“What Were We Arguing About? And What's Next?” Gender Separation During Prayer in Public Spaces

As Jews in Israel and around the world prepare to mark Yom Kipuur, IDI's Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society convened a roundtable conference on the contentious issue of prayer in public spaces.

The matter is related to the struggles between Israelis over gender separation and related issues. It came to the fore during the High Holidays period right before October 7, 2023, in the midst of the height of the struggle over the judicial overhaul, when plans for informal prayer groups with gender separation in public squares and parks in Tel Aviv, were the basis for demonstrations and clashes.

The conference opened with remarks by Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, Director of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, reminding participants that a healthy society must hold discussions about painful issues and not bury its head in the sand. She noted the importance of engaging in conversation "not only within their own narrow echo chambers, but especially with their political and ideological opponents – those who hold different views about the future."

The first session included a series of "TED Talks" on the issue, with Israel Zaira, the chair of the Rosh Yehudi organization that organizes Orthodox public prayer in Tel Aviv, presenting first. He spoke about his view in support of holding traditional prayers in public places even in secular communities. Zaira was followed by Prof. Yofi Tirosh who warned about the slippery slope of gender separation and cautioned that what begins in prayer is quickly spreading to all parts of the public domain in Israel. Ophir Toubul, a local Tel Aviv activist called to find ways to honor both those seeking an Orthodox practice, and those who live in the city and feel differently.

The next session included a three-way conversation with Dan Prat, a Reform rabbi and the director of the Yahaduta forum for Jewish organizations in Tel Aviv, and two deputy mayors from different sides of the political and religious spectrums: Haim Goren of the religious Ma’aminim faction and Meital Lehavi from the Meretz party. The two local politicians explained that while large ideological gaps exist between them, they are able to work together on a daily basis in the City Council to find practical solutions for even the most complex issues facing their constituents.

IDI President Yohanan Plesner summarized the first half of the day by explaining the importance of holding the conference including IDI's responsibility is to "facilitate open and substantive dialogue, out of an understanding that the greater danger lies in avoiding it." He noted that, "gender-separation during prayer is only one part of a much broader discussion about the nature of our public space: in culture, academia, workplaces, and the military."

The final session of the conference focused on the compromises that different sectors of Jewish Israeli society are willing to agree upon, and where their red lines lie. Speakers included MK Michal Woldiger of the Religious Zionist Party, Riki Shapira-Rosenberg of the Reform movement's Israel Religious Action Center, Goel Vaknin who served as an advisor to Shas Party chair Arye Deri, former minister Rabbi Michael Melchior who runs the Meitarim inclusive Jewish education organization, Dr. Moran Nagid, of the Tachlith Institute for Israeli Public Policy, and IDI experts Anat Thon Ashkenazy, Director of the Center for Democratic Values and Institutions who shared polling on Israelis' views on gender separation, and Ayala Goldberg, from the Religion and State Program who presented new data on synagogue attendance among Jewish Israelis.

The day concluded with an emotional conversation in the spirit of the High Holidays season between Inbar Bluzer Shalem, a Reform rabbi and the CEO of Rashut Ha’Rabim, and Lali Dery, mother of Sergeant Major Sa’adia Ya’akov Dery who fell in the line of duty during the war. Dery, a former local politician and an opinion columnist, shared how her outlook on divisions in Israeli have shifted in the post-October 7 reality and since she lost her son. She expressed hope of finding a balance between honoring Jewish traditions while not losing sight of the many areas of unity in Israeli society.