The Education Ministry on Wednesday introduced a new curriculum focusing on 28 Sephardi women trailblazers as part of a larger effort to empower Israeli girls and recognize the contribution of Sephardi Jews. The program, already integrated into school curricula this year, reflects the ministry's ongoing effort to add subject matter dealing with the history and culture of Sephardi Jews. School Administrators distributed a 172-page booklet that encompasses a variety of topics that the ministry hopes will be used as complementary material for preparing girls for their bat mitzvahs, or in various school assignments about their heritage. It is also designed to help teachers engage students on gender issues and mark special dates, such as International Women's Day Among the women celebrated in the booklet are late Israeli actress and filmmaker Ronit Elkabetz, who won the Israeli equivalent of the Academy Awards; Israeli award-winning actress and playwright Hanna Azoulay Hasfari, who delivered a much touted speech at a U.N. conference on women rights in 2015; and the Israeli poet Adi Keissar. Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday that this was a step in the right direction. "We will continue telling the story of these women until it is fully told, and we will keep empowering women, since this is the right thing to do."
