The “Modesty Strike”: A Chapter in Haredi Girls Education’s Struggle for Independence

• In Event: Halakhah and Modern Politics

Abstract

In 1951, a major incident took place in the Agudat Yisrael political party. Female teachers in the Beit Yaakov system, a Haredi educational network under the auspices of Agudat Yisrael, threatened a warning strike if the party leadership did not approve the Beit Yaakov charter’s regulations on modesty. This sensational episode was covered in almost all the Israeli newspapers of the day, including the secular and national-religious (Mizrachi) press, and at length in the press of the extremist HaEdah HaḤaredit. The one paper that did not mention it was Hamodia, identified with Agudat Yisrael. Why was the “modesty strike” perceived as such a dramatic event?
Before Israel’s founding, the pre-state Jewish settlement was divided into three educational streams: general, Labor, and Mizrachi. Most schools belonged to one of these streams. Alongside these streams, however, were additional private schools not supported by pre-state institutions; Beit Yaakov schools fell into this category. In 1949, Agudat Yisrael’s schools were recognized as a fourth educational stream (known from 1953 onward as HaḤinukh Ha'Atzmai). While this formalization led to numerous opportunities, it also limited school principals’ freedom of action. The principal’s autonomy was supplanted by an external body, HaVa'ad HaMefakeaḥ (the Supervisory Council), elected by the party. Some were displeased with this change, criticizing Agudat Yisrael’s decision to come under the jurisdiction of the Zionist state. In the “modesty strike,” teachers on the ground sought to adopt stricter halakhic standards than those of the party, leading to conflict.
In this lecture, I will discuss the roots of the “modesty strike,” as well as numerous aspects of the event. Why did the Agudat Yisrael-affiliated council refuse to approve the modesty policy? Did the teachers in fact rebel for ideological reasons? What were the criticisms leveled at Agudat Yisrael? How were the insurgent teachers received? How was the event described in the various newspapers? Further, I will examine the event through a broader lens: the establishment of the “fourth stream” in Israeli education, alongside the internal and external resistance to this development.

Author

• Iris Brown, Ono Academic College