![]() She now lives in the Jerusalem suburb of Ramat Beit Shemesh with her husband Yaron and five children - two sons and three daughters. Yankelevich spent several years working as a government attorney before establishing the Just Begun Foundation in 2015, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to “promoting social resilience and reducing gaps in society”. She attended charedi schools in Israel and Britain, including the Gateshead seminary, before earning a Bachelor’s degree in teaching from Cambridge and a Master’s in law at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Her early formative experiences included travelling to Russia with her parents toward the end of the Soviet Union, where they spent several years volunteering in local Jewish communities.īy the time she was 16, Yankelevich was teaching Hebrew and Jewish practice in Moscow. Her father, Yaakov (Yasha) Galinsky, a Lithianian, was an actor for the famed Israeli Habima Theatre, while her mother was born in Latvia.īorn Omer Galinksy on May 25, 1978, she was given her name because her birth coincided with Lag b’Omer. The Tel Aviv native, born to secular immigrants from the Soviet Union who had embraced religion later in life, grew up with one foot in the insular charedi community and another in the secular world. Yankelevich, 42, was elected to parliament last year in her first foray into politics. In March, the party pledged to push for charedi enlistment in the military and enforce the teaching of a core curriculum in charedi schools - both of which are strongly opposed by the charedi political establishment. In fact, she’s in Benny Gantz’s Blue and White centrist coalition, which does not cater to the religious community the way Netanyahu’s Likud party has. Will she work to bridge the divides that have widened between Israel and international Jews? Or will she compromise with the religious community in Israel to which she belongs?ĭespite being charedi, Yankelevich isn’t a member of a religious party. Many eyes are focused on the political newcomer. She’s also the first charedi woman to hold a Cabinet position in the Israeli government and is taking criticism for that - many in her community say her participation in politics is scandalous. Yankelevich’s role is complicated by the fact that she is charedi - part of a community that is at the heart of some of the issues putting a wedge between Israel and the Diaspora. ![]() ![]() It has never been an easy task, but tensions in recent years between Israel and America, as well as other international Jewish communities, have boiled to all-time highs over several social, political and religious disagreements.Īmong them: who can pray at the Kotel and who Israel’s Orthodox Chief Rabbinate deems Jewish. OMER Yankelevich is the new minister of Diaspora Affairs in Israel, meaning she’s in charge of managing the country’s relations with Jewish communities abroad. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |