8 days of olim shining their light on Israel: Alice Shalvi
Celebrating Olim from North America and the UK that have shined their light on Israel and the Jewish people.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: DECEMBER 12, 2017 15:17Alice Shalvi(photo credit: JARED BERNSTEIN)
German-born Alice Shalvi has dedicated her life to shaping the status of women in Israel through education and advocacy.After living from 1934-1949 in the UK, where she earned degrees from the University of Cambridge as well as the London School of Economics, Shalvi made aliya and taught in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Department of English. She later founded the Israel Women’s Network and transformed the organization Pelech, which both work to help Israeli women gain greater acceptance in all sectors of society and levels of the military. Pelech is a unique progressive high school for religious girls, while the Israel Women’s Network became the Jewish state’s leading advocacy group on women’s issues.“They really changed, transformed the whole issue of women’s status and equality,” Shalvi told The Jerusalem Post in June 2017 regarding Pelech, where she was the principal from 1975-1990, and the Israel Women’s Network, where she served as chairwoman from 1984-2000. “Other women’s organizations were mainly concerned with the status of the working mother.”Shalvi, 90, is a leading figure in a variety of social, peace, interfaith, and feminist movements and activities. She has received honorary degrees from Brown University, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In 2007, she was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievements in the areas of education, social welfare, and human rights and was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize in 2017.Over the 8 days of Hanukka, The Jerusalem Post and Nefesh B’Nefesh will bring you 8 extraordinary Olim from North America and the UK that have shined their respective light on Israel and the Jewish people. Nefesh B’Nefesh, the main facilitator of Aliya from these areas, has brought over 50,000 Olim to Israel since the organizations’ founding 10 years ago. Its annual Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize honors these Olim each year. To nominate exceptional Anglo Olim making a difference in Israel, please visit: http://www.nbn.org.il/bonei-zion/
