The Strong Jewish Women Of Israel and USA

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

     Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a Jewish teen ager in Holland during WWII who wrote in her diary which showed her great literary skill and psychological insight all that she experienced and thought about.  She died in the Holocaust at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Anne was a very brave child, an example of thousands like her who perished for no good reason.   Gosh, Anne couldn't make it to Israel or the USA, but has through her diary which must be read by so many in both places.  She's special in all our hearts.  

       Deborah, leading the men of Israel in a battle

Our female patriarchs have been just as important to us as the males.  Sarah (wife of Abraham, Rebecca (wife of Isaac) , Rachel (wife of Jacob) , Deborah, wife of Lapidoth, who roused the Israelite tribes to revolt under Barak against the Canaanite king Jabin of Hazor and Sisera, his ally and commander.  She sung her way to victory, leading the way of the Israelites.   All played an important part of our lives, for they have been our icon, our heroines  to look up to.  

                                                                           

            Golda Meir (Goldie Mabovitch)  (1898-1978) was a Russian Jewish child caught in a pogrom, got to Israel in 1921.  She became the Prime Minister in 1969, first woman to hold such a position, and was the Prime Minister during the Yom Kippur War.   We remember her for her abilities that were as great as any man, but even more for her most wise sayings, something that was particularly Golda's thing, they were quite profound. "Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil!"  or  "We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go." 

Watching over Israel's people are our women in the IDF along with the men.  Women, after training, serve in all 3 arms as non-combatant personnel replacing men, who are then made available for duty in combat formations.  This was the situation by 1973.  Remember, Israel became a state again on May 14, 1948, so it isn't very old.  (Love this picture.  She looks so strong in such a beautiful way.)                                  

 Israel is one of only a few countries in the world to have a mandatory military service requirement for women, though female conscription is limited to those who are ethnic Jews. It has been that women serve for 2 years while men serve 3 years.  

According to Israeli military statistics, 535 female soldiers had been killed while serving between the years of 1962 and 2016.                                 

First female Israeli ordnance officer of Beta Israel origin, 2001 of Ethiopia.  In 2000, an amendment to the Women's Equal Rights Law of Israel with regards to military service states that "The right of women to serve in any role in the IDF is equal to the right of men."

What's amazing is to hear that a female sergeant is leading a group of men, and she is tough!  That's pretty common, so I hear.  

Israel's regulated female integration into the armed forces predates its formal establishment in 1948, when women of the Yishuv served within the ranks of various Jewish paramilitary forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine War. A 1999–2000 legal amendment to the 1951 Women's Equal Rights Law of Israel fully equalizes—although separately—men and women in the military.

In 2014, the IDF stated that fewer than 4 percent of women are in combat positions such as light infantry and helicopter or fighter pilots, and that they are instead concentrated in "combat-support" positions.

                Molly Goldberg

Molly Goldberg on the American radio show, another Jewish icon.  The Goldbergs was a comedy-drama broadcast from 1929 to 1946 on American radio, and from 1949 to 1956 on American television. It was adapted into a 1948 play, Me and Molly; a 1950 film The Goldbergs, and a 1973 Broadway musical, Molly.  We loved her.  

      Regine Zylberberg singing with amazing pictures, youtube

The Jewish mother has always been the leader of her family, but in subtle ways. Children remembered her in the song, "My Yiddishe Mama."    In our history, she was the worker of the family while her husband studied Torah or Mishnah.  This popular program was created by the woman, Gertrude Berg.  

Berg was not averse to incorporating serious real-world issues which affected Jewish families. One 1939 episode addressed Kristallnacht and Nazi Germany (including a rock through the family window as the Goldbergs had their Passover Seder); other World War II-era episodes alluded to friends or family members trying to escape the Holocaust. 

But these were sporadic deviations from the show's main theme of family, neighborhood and the balance between old world values and new world assimilation. Molly shows viewers the strong matriarch she is by constantly helping others with their dilemmas and proving to be the hero time and time again.

Resource:

Facts About Israel, published by Division of Information 1973, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem p. 100.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Israel_Defense_Forces

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/golda-meir-quotes

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/ethiopian-jews-israel?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkOqZBhDNARIsAACsbfIrWLLNl6J8gkcLiw1EveckshfuBDLG3lYHaapHrxnusUYbeSsKCO4aAkR7EALw_wcB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldbergs_(broadcast_series)

https://www.msudenver.edu/golda-meir-center/golda-meir/chronology/

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia