Women’s mission turns
the focus to Israeli women

By Rachel Irwin
of The Chronicle staff

For Rakefet Ginsberg, leading a trip of local women on a mission to Israel is perhaps the perfect synthesis of her interests and professional experience.

An Israeli social worker, Ginsberg has worked extensively with women’s issues in the Jewish state. And now, as Milwaukee’s community shlichah (Israel emissary) and director of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Israel Center, she seeks to deepen the relationships between Israelis and Milwaukeeans.

So the idea of a mission to Israel that is specifically tailored for Milwaukee women seemed almost obvious. And it has attracted enthusiasm and excitement, she said.

“It started as ‘this is a good idea,’ and then a lot of women said, ‘Wow, this is a great idea,” Ginsberg told The Chronicle during a phone interview from Israel.

“This year Israel will be 60 [years old] and it’s an opportunity to learn about Israel in a different way.”

Currently slated for late October, the mission — the first women’s mission to Israel in more than 15 years — is not simply a group of women traveling to Israel to visit the usual tourist attractions.

Rather, Ginsberg has organized a variety of activities in the north and in Jerusalem meant to acquaint Milwaukee women with their Israeli women counterparts.

The group will meet with Israeli women soldiers, Ethiopian immigrants, and Israeli artisans; visit a pickling factory run entirely by Arab women; and spend time at a battered women’s shelter and at the Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center.

They will also attend the rabbinical ordination of former Milwaukee shaliach Nir Barkin at Hebrew Union College and take part in a belly-dancing workshop.

“During the last few years, there has been a revolution in women’s issues [in Israel],” explained Ginsberg. “The USA already forgot they dealt with it. I hope this mission will enrich their [Milwaukee women’s] knowledge and their connection to Israel.”

Through women’s eyes

Ginsberg said that visiting the rape crisis center is important because there is still a stigma surrounding rape that results in very few women reporting the crime to police.

“They [the victims] need someone to help understand what happened and to explain the legal situation,” she said.

Meeting innovative Arab women, Ginsberg continued, is a way to see the women “not as Arabs but as pioneers who do something special and different.”

In addition, Ginsberg hopes the group will meet with organizations that deal with the effects of post traumatic stress disorder.

“Lots of women and kids and families have been hurt by it,” she explained. “Most of the injuries last summer [in the war with Lebanon] were civilians. Forty percent of people still suffer from post-traumatic stress, and if kids suffer from it, the mothers are usually the ones to help them. We can see the issue through women’s eyes.”

Seeing Israel “through women’s eyes” is one of the aspects of the trip that appealed Idy Goodman, who is co-chairing the mission with Marlene Lauwasser.

“The idea of women going together and sharing this experience was very exciting — it’s a different kind of trip,” she said. “Many of us have already been to Israel, but this is an opportunity to explore Israel through a woman’s viewpoint.”

Ginsberg is “a fabulous facilitator,” she added. “We talked about all the things we wanted and she put everything in.”

Lauwasser is also excited about the trip. “We can come back and be wonderful ambassadors in our community. It’s a mission to learn more about our history and the place women have had in Israel.”

For more information about the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Women’s Mission to Israel, contact Rakefet Ginsberg at rakefetg@milwaukeejewish.org or call 414-390-5705.