| Creating social change and raising awareness for the advancement of women’s status, gender equality, and women’s rights. |
Kolech sees gender equality as a fundamental and self-evident value of religious society and as a cornerstone of Israeli society as a whole. Kolech advocates for the advancement of women to leadership roles, both civil and religious. Simultaneously, we strive to prevent harm to women under the auspices of religious law and by religious institutions. We work towards ensuring that women are entitled to full opportunities for their spiritual, personal, familial, and professional development. We collaborate with the community to promote the well-being of women and of Israeli society as a whole.
“Kolech,” founded in 1998, is a feminist religious women’s movement aiming to create social change and spread awareness for the advancement of women’s status, gender equality, and women’s rights – in Jewish law, in religious leadership, and in religious institutions. Kolech works toward the following goals: promoting values of equality and mutual respect; advancing opportunities for women in public spheres and religious leadership; promoting equality in personal status in marriage and divorce; ending all forms of gender-based violence, misuse of religious authority, and harm to women in the name of religious law. Kolech works to create a consciousness shift among women and men, expanding influence and action, partnership, and participation of women and girls in religious spaces – within religious institutions (such as synagogues and schools), communities, and families.
Kolech operates on two main fronts that branch out into extensive and diverse activities in a variety of fields:
Promotion and development of spiritual female leadership
Throughout many generations, Torah study as well as spiritual leadership were predominantly reserved for men. In recent decades, these barriers have been increasingly dismantled. More and more women are joining the circle of scholars, fostering a rich culture of studying scripture, Jewish philosophy, and especially Jewish law. Alongside deepened study, another arena is developing in which women scholars possess extensive halakhic knowledge, often even receiving rabbinical ordination from various halakhic programs. They serve as halakhic decisors and spiritual leaders, both within educational institutions and communities.
This phenomenon is gradually expanding its boundaries, contributing to a shared halakhic discourse, one in which male and female leaders have equal footing.
Kolech aims to deepen and broaden this trend out of a belief that female spiritual leaders offer a unique contribution, voice, and serve to strengthen society with their partnership.
Deepening Women’s Partnership in Jewish Life
In recent decades, we have seen growing expressions and voices advocating for increased women’s partnership in Jewish daily life. Kolech seeks to enrich this dialogue, adding knowledge in halakhic areas developed by female scholars and emerging spiritual female leaders. Through this effort, Kolech aims to create a space where women can receive halakhic guidance, as well as ideas and support for the needs they raise to the public agenda. Additionally, sharing ideas and experiences in ceremonies and events throughout the Jewish calendar and life cycle allows women to gain practical knowledge for participating in these events.
Board Chairperson
Board Member
An educator and resident of Ra’anana, Karen develops content for the Virtual Jewish Academy, teaches at Matan HaSharon, and founded the “Direction to Service” program in her city, aimed at assisting high school girls in choosing the appropriate framework (military or national service) for them upon graduation. She holds a second degree from New York University (NYU) in Talmud and Midrash.
Board Member
Mia is a teacher at Midreshet Hartman for Girls in Jerusalem and also a group and Beit Midrash facilitator. She is a Stand-up comedian, writer, and workshop leader in theater and comedy. She lives in Jerusalem and is married with two children.
Board Member
Graphic designer, with bachelor’s degree in Art History, Geography, and Graphic Design, and a master’s degree in Gender Studies and Israeli Thought. She coordinated Kolech’s branches and participated in planning the organization’s first website. She is the founder and chairperson of the Women’s Council in Modi’in (2006-2008).
Board Member
A social worker, Elisheva manages planning, development, and community relations at Amcha – The National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Holocaust Survivors and Second-Generation survivors. Holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work. She is a social entrepreneur who has served as a senior team member in major philanthropic organizations such as the New York Federation and the Jerusalem Foundation.
