“From the Heights of Women’s Day to the Depths of Aguna Day”

by Pnina Omer

Jerusalem Post Op-Ed –  9/3/2017

This week was marked by the powerful convergence of two important days: International Women’s Day, which is observed each year on March 8, and International Aguna Day, commemorated annually on the Fast of Esther, which this year fell yesterday.
International Women’s Day is the Independence Day of all modern females. It is an opportunity to celebrate the breakthroughs and accomplishments of women in the social, economic and political spheres, and an opportunity to celebrate black feminism, religious feminism and all the “feminisms” that sprouted and nurtured millions of women worldwide.
It is a day of deliberately turning a blind eye to all else, of consciously choosing to enjoy our achievements while momentarily dismissing the ongoing challenges because we, too, must take a break once a year from the inequality that still exists and cries out to the heavens. It is a day to examine the road we have already traveled without stopping to ask whether we have gone too far or whether there is still much farther for us to tread.
We have merited to live in a time of redemption, to see the cracks in the glass ceiling with our own eyes, to fulfill our natural and moral right to a life of equal rights and mutual respect. International Women’s Day is Independence Day, with fireworks dancing in our heart and a silent “Hallel,” a song of praise, singing in our soul, an opportunity to view the world in pink and fan the spark of hope for a better future.
But this year, we fall unceremoniously from the heights of success to the nadir of rock bottom….  Click to read the full article on the Jerusalem Post website
Pnina Omer is the director of OTS’s Yad L’isha: the Monica Dennis Goldberg Legal Aid Center and Hotline.