Between traditionalism and feminist activism

YAFA BENAYA: These are two initiatives that try to change the patriarchal traits of the Jewish tradition and the role of women within it - without taking it apart

THE TRADITIONAL Sephardi-Mizrahi identity – the identity of Jews from Muslim countries – is not always understood. It does not correspond to the range of Jewish identities that emerged in Europe as part of their encounter with modernity. In our world there are no Orthodox, Reform or Conservative denominations.

The Sephardi world does not recognise these denominations, nor the conflicts between them. They are not part of the history of Jews from Islamic countries.

As a result, the encounter with modernity in these countries bred a different type of Jewish identity and a different model of community. This identity does not accept the dichotomy between religious and secular. On the other hand, the Jewish community in these countries became a universe of diversity without division.

Traditional feminine identity adapted with flexibility between feminism and tradition, based on an approach that seeks to fix rather than take apart. This is an approach that recognises the patriarchal characteristics of the Jewish tradition and the role of women within it, while at the same time aspiring to gradually change it without taking it apart.

I will present two initiatives that serve as examples for this model. The first is Beit Midrash Arevot – Women Weaving Tradition, where I am a partner and leader – which has served traditional women since 2017. The second is Congregation Degel Yehuda, a Sephardi egalitarian community in Jerusalem that has been around for more than 15 years.

The women of Beit Midrash Arevot define themselves as traditional, but the place is also open to women who wish to gain familiarity with the Sephardi Jewish tradition. In reality, the Beit Midrash is also attended by Ashkenazi women as well as women from the Ethiopian community, religious and secular alike.