מנכ”לית קולך
מנכ”לית קולך מאז אוקטובר 2020. בעלת תואר שני (בהצטיינות) ביעוץ ארגוני ותואר ראשון בקרימינולוגיה ופסיכולוגיה. בוגרת מסלולי הכשרה של מנהיגות, מנטורינג והנחיית קבוצות. ניסיונה המקצועי בניהול ארגונים ומיזמים לשינוי חברתי, תוך פיתוח שותפויות והובלת תהליכי שינוי. בתפקידה האחרון ניהלה את תכנית משרתות באמונה בארגון אלומה והביאה לקידום השיח המגזרי אודות השירות בצה”ל ולעליה ניכרת במספר המתגייסות בוגרות החמ”ד. קרוב לעשור שמשה חברת הנהלת קהילת רמב”ן בירושלים ופעלה לצידו של הרב בני לאו למען מעורבות נשים ושילוב מנהיגה רוחנית לבית הכנסת. נשואה ואמא לארבע בנות. מתגוררת בירושלים.
דוברת ורכזת מדיה
בעלת תואר m.a בתקשורת. פובליציסטית ועורכת ספרות. בעלת היסיון עשיר בעיתונות ודוברות בתחומי החינוך והחברה. לשעבר דוברת צו פיוס, עורכת אתר נרג יהדות, עוזרת דובר משרד החינוך.
ראש מרכז קולך למנהיגות נשים
בעלת תואר ראשון במשפטים ותואר שני בעבודה סוציאלית. מתמחה בפיתוח ידע מקצועי, ניהול מתנדבים, והכשרת בעלי תפקידים במגזר השלישי. פעילה בוועדת המדיניות של איגוד העובדים הסוציאלים
Professor Chanah Safrai, of blessed memory, was one of the mothers of Kolech. She was part of the organization’s intellectual leadership, serving as a “wise woman” addressing questions of worldview. She was awarded the Association for Civil Rights Prize in 2008 for her groundbreaking work. Her doctoral thesis focused on women in the Holy Temple. She taught at various academic institutions including Utrecht University in the Netherlands, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hebrew Union College, and was a research fellow at the Hartman Institute. She also headed the Jewish Livreman Institute, the first institute to open Oral Torah studies to women graduates.
“She was a trailblazer not only in serious Talmudic research of women, but also, and perhaps especially, in her efforts to achieve ‘feminist’ independence in areas traditionally the exclusive domain of the rabbinical establishment…Hannah was faithful to her principles and insisted that if the establishment needed awakening, a loud and clear alarm must be sounded.” (Words by Dr. Naomi Cohen about Chanah
)
Hannah Kehat is the founder of Kolech’ and its former chairperson. Born in 1959, Kehat is a professor of Israeli history and teaches Bible, Israeli thought, and gender studies at various academic institutions including Givat Washington College, the Kibbutzim Seminar, and Achva College.
In 1998, she founded “Kolech” and served as its head until 2004, returning to the role in 2008. Kehat is considered one of the leaders in the religious feminist movement in Israel and has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the President’s Award for Volunteerism in recognition of founding “Kolech” and her public activism, as well as the Rapaport Prize for “women’s pioneering action an
“.d change -making in Israeli society.
So it began…
In 1995, I began to feel that continuing to operate within the religious community in the same manner was no longer feasible. Outside the religious community, women experienced equality, appreciation, mutual respect, and recognition, whereas within the religious community, it was forbidden to express the word “feminism,” as it was considered offensive and repugnant. The accepted narrative was that in religious society, a woman’s traditional, good, and proper role was as a “woman of valor,” and any discourse that challenged this foundation was at risk of breaking taboo.
On January 1st, 1996, a small number of women convened for the first time at the home of Leah Kadari, the mother of my initiative’s partner, psychologist Miriam Shapira, who later served for many years on Kolech’s board. Also present at the meeting were Prof. Ruth Kadari, psychologist Michal Peretz, Rabbi Hannah Henkin (head of the Nishmat Seminary), Mrs. Yehudit Shilat (head of the Forum for Religious Law), and Mrs. Liora Minka (chairperson of Emunah today).
