Papers by Elisheva Rosman-Stollman
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Aug 31, 2023
Religious women see their faith as an important component in their lives and want it to be a posi... more Religious women see their faith as an important component in their lives and want it to be a positive and constructive force. However, at times they wish to bring about change that affects the religious sphere. Such changes-even if they are minor-require actions that are not always accepted favorably by religious authorities. Religious women must devise strategies to bring about the change they wish to see. Using a typology of strategies employed by religious feminists when dealing with religious systems and the role the state plays in this relationship, this article explores the strategy of leveraging based on two case studies. The first, focusing solely on Jewish women in Israel, examines the issue of ritual immersion in state-owned baths. The second explores marriage captivity in Israel and the Netherlands and involves Jewish Orthodox and Muslim women in both countries (as well as others). The article demonstrates the strategy of leveraging and discusses its potential as a tool for change, concluding with suggestions for future research.
Irshai, 2010). Therefore, according to this school of thought, demands from the state regarding i... more Irshai, 2010). Therefore, according to this school of thought, demands from the state regarding intervention within the relationship between religious institutions and believers are illegitimate. According to this view, what happens between religious frameworks and believers is private and has nothing to do with the state (Nyhagen, 2019:9). However, despite this position, at times, believers do call upon the state to involve itself within this relationship. The most prominent of these cases, usually involve religious feminists 1 who may turn to the state in order to achieve their objectives vis-à-vis their respective religious establishments. 2 Despite the observation that such demands have become more and more prevalent (as demonstrated, for example in: Watling, 2002; Yanay-Ventura, 2016; Irshai, 2012; Israel-Cohen, 2012), scholarship has yet to classify when and how they happen and what form they take. This article seeks to contribute to the conceptualization of this relationship andwithin this contextto examine the expectations religious feminists have from the state, in their quest for equality in the religious sphere. It sets out to classify and categorize the strategies used by religious feminists in order to elicit change, and to identify within these strategies what role they expect the state to play. Drawing on examples from the Israeli case study, where religious feminists have contested the religious authorities using multiple strategies, the paper maps out a series of typologies that provides a theoretical framework for considering how religious feminists may operate in different scenarios and the expectations they have for the state in calculating routes for advocating their causes. Using data to create a typology, even as an initial one, can be helpful in cases when the field is underdeveloped and is in need of preliminary
Religion, State and Society, 2016
This article describes and analyses the changes that have occurred in the services performed by c... more This article describes and analyses the changes that have occurred in the services performed by chaplains in the Israel Defense Force (IDF)the only military in the world that consists almost entirely of Jews. Essentially, we argue, the shift has been one of focus. For many years, IDF chaplains primarily (albeit never exclusively) concerned themselves with providing religious services to the minority of personnel who observed Orthodox Jewish rituals. 'Outreach' programmes, targeted at the secular Jewish majority, were secondary. Recently, however, the IDF rabbinate has undergone a process of 'role expansion', emphasising the provision of counselling and guidance to the entire Jewish complement, especially in combat units. In the second part of the article, we analyse the possible reasons for that development: demographic and cultural trends in Israeli society; the prominence of counter-insurgency missions in the IDF's operational agenda; and the personalities of recent chief chaplains. Finally, we address the possible implications of this shift, asking whether the intra-organisational frictions that it generates, especially with the Education Corps, portends a battle for the soul of the IDF.
University of Texas Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2014
Israel Studies, Jul 1, 2009
Mediating mechanisms between the Religious-Zionist (or "national-religious") sector of ... more Mediating mechanisms between the Religious-Zionist (or "national-religious") sector of Israeli society and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been discussed in scholarly publications. The focus of this essay is Jewish female soldiers from this social segment who choose to be drafted through the garin program conducted in three midrashot. The program combines traditional Jewish religious study in midrashot, women's study academies (batei midrash) with full military service, usually in the IDF's education corps. The garin program and the midrashot they originate from serve as mediating structures, assisting students during their military service. This essay describes the garin program. It also discusses why young religious women opt to join the IDF through such a program and what advantages this course of service offers to both recruits and the IDF. In its conclusion, the article notes that the garin program may be indicative of two phenomena worth further investigation: 1) the IDF as still embodying the consociational form that was once more evident in Israeli politics and 2) the growing "civilization" of the IDF rather than militarization of Israeli society.
