumstances. For many observant Jews in Israel, however, it is the custom for men and women at Hakafot Shniyot to dance separately but without the women being relegated to another designated area. The IDF's chief rabbi, Rafi Peretz, as well as the commander for the IDF's Gaza division, Yossi Bachar, were present but did not intervene in the matter. The rabbinate has been under pressure recently to adopt strict interpretations of halakha, Jewish religious law.
The IDF Spokesman's office said in response: "As is the custom at these events every year, there is an area designated for women," adding that "no IDF official was directed to verify that men and women were separated." The IDF rabbinate is unaware of some of the complaints made over the issue and the matter will be looked into, the spokesman said.
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by the commander of the women's group who were thus prevented from taking any part in the festivities. Is that empowering women?
My daugther is presently serving in the IDF, if by any chance she is segregated because she is a women I would sue the Army the Rabbinate and who ever is involved in these discrimination. If she can be a soldier she can be at any place where a soldier men or women can be with no discrimination. And I do agree with roxy , the only draft dodgers are the Haredi , the law should be one for all
Miriam sang. If they were dancing provocatively, fine, I understand them asking them to leave... but women serve in the army, and the torah has one instance of a woman serving in the army. Sooooo... they shouldn't insult these women who are risking their lives by asking them to leave, unless they were dancing provocatively and it was a religious function.
as i said before certains instituions should be religion and politics free. the army is a cult on its own with its own codes hence when you join it, you fully embrace orthodoxy and put on the side all your other beliefs to believe in the hierachy and the rules designed for all regardless of gender, ethnicity, social status, religion. everyone is part of the chain. how to kill a defense system in 5 minutes? ask israelis. you ill be happy to find those women in case of major war so stop treating them like second rank citizens when they serve their nation.
It is about time to separate religion from the state. The Jewish versions of the Muslim Brotherhood are no less insidious for the health of Israel as the Brotherhood is to Islamic states.
A woman is forced to serve in the IDF, and may sacrifice her life in so doing, yet is forced to sit separately from men during an IDF event is disgraceful to say the least, If you don't want women near men during these events, don't draft them, instead draft the Haredi and religious wen who are draft dodgers to begin with, they can serve the country and Gd at the same time just like Judah Macabee did!
Any IDF officer who participated in the humiliation of these female IDF personnel should be relieved of duty, and brought up on charges, leading to a possible dishonorable discharge.
The order to seperate the women from men is totally illegal. I am surprised that women followed that order. the men should have stood by the women and even remove the segregation barrier.
End the Orthodox monopoly over our religious lives now!
Thats a shame! A real gender gap! Geez! We live in 21th Century!
There's no place for segregation in the army. Those who are demanding it should can choose to segregate themselves from the main event. This is a very, very, very bad precedent and a terrible bit of news.
For disobeying a direct order.
by 'them' I agree: the people who separated the women! 'They' should be put in jail.
I agree, by putting 'them' on trial, you mean the rabbis who had them separated.
The women are good enough to put their lives on the line for the Rabbis and their flock, but definitely relegated to second class status in their celebrations.
The Modesty Patrol is up and running.
The Ayatollah Haredi rules Israel.
by a barrier or cloth lining when on the battlefield too? What a farce of an army.
Racism and sexism go together. Societies that have one usually have both in abundance. Democracies abhor racism and sexism but it is a battle that can only be fought and not so easily won. In Israel there is no fight. The racism and sexism are right out in the open. Israeli officials deny their existence with a straight face, daring any other nation or group to take exception with them. Certain groups and individualsdo take exception calling Israel sexist or racist or both. Other nations are careful not to notice this facet of Israeli society. It's just one of those usual kid gloves things in all matters concerning Israel.