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This paper is the first to identify and conceptualize theological notions in contemporary rabbinic discourse which serve to undermine the advancement of women's rights and curtail the integration of feminist notions and norms into religious Zionist society in Israel. Our analysis identifies five discursive moves that serve as broad theological obstacles, providing religious grounding for the current illiberal hostility to feminism in Israel. The primary axes of backlash in rabbinic discourse are: "sacrifice," "the slippery slope," "gender essentialism," "normalcy" or "family values," and "nationalism". We argue that the emergence of these specific critiques at this time is tied to their role as oppositional narratives that counter the rising prominence of religious Zionist feminism. We examine this case in light of local and global trends such as "anti-gender ideologies," thereby contributing to the burgeoning literature on the rise of illiberal cultural and political forces in Western countries and emphasizing the roles played by religious ideologies, leaders and discourses in shaping and legitimizing an anti-feminist backlash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an innovative sociological framework to discuss recent social, ideological, and religious trends within the Religious-Zionist sector in Israel. The article challenges the prevalent conceptualization of Religious-Zionism as a sui generis ideology. Contrary to researchers who emphasize the synthesis of religion and Zionism in the Religious-Zionist ideology, the author argues that the Religious-Zionist identity is based primarily on social connections (kinship, geographical, institutional) between the members of the group. The author uses this approach to make sense of recent Religious-Zionist trends: post-Zionism, the 'religious-lite', Orthodox feminism, and neo-liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the changes that occurred in the significance of Israel’s Western Wall after the Six-Day War in 1967, when the site became a prominent Jewish and Israeli symbol. We examine the processes that established the Western Wall as a site combining both Jewish and Israeli components of identity — a place of national importance in Israeli consciousness. During these processes, the religious and historic contexts of the site remained intact and were even strengthened, but they were now supplemented by modern Zionist-national values and expressions. The new reality created at the Western Wall accorded it a new and extraordinary status as a national holy place. The site continued to represent the past and Israel’s religious and historical heritage, and Jews continued to visit it for religious and traditional reasons. The innovation was that the Western Wall was now infused with new content relevant to the post-Six-Day War period and to the social and cultural characteristics of Israeli society during those years. The site served as a source of connection for the diverse expressions of Israeli identity, and it accommodated a relatively wide range of worldviews, from religious-traditional (and perhaps even ultra-Orthodox) perspectives to civil-national perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn (1857-1935) was a religious Zionist thinker and one of the founders of the "Mizrachi" movement. The present article aims to trace his approach towards work: did he see work as a need, an obligation imposed upon the human being to sustain his household, or did he, perhaps, associate work with a religious value as an integral part of the theology which he steered by? The conclusion is that R. Hirschensohn's approach towards work is both a must for a livelihood and part of Jewish and national identity, to the point where Redemption itself depends upon it. Work is also part of religious Zionist theology, one of whose proponents and founders Chaim Hirschensohn was. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]