Social Science Research Network, 2021
Irshai, 2010). Therefore, according to this school of thought, demands from the state regarding i... more Irshai, 2010). Therefore, according to this school of thought, demands from the state regarding intervention within the relationship between religious institutions and believers are illegitimate. According to this view, what happens between religious frameworks and believers is private and has nothing to do with the state (Nyhagen, 2019:9). However, despite this position, at times, believers do call upon the state to involve itself within this relationship. The most prominent of these cases, usually involve religious feminists 1 who may turn to the state in order to achieve their objectives vis-à-vis their respective religious establishments. 2 Despite the observation that such demands have become more and more prevalent (as demonstrated, for example in: Watling, 2002; Yanay-Ventura, 2016; Irshai, 2012; Israel-Cohen, 2012), scholarship has yet to classify when and how they happen and what form they take. This article seeks to contribute to the conceptualization of this relationship andwithin this contextto examine the expectations religious feminists have from the state, in their quest for equality in the religious sphere. It sets out to classify and categorize the strategies used by religious feminists in order to elicit change, and to identify within these strategies what role they expect the state to play. Drawing on examples from the Israeli case study, where religious feminists have contested the religious authorities using multiple strategies, the paper maps out a series of typologies that provides a theoretical framework for considering how religious feminists may operate in different scenarios and the expectations they have for the state in calculating routes for advocating their causes. Using data to create a typology, even as an initial one, can be helpful in cases when the field is underdeveloped and is in need of preliminary
Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny: The Mi Sheberach for IDF Soldiers, 2023
Elisheva Rosman-Stollman, "The Prayers of the Mothers and Fathers of ‘hayeladim’ on Israel’s Fron... more Elisheva Rosman-Stollman, "The Prayers of the Mothers and Fathers of ‘hayeladim’ on Israel’s Frontlines," in Aviad Hacohen and Menachem Butler, eds., Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny: The Mi Sheberach for IDF Soldiers (Cambridge, MA: The Institute for Jewish Research and Publications, 2023), 519-521
Battlefield miracle stories are not rare. This paper suggests a typology of battlefield miracles.... more Battlefield miracle stories are not rare. This paper suggests a typology of battlefield miracles. From this perspective it asks what sort of miracles can we expect to see in battle and when can we expect to see them? After presenting the main points of discussion regarding miracles, it proposes a range of categories for military miracles (miracles as acts that violate nature versus miracles as everyday acts; those involving the divine versus occurrences not requiring the presence of a heavenly emissary; acts of benevolence versus acts with no such intent; having a clear purpose versus acts where there is disagreement regarding interpretation). After discussing these categories, the articles uses Operation Cast Lead (December 2008-January 2009) as a case study to test the typology suggested above. Since this field is underdeveloped, this paper sets out to initiate a conversation on battlefield miracles, with hope that future studies will build upon it.
Middle Eastern Studies, 2014
While Elisheva Rosman-Stollman's study of the experiences of religious soldiers focuses in the ma... more While Elisheva Rosman-Stollman's study of the experiences of religious soldiers focuses in the main on Orthodox Jews (or Religious Zionism) in the Israeli armed forces, it also provides comparative examinations of other armed forces such as those of the US, India, Turkey and Iran, even if these other case studies are covered rather briefly. In all of these examples, the book under review stresses the tension between the military, the state, and religion-between some soldiers'
Journal of law, religion and state, Apr 4, 2019
Ritual immersion in Israel has become a major point of contention between Israeli-Jewish women an... more Ritual immersion in Israel has become a major point of contention between Israeli-Jewish women and the state-funded Chief Rabbinate of Israel. In order to conduct a religious household, Orthodox Jewish women are required to immerse in a ritual bath (mikveh) approximately once a month. However, in Israel, these are strictly regulated and managed by the Chief Rabbinate, which habitually interferes with women’s autonomy when immersing. The article presents the case, then moves to discuss two models of religion-state relations: privatization and evenhandedness (roughly the modern version of nonpreferentialism), as two democratic models that can be adopted by the state in order to properly manage religious services, ritual baths included. The discussion also delineates the general lessons that can be learned from this contextual exploration, pointing to the advantages of the privatization model, and to the complexities involved in any evenhanded approach beyond the specific case at hand.
Israel studies review, 2015
In this article we examine the representation of combat soldiers in Israel through their media im... more In this article we examine the representation of combat soldiers in Israel through their media image. Using two major national Israeli newspapers, we follow the presentation of the Israeli combat soldier over three decades. Our findings indicate that the combat soldier begins as a hegemonic masculine figure in the 1980s, shifts to a more vulnerable, frightened child in the 1990s, and attains a more complex framing in the 2000s. While this most recent representation returns to a hegemonic masculine one, it includes additional, 'softer' components. We find that the transformation in the image of the Israeli soldier reflects changes within Israeli society in general during the period covered and is also indicative of global changes in masculinity to a certain extent. We conclude by analyzing two possible explanations: the perception of the threat and changes in the perception of masculine identity.