We opened Pandora’s box and realized that we were unanimous in the critical need for action towards change.
The next time we met and conversed was in early 1998 during the JOFA conference in New York, where, to our surprise, about 20 religious women from Israel had come to find the religious feminist voice.
After returning from the conference, an intense process of meetings began. We turned to Knesset member Prof. Alex Lubotzky, who assisted us in organizing meetings in the Knesset, and from one meeting to the next, the number of participants grew. Many women contacted us and asked to join, and by the end of the process, the group had grown from 20 women to about 100.
A considerable amount of time was devoted to thinking about the organization’s name, and eventually, the name “Forum for Religious Women” was chosen. The suggestion to also use a name containing the word “voice” in response to the empowerment of women in the expression “a voice in a veiled woman” arose several times. However, the name “Kolech” was chosen a few weeks later by Vivi Shalev, the first editor of the newsletter we began to distribute, just before the release of the first issue.
On the first day of Av, 5758 (July 1998), we gathered in the morning at the Matan Women’s Institute for a festive event, at which Rabbi Lichtenstein and Dr. Naomi Cohen lectured. Afterwards, we held a founding conference in the Knesset, where Knesset members Hanan Porat (may he rest in peace), who also suggested distributing a newsletter, Alex Lubotzky, Anat Maor, Yael Dayan, Rabbi Druckman, and our colleague Yael Levin, spoke.
And we founded the organization.
Several days later, at the beginning of August 1998, I registered the organization as a non-profit association. Without a budget, without a source of support. The office started in my home, and secretarial assistance was provided by my children until January 2000, when we hired our first secretary. During this period, Beit Hillel contributed a small room for our use.
In the initial years of ‘Kolech’s emergence, we focused on publishing the newsletter and intensive public relations in the religious press (primarily in HaTzofeh newspaper). Most of the discourse centered around the status of women in religious life and society.
As awareness of ‘Kolech’ grew, requests poured in for us to address issues related to the distress of religious women. Rabbis approached and demanded that ‘Kolech’ engage deeply in matters such as the plight of agunot and agunot prevention. This led us to join the coalition of organizations for agunot, headed by Prof. Alice Shalvi, and to establish the legal-rabbinic team to formulate agreements to prevent agunot. Social workers contacted us to address the denied phenomenon of abused women within the religious community. There was a demand to deal with cases of sexual harassment in the religious society, especially when the perpetrator was a rabbi or authority figure.
Subsequently, we also received a request from the Ministry of Health to assist in raising awareness of the unique health problems faced by Haredi women: high mortality due to breast cancer, extensive illness, and low life expectancy following multiple childbirths.
Over the years, we initiated legislative amendments required during our activities, in the field of agunot treatment (amendments to the sanctions law, property sharing law); amendments in laws to prevent sexual harassment – applying the law also to religious authorities, and more.
Over many years, ‘Kolech’ has become a movement of thousands of women in Israel (including many men), identifying as religious feminists, advocating for gender justice, and working tirelessly to correct injustices against women in the name of religion. They fight against their exclusion and any form of harm to women under Jewish law. The struggles are conducted on various fronts: legal advocacy through lawsuits, legislation, intensive writing in the media, public campaigns, and communications, and more.
In addition, ‘Kolech’ leads educational empowerment programs within the religious educational system and operates a leadership center for empowering women in community leadership.
We are still far from achieving the goals we set for ourselves. There is still much work to be done to rectify the situation of women in the courts, in religious communities, and in synagogues. Much educational work is still needed, and we are not yet able to rest. There is still a long way to go to repair the world.
Want to be our partner in action?
Help us create a change in consciousness and public discourse on the issues of Judaism and feminism,
To expand the possibilities for women and fight for their rights to partnership and involvement in religious life.
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