Facilitators and coordinators

The value of equality is a central value in modern and democratic societies, and they try to realize it by establishing infrastructure and resources that enable equal opportunities for all, such as a state education system. Despite these efforts, an in-depth examination of those societies in general and Israeli society in particular reveals that inequality is not decreasing and is even replicating itself. Phenomena such as poverty, lack of education, and low self-image and social standing reproduce themselves among certain populations, just as higher education, wealth, and prestige reproduce themselves among other populations. An examination of the education system reveals that it constitutes an accurate mirror image of inequality in society, so that there is also a reproduction of achievements among students in accordance with their achievements and the socio-economic status of their parents. In light of this fact, it is necessary to examine whether the education system, which is designed to ensure equal opportunities and enable success on every scale for every person, regardless of gender, origin, economic status, or place of residence, is performing the opposite function and serving as a tool for perpetuating class positions. Identifying the hidden and overt social mechanisms that encourage the reproduction of gaps in society, along with creating an education system that is detached from the social structure and fosters a worldview that believes in and promotes every child, will enable the reproduction of gaps to be reduced.

In Western society, women's participation in public spaces is expanding, a process whose main engine is women's movements that aim to create social change. Women's participation in social circles also inspires the desire to be partners in public spaces of Jewish life. In traditional and religious society in Israel, processes of religious extremism have been taking place in recent years, one of the products of which is the exclusion of women from the Jewish public space on the grounds that their participation in these spaces is a violation of halakhah. These opposing processes cause gender movements in the Jewish space to push to narrow the gap in radical ways that may harm the family and community and their central values. Identifying traditions that allow women to be partners in the Jewish public space and understanding the centrality of the family in building a reformed society make it possible to initiate a process of change in the status of women without dismantling other value frameworks.