Since the emergence of Shas in the early 1980s, the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party has always attempted to walk between the raindrops. On the one hand, it adopted ultra-Orthodox lifestyle values in an attempt to become part of the ultra-Orthodox world in Israel. On the other hand, since most of its leaders are “reborn,” or newly religious, Jews, the party always kept an open window to the outside, non-ultra-Orthodox world.
Things reached a peak when Adina Bar Shalom, daughter of the party’s founder late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, founded an academic college for ultra-Orthodox women. This track contradicted the general orientation of the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox world, but the unswerving support of the esteemed rabbi for his daughter’s educational enterprise caused thousands of the movement’s members and supporters to integrate the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle with academic studies.
The issue of women’s study was always part of the great ultra-Orthodox dilemma, certainly with regard to higher education: How much — if at all — should they open up to the modern secular world? Or should they continue to isolate themselves within the walls of their community? Now, this issue is at the heart of a great struggle in Shas and threatens to harm the party’s chances to survive in the post-Rabbi Yosef era.
On June 23, a dramatic turnabout took place. Less than a year after the death of the revered leader, his successor Rabbi Shalom Cohen, 83, made known that women are forbidden to pursue a higher education because it contradicts the Torah path. This unequivocal rabbinic ruling shook up Shas’ ultra-Orthodox world and beyond. But above all, it engendered a giant question mark regarding the ideological identity of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox movement. Will Shas continue to legitimize to a certain extent some of the non-ultra-Orthodox life values, or will it isolate itself behind a wall of religious fanaticism? Whichever path Shas chooses is likely to have a fateful influence on shaping the identity of the country and affecting the delicate balance between the state and the ultra-Orthodox world. For years, the state has been working untiringly to integrate the ultra-Orthodox in the world of higher education and the work force. Shas’ academic enterprise is viewed as a giant step toward the integration of the ultra-Orthodox sector in the Israeli existence.
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