Israeli High Court: Gender-Separate Academic Programs Are Legitimate But Female Lecturers Must Be Permitted

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JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Higher Academic Council can allow gender-separate programs for academic studies in order to enable the integration of the chareidi community into academia. The court was ruling in response to a petition seeking to close the gender-separate programs since they discriminate against females by preventing them from lecturing to males.

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However even though the court allowed the programs to continue, it stipulated that they should enable women to use the public areas within the institutions and that there should not be a policy which prohibits women from lecturing to men.

Thus, the programs themselves might remain separate but women could theoretically study in public areas on the men’s campus and could claim discrimination if they are not offered employment in the men’s campus. Moreover the court restricted the separate programs to first degree studies and did not permit any advanced degree gender-separate programs, despite the fact that such a program already exists at Michlelet Orot in Elkana.

It should be noted that the decision to force chareidim who wish to integrate into academia to hear lectures from female lecturers and maintain student- teacher contact with them effectively contradicts the declaration that chareidim should be allowed to integrate since a large majority of chareidi students will not want to take part in such a framework. Thus, in reality the court decision discriminates against the chareidi public who wish to pursue higher academic studies.

 


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101 Comments
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Bored Lawyer
Bored Lawyer
2 years ago

Sounds like they are making it up as they go along. This is kosher, this treif, blah, blah, blah.

YU and Touro have had separate campuses for decades, and no one feels “discriminated” against. If you don’t like it, ther are plenty of other mixed-gender places to go to. Same in Israel.

elyeh
Noble Member
elyeh
2 years ago

Since there are courses which are gender segregated this should not be a difficulty.

If one does not want to have female teachers, do not register for the courses which have female teachers! And likewise if one does not want male teachers, do not register for courses with male teachers.

It is usually easy to know who will teach which courses. It does require special effort, but so does everything that is worthwhile.

Last edited 2 years ago by elyeh
Hat
Hat
2 years ago

For those opposed to this (without getting into the Israeli politics) curious why it is okay and actually the norm in the Frum world for men to teach women?

The Chazon Ish’s thought that women serving in the army was an issue of yaavor val yehareg as far as I understood was due to women placing themselves under the dominion of men, which would seem a man teaching women is a step in that direction (the need for a good mark puts the student in a submissive position relative to a teacher…. that good mark can make a difference for your whole life and is a pretty big deal). However to have women in the position of teaching would seemingly be less of an issue.

In terms of tznius, a man teaching women is looking at a whole group of women with plenty sitting and some not being careful to cover their knees, which seems much worse than a women standing and talking in front of men.

Personally I don’t see the big deal with this (with men teaching women or women teaching men), but I have always found it very hypocritical that we allow men to teach women but not the other way around. No one has ever been able to explain to me why this makes sense.

Naftush
Naftush
2 years ago

Wow, the thought of a w-person delivering a lecture before m-persons, and the eruption of fear and loathing that it triggers.

georgeg
georgeg
2 years ago

In the U.S. the academics have already labelled all White “straight” male across the board (at all ages) as racists White supremacists who (literally) have no right to even speak let alone to teach.

Heshy
Heshy
2 years ago

Keep destroying Judaism each day and watch how fast the secular state will be destroyed.

Judith
Judith
2 years ago

Does anyone know if Touro college men’s program allows female professors ?

Boycott
Boycott
2 years ago

The batei dinim should declare the Israeli Supreme Court as illegitimate and put a cherem on it and its laws.

Educated Archy
Educated Archy
2 years ago

If you want charedim to integrate its in their best interest to ignore these kinds of laws. The Israeli govt needs to accommodate charedi needs

Shmuel
Shmuel
2 years ago

Is anybody out there still under the illusion that Israel is a JEWISH state?