Knesset member Ruth Calderon views the Egyptian and Turkish women who participated in their countries' mass demonstrations as examples of heroines in the global feminist revolution. As grasped by Calderon, religious women take part in this revolution, as do ultra-Orthodox women in Israel who go to work and change the social structure of the state. Calderon, member of the Yesh Atid party and a Talmud scholar, finds this "female connection" fascinating and she interprets it according to her feminist world view.

“Throughout many years, women were distanced from the centers of power and they did not have the knowledge that men had,” says Calderon in an interview with Al-Monitor. “And now, the social networks allow women and youths to accumulate power and influence through knowledge. Dictatorships can forestall knowledge in the public space, but not on the Web.”

Calderon, known for her groundbreaking work in the secular study of Judaism, was pulled out of the academic world and into politics by Yesh Atid Chairman and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, when he composed his Knesset list for the recent elections. In her first speech in the Knesset, Calderon created an uproar when she read a Talmudic story in Aramaic. The ultra-Orthodox immediately labeled her a threat to Judaism, the secular Jews became curious, and the video became a hit on YouTube with more than 200,000 views.

Most of the members of Calderon’s party lack political training and experience, including Lapid and Education Minister Shai Piron. Their tenure in the Knesset is an interesting experiment in the world of veteran Israeli politics: Will the Yesh Atid Knesset members ultimately succeed in translating their worldview into real-life legislative action?