October 2, 2023

The International Rabbinic Fellowship mourns the loss of Dr. Alice Shalvi z"l.

Dr. Shalvi was known as the mother of the Israeli feminist movement and an inspiration in her work, writings, and activism to scores of religious feminists throughout the world. A deeply observant Jew and committed Zionist, she made aliyah in 1949, taught in and later served as director of the English Literature department at Hebrew University. In 1975 she became the principal of the experimental religious girls high school, Pelech, which became a trailblazing educational institution of progressive and religious education including Talmud in its curriculum, a novelty at the time for religious schools for women in Israel.

Dr. Shalvi founded the Israel Women's Network in 1984 and was an early peace activist meeting in dialogue with Palestinian women in the late 1980's and the 1990's. In 2007 she was awarded the Israel Prize for her life's work. In the latter part of her career she served as rector of the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

May her family be comforted by the Almighty among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem