The oil fueling the flames currently raging over discrimination against women is being added to the fire by a surprising hand. It is not that of the ultra-Orthodox. It is not that of the extreme religious sect Naturei Karta. It is not that of the Shas crowd either. It is in fact the hand of the religious-Zionist rabbis who are waging an all-out war against public singing by women. It is as if they put women's singing in the same column as incest. Chief Samaria Rabbi Eliyakim Levanon, head of the Elon Moreh hesder yeshiva and an avid supporter of the Israel Defense Forces, went as far as urging his followers to refuse military orders in order to avoid hearing women singing, "even if they are faced by a firing squad for doing so." Rabbi Eli Sadan, the head of the Bnei David yeshiva, refused to attend a Knesset lecture given by a woman. But this is the less important aspect of the cultural struggle against discrimination. Even the practice of segregating certain "kosher" bus lines and relegating women to the back failed to spark a wide response. This humiliating practice has been going on for 20 years, but in a social bubble, far from the public eye. Out of sight, out of mind. One ultra-Orthodox woman said that a Haredi man would not give up his bus seat to a woman even if she was in labor. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! Israel's female leaders spoke their mind at a conference on the issue in Tel Aviv this week. Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich and Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely, who announced the establishment of a routine patrol squad to monitor buses in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, poured their hearts out. But special attention was given to the ultra-Orthodox daughter of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Adina Bar-Shalom. She called on ultra-Orthodox men to go out and get jobs. She was no doubt referring to the ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who live off the state. This is the important aspect of the struggle against discrimination the positive thing that came out of this backwards practice. It is possible that the recent spike in discriminatory practices within the ultra-Orthodox community actually stems from weakness. The old world is beginning to lose its grip on part of the religious public. Women are getting jobs and the men are slacking off. Women control the money, even if they are compelled to hand it over to their husbands. Because it is the woman who earns the money, someday she may even keep some of it for herself, and that would be ideal, even if it gets out of hand. The role of the ultra-Orthodox woman, once no more than a maker of babies and a preparer of food, is not what it once was. And the God-fearing man, who is not versed in Mathematics and has never learned English, feels that Halachah and rabbinical rulings will not be able to stop the shift the woman is now much more than she was, and the man much less. We must combat the move toward extremism. We must fight the segregated buses and the outlaws who spit at women and the hooligans who harass little girls at religious schools. We must be relentless, and remember that, in this battle, it is the religious-Zionists and seculars who have the upper hand. There is hope. The moldy ultra-Orthodox institution is shaking in its boots.
