Australian Orthodox feminists stand up to be counted

The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance will launch next month in Melbourne. SHARON BERGER speaks to their president about the movement’s hopes and ambitions

A NEW FORUM FOR people who want to change the landscape for Orthodox women in Australia will be launched early next month.

The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) Australia will be launched in Melbourne on May 9. The launch, originally planned for March 2020, was put on hold due to the pandemic.

JOFA organisers see the in-person event, for up to 100 men and women, as a chance to hear what changes Orthodox women and girls want to see in their community.

Members of the JOFA Australia board, which includes women from four Melbourne synagogues - Blake Street, Beit Aharon, Mizrahi and Ohr David (a sub-shule of Mizrahi)- have their own views but want to ensure those ideas are aligned with the needs of their community.

One item agenda they will be pursuing regardless is the setting up of a Women’s Orthodox Speakers Bureau, with plans to have a diverse list of 60-80 names within a year.

“Organisations will no longer have an excuse to say there are no suitable women to sit on a panel,” JOFA Australia President Nomi Kaltmann told The Jewish Independent.

“Across Australia there is a growing number of amazing Orthodox women who have strong foundations in Torah learning and are looking for opportunities to teach and speak,” JOFA Australia’s Vice President, Sharona Jotzkowitz, said.

“Many of these women are fantastic resources for our community. JOFA Australia intends to foster this potential and continue to inspire greater female engagement in Torah learning and participation in communal affairs.”

Although the group’s focus will be in Melbourne, it plans to expand nationally at some point. It feels Sydney has “more consistent Orthodox feminist options” for now, including the Sydney Women’s Tefilah group, which holds regular women’s services on Purim and Simchat Torah.

JOFA Australia follows in the footsteps of JOFA US, which was launched 30 years ago, and JOFA UK, which debuted about a decade ago. Kaltmann, a lawyer and writer, says JOFA Australia has had significant guidance from both organisations, and particularly from Rabba Dina Brawer, who founded JOFA UK.

While there is no formal JOFA in Israel, there are a number of similar organisations advocating for greater women’s representation in Orthodoxy, including Chochmat Nashim and Kolech as well as feminist organisations such as Women of the Wall and the Israel Religious Action Center that advocate for full gender equality.

Many of these organisations are active in promoting women’s learning, including the recent International Women’s Talmud Day, advocating for women to take on roles in religious frameworks, such as becoming qualified kashrut supervisors (mashgicot), and working against the growing phenomenon of erasing images of women and girls in public spaces and advertising.

“Australia may be a bit behind in terms of women’s progress in Orthodox settings … but we are getting there,” said Kaltmann.

Using the respected JOFA brand name will “create a movement with an organisation that has international recognition which will help shift Australian women’s role in an Orthodox setting.”

Kaltmann feels strongly that this is the time: “The Orthodox landscape is changing quite rapidly in Australia. It’s ready for a new movement.”

She believes that the changing attitudes around women in Australia over the past three to five years have resulted in “Orthodox women coming to a realisation that they don’t want to be excluded from any areas of the synagogue and ritual settings where they have the ability to Halachically participate.” 

Women want to be better represented on boards, in synagogues and in leadership positions.

Kaltmann says although members of JOFA will no longer accept business as usual, any changes will come from within the community. JOFA doesn’t want to be seen as a rabble rouser or a radical group that can be dismissed by conservative voices.

She says they want all Orthodox women to feel they have a place in JOFA and believe that attacking the institutions these women are connected with will alienate potential supporters.

The group has not encountered any formal opposition, Kaltmann says. It has reached out to non-Orthodox women’s organisations, which have been supportive, and is keen to work with others. It even hopes to inspire the creation of more JOFAs and members are in talks with women from other countries.

Those interested in attending the Melbourne launch on May 9 at 8pm can BOOK HERE

Photo: JOFA president Nomi Kaltmann