Israel Affairs, Apr 27, 2020
Can the military bridge social schisms? Conventional wisdom supports this assumption. However, it... more Can the military bridge social schisms? Conventional wisdom supports this assumption. However, it seems that, at best, the effect of military service on bridging social schisms and promoting social cohesion is limited. This article examines the extended effect of contact hypothesis in the military, both in practice and as an element capable of bringing about a change in veterans' thinking. It asks: are veterans who had diverse friendships during their service more likely to have diverse friendships in the future? If so, do they attribute their ability and willingness to include others within their ingroup to their military service? Based on findings from a study of Israeli college and university students, the article demonstrates that while indeed service friendships may be short lived, service alongside members of outgroups has certain longer-term effects and influences the social perception of veterans. Social messages can be both positive and negative and teach veterans the limits of redrawing social boundaries.
Religions, Oct 27, 2020
Women serve in diverse roles in the 21st century militaries of the world. They are no longer bann... more Women serve in diverse roles in the 21st century militaries of the world. They are no longer banned from combat. The presence of women on the battlefield has raised religious arguments and considerations. What role do religious arguments play in the discussion regarding women's military service? Using media, internal publications, as well as academic articles, the current paper examined this question in the context of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF): a conscription-based military that conscripts both men and women, religious and secular, for both combat and noncombat postings. Using the case of the pilot program in the IDF attempting to integrate women in the Israeli tank corps, as well as gauging the way religious men view this change, the paper argues that religious considerations serve the same purpose as functional considerations and can be amplified or lessened, as needed.
Religions, Oct 11, 2018
Battlefield miracle stories are not rare. This paper suggests a typology of battlefield miracles.... more Battlefield miracle stories are not rare. This paper suggests a typology of battlefield miracles. From this perspective it asks what sort of miracles can we expect to see in battle and when can we expect to see them? After presenting the main points of discussion regarding miracles, it proposes a range of categories for military miracles (miracles as acts that violate nature versus miracles as everyday acts; those involving the divine versus occurrences not requiring the presence of a heavenly emissary; acts of benevolence versus acts with no such intent; having a clear purpose versus acts where there is disagreement regarding interpretation). After discussing these categories, the articles uses Operation Cast Lead (December 2008-January 2009) as a case study to test the typology suggested above. Since this field is underdeveloped, this paper sets out to initiate a conversation on battlefield miracles, with hope that future studies will build upon it.
Modern society recognizes individuals as worthy of consideration each in their own right. The mod... more Modern society recognizes individuals as worthy of consideration each in their own right. The modern individual chooses to join a collective as a way to satisfy needs, but no longer sees him-or herself as obligated to sacrifice in the name of a higher collective good. Yet, while we live in a world that no longer asks what we can do for the collective, but what the collective has done for us lately as individuals, the collective has not entirely lost its importance. This article will look at the complex idea of identity and examine the transition from collective to individual representation through the media image of soldiers in Israel. Soldiers, and the Israel Defence Force (IDF) in general, enjoy a uniquely central position in Israeli society, as will be described at length below. Civil-military scholars in Israel agree that soldiers are a source of public pride and national ethos. Few images in Israel attract as much public attention as soldiers do. For this reason, examining the identity of soldiers is telling of social trends in Israeli society at large and can serve as a litmus test for more general changes in Israeli identity.
Politics, Religion & Ideology, Mar 28, 2022
ABSTRACT Religious feminists of many faiths are politically and socially active. While religious ... more ABSTRACT Religious feminists of many faiths are politically and socially active. While religious feminism has begun to attract scholarly attention, the political interaction of religious feminism with the state has largely gone unnoticed. Consequently, there is a lack of scholarly tools with which to understand this relationship. In this context, the paper asks: What do religious feminists expect from the state? Do they expect it to interevene on their behalf or rather prefer it remove itself from the equation? Are there strategies they are more likely to employ? While current scholarship does not supply concepts and terms, it is possible to borrow terms from other disciplines in order to classify strategies used by religious feminists in their interactions with the state. Using the Israeli case, this paper proposes a typology of stratgies used by religious feminists vis-à-vis the religious establishment and where expectations from the state fit into this dynamic.
Ajs Review-the Journal of The Association for Jewish Studies, Apr 1, 2019
Armed Forces & Society, Jul 28, 2016
Military establishments view religious soldiers with mixed feelings and must contend with the spe... more Military establishments view religious soldiers with mixed feelings and must contend with the specific dilemmas these soldiers present. This article suggests what might influence the managing of religious diversity in the ranks, using the idea of dimensions of isolation. The more removed a military is from society, the more likely it is to utilize internal mechanisms when dealing with religious soldiers. The less removed it is from society, the more likely it will be to turn to external mediating mechanisms in this regard. Using three dimensions of isolation (physical, temporal, and psychological), this article discusses the treatment of religious troops in the Israeli and Turkish cases. After exploring what can be learned from these cases regarding the accommodation of religious soldiers, the article concludes with some suggestions for future research.
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Papers by Elisheva Rosman-Stollman