“I live to serve the rabbi”: Women’s role in shaping ultra-Orthodox society in the twenty-first century–The Israeli case

Abstract

This article discusses Jewish women who emigrated from Islamic countries to the State of Israel during the 1950s. When they arrived in the country, they encountered a secular establishment that had originated in Europe (Ashkenazic) and possessed an entirely different culture than that of these women, who were religious and had come from Africa and Asia (Mizrahim). Alongside the secular establishment, they also encountered a small ultra-Orthodox community, which had its origins in Europe. The religious customs of this group differed greatly from those of the émigrés from Africa and Asia. In this society, the role of the woman is to financially support her sons and husbands, who immerse themselves in the study of Torah for numerous years after marriage. The article focuses on the manner in which the role of these Mizrahi women was configured and strengthened after their demise, by political leaders and rabbis, in accordance with the paradigm of contemporary Ashkenazic ultra-Orthodox society. The primary research tools are obituaries of first-generation immigrant women, authored by the male political elite in the weekly party newspaper, throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The findings are that ultra-Orthodox Mizrahi party in Israel—the Shas party—is shaping a new religious society for Jewish immigrants from Africa and Asia. This society’s current ideal was never extant outside of Israel. It also differs from women’s traditional Diaspora role as homemakers. The uniqueness of these findings lies in their evidence regarding the manner in which the party creates this society by shaping a new image of deceased immigrant women.