Ronit Irshai is associate professor and the head of the Gender Studies Program at Bar Ilan University, and a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Tanya Zion-Waldoks is assistant professor in the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“This volume is a true beacon of light at a time when Israeli society faces profoundly complex questions about its identity, in both its democratic and its Jewish character.”

• PREFACE The heroines of this story Authors’ positionality and Methodology INTRODUCTION Who and what is this book about?A note on terminologyThe Dati (Jewish National-Religious/Modern Orthodox) community in Israel Dati feminists – Who are they? Gender, religion, and the Jewish-democratic State Overview of the book and its main argumentCHAPTER 1: JEWISH FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF RELIGIOUS NARRATIVE AND NOMOS Theoretical frameworks Applying Cover CHAPTER 2: HOMES - FEMINISM RESHAPES ORTHODOX JUDAISMStrategies of “Change from Within” and Struggles over Collective Homes Beit Midrash (Torah Study)Beit Knesset (Religious Rituals) Beit Din (Adjudication: Agunot and get Refusal) Bayit Leumi (National Home) Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Family and Female Body) Postscipt: Alternative Homes CHAPTER 3: NARRATIVE BACKLASH: THEOLOGICAL, DISCURSIVE AND POLITICAL ORTHODOX OBSTACLES TO DATI FEMINISMThe Sacrificial Imperative: “Aqedah” Theology as the Basis for Religious Subjectivity“Gender Essentialism” “Slippery Slope” Nationalism “Normalcy” and Family ValuesCHAPTER 4: JUDICIAL ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN DATI FEMINISTS AND THE STATE Introduction “Minority within minority”: Unpacking the Multi-culturalism DebatesA New Theoretical Model: The “Narrative Ripeness” TestThe Human Dignity Test: The Limits of “Narrative Ripeness” Dati Feminists and Israel’s Supreme Court: Applying the Narrative Ripeness Test .Acute Cases: Human Dignity Supercedes Narrative Ripeness AFTERWORD Viva la revolución? Our argument Where do we go next? Looking to the future

Ronit Irshai is associate professor and the head of the Gender Studies Program at Bar Ilan University, and a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Tanya Zion-Waldoks is assistant professor in the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“This volume is a true beacon of light at a time when Israeli society faces profoundly complex questions about its identity, in both its democratic and its Jewish character.”

• PREFACE The heroines of this story Authors’ positionality and Methodology INTRODUCTION Who and what is this book about?A note on terminologyThe Dati (Jewish National-Religious/Modern Orthodox) community in Israel Dati feminists – Who are they? Gender, religion, and the Jewish-democratic State Overview of the book and its main argumentCHAPTER 1: JEWISH FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF RELIGIOUS NARRATIVE AND NOMOS Theoretical frameworks Applying Cover CHAPTER 2: HOMES - FEMINISM RESHAPES ORTHODOX JUDAISMStrategies of “Change from Within” and Struggles over Collective Homes Beit Midrash (Torah Study)Beit Knesset (Religious Rituals) Beit Din (Adjudication: Agunot and get Refusal) Bayit Leumi (National Home) Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Family and Female Body) Postscipt: Alternative Homes CHAPTER 3: NARRATIVE BACKLASH: THEOLOGICAL, DISCURSIVE AND POLITICAL ORTHODOX OBSTACLES TO DATI FEMINISMThe Sacrificial Imperative: “Aqedah” Theology as the Basis for Religious Subjectivity“Gender Essentialism” “Slippery Slope” Nationalism “Normalcy” and Family ValuesCHAPTER 4: JUDICIAL ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN DATI FEMINISTS AND THE STATE Introduction “Minority within minority”: Unpacking the Multi-culturalism DebatesA New Theoretical Model: The “Narrative Ripeness” TestThe Human Dignity Test: The Limits of “Narrative Ripeness” Dati Feminists and Israel’s Supreme Court: Applying the Narrative Ripeness Test .Acute Cases: Human Dignity Supercedes Narrative Ripeness AFTERWORD Viva la revolución? Our argument Where do we go next? Looking to the future

Ronit Irshai is associate professor and the head of the Gender Studies Program at Bar Ilan University, and a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Tanya Zion-Waldoks is assistant professor in the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“This volume is a true beacon of light at a time when Israeli society faces profoundly complex questions about its identity, in both its democratic and its Jewish character.”

• PREFACE The heroines of this story Authors’ positionality and Methodology INTRODUCTION Who and what is this book about?A note on terminologyThe Dati (Jewish National-Religious/Modern Orthodox) community in Israel Dati feminists – Who are they? Gender, religion, and the Jewish-democratic State Overview of the book and its main argumentCHAPTER 1: JEWISH FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF RELIGIOUS NARRATIVE AND NOMOS Theoretical frameworks Applying Cover CHAPTER 2: HOMES - FEMINISM RESHAPES ORTHODOX JUDAISMStrategies of “Change from Within” and Struggles over Collective Homes Beit Midrash (Torah Study)Beit Knesset (Religious Rituals) Beit Din (Adjudication: Agunot and get Refusal) Bayit Leumi (National Home) Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Family and Female Body) Postscipt: Alternative Homes CHAPTER 3: NARRATIVE BACKLASH: THEOLOGICAL, DISCURSIVE AND POLITICAL ORTHODOX OBSTACLES TO DATI FEMINISMThe Sacrificial Imperative: “Aqedah” Theology as the Basis for Religious Subjectivity“Gender Essentialism” “Slippery Slope” Nationalism “Normalcy” and Family ValuesCHAPTER 4: JUDICIAL ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN DATI FEMINISTS AND THE STATE Introduction “Minority within minority”: Unpacking the Multi-culturalism DebatesA New Theoretical Model: The “Narrative Ripeness” TestThe Human Dignity Test: The Limits of “Narrative Ripeness” Dati Feminists and Israel’s Supreme Court: Applying the Narrative Ripeness Test .Acute Cases: Human Dignity Supercedes Narrative Ripeness AFTERWORD Viva la revolución? Our argument Where do we go next? Looking to the future