After volunteering for a year at the Israel Women's Network, she was appointed as the first spokesperson and PR director of the organization. Four years later she became the CEO.[3] In both roles (1989-1997), she succeeded in bringing the topic of gender equality to the forefront of the Israeli public agenda.[4]
In 2008, Sachs founded "Project Kesher Israel". Its mission is to affect change in Israel by empowering Russian-speaking women to be leaders and activists. These women gain the skills and abilities to subsequently reach deep into the community, build Jewish identity, and influence change on key issues.[9]
Sachs is a social commentary artist working in oil, acrylic and mixed media on canvas.[10] Her style is figurative and realistic and depicts human interactions which reflect inequality and social injustice.[11][12]
Women of the Walledit
In 2008 she was appointed executive director of Women of the Wall. Sachs stood on the front line of a struggle which gained tremendous public attention due to the arrests which began the following year.[13] Sachs was arrested four times for wearing a tallit (traditional prayer shawl) in the women's section of the Western Wall.[14] At her fourth arrest she was brought in front of Justice Moshe Sobel who delivered a precedent-setting verdict which affirmed the legality of Women of the Wall’s prayer at the Western Wall. The arrests then ceased.[15] In 2016 she was arrested again [16] for bringing in and reading from a Torah scroll in the women's section of the Western Wall.[17][18][19][20]
In her position as executive director, she gave hundreds of lectures[21] and presentations in Israel and abroad and was interviewed countless times in the media. In 2014 she spearheaded a campaign posted on public buses,[22] inviting girls to have a Bat Mitzvah ceremony with Women of the Wall and to read from Torah scroll at the Western Wall.[23]
Volunteer public activityedit
Following her military service, she was one of the first volunteers in the Haifa Rape Crisis Center and one of the founding members of "Isha L'isha Haifa Feminist Center".[24][25]
In 2014, Sachs was awarded the National Council of Jewish Women’s Jewel Bellush Outstanding Israeli Feminist Award which honored her many significant accomplishments.[26]
Between 1991-1998 she served as a board member in Isha L'eisha Jerusalem women's shelter. From 1999 until 2003 she served as the volunteer chairperson of the International Coalition for Agunah Rights (ICAR).[27] The coalition included 22 women's and liberal religious organizations, working together to change the status of women who have been denied Get (a divorce approved by the Rabbinate).[1]
^"Lesley Sachs Executive Director, Women of the Wall". CONNECTIONS - The International Biennial Conference of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^Frederick, Erica (17 November 2015). "Israel and Project Kesher: More Than Politics and Religion". Project Kesher. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^Riba, Naama (11 September 2019). "Women of the Wall Heroine Now Fights the Patriarchy One Painting at a Time". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs as an Artist". Retrieved 11 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs". Association for Women's Art and Gender Research in Israel. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^Sharon, Jeremy (3 February 2019). "Women of the Wall Set Up Tefillin Booth in J'lem". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^Greenberg, Joel (12 April 2013). "Women Challenge Orthodox Practice at Israel's Western Wall". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^"3 Women Arrested While Praying at Western Wall in 24 Hours".
^Kershner, Isabel (7 June 2016). "Jewish Woman Detained for Taking Torah Scroll to Western Wall in Jerusalem". New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^Shimoni, Rebecca (2016-06-07). "Police Hold Women of the Wall Leader for 'Smuggling Torah'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
^Wootliff, Raoul (7 June 2016). "Police Hold Women of the Wall Leader for 'Smuggling Torah'". The Times Of Israel. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^Nachshoni, Kobi (6 September 2016). "Women of the Wall Director Arrested for Smuggling Torah Scroll to Kotel". Ynet. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^Pan, Deanna (8 April 2017). "Feminist Jewish Activist Lesley Sachs on the Rights of Women to Worship at Jerusalem's Western Wall". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs - Women of the Wall (Barnert Temple, NJ)". YouTube. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^"Jerusalem Bus Ads Featuring Women in Prayer Shawls Vandalized". The Forward. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^Klien, Zvika (13 October 2014). "נשות הכותל קוראות לקיים טקסי בת מצווה בכותל". NRG360. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^Isha L'Isha: 30 Years of Feminist Action(PDF). Isha L'isha Haifa Feminist Center. 2013. ISBN 978-1-61838-069-2. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^"10 of our Beacon-Lighters for the 69th Independence Day". Saloona. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs". The Forward. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^"The International Coalition for Agunah Rights". ICAR. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs is a Director in the KKL". Avelim. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
^"About Hamechina". Mechina Young Leadership Program in Jaffa and Holon. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs: For God's Sake, Stop" (PDF). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^"Lesley Sachs: Let Me Hear Thy Voice". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^"Chercove Art Studio, Raanana Theater". Retrieved 16 December 2020.
External linksedit
Sharon Rofe Ofir, Lesley hopes to win the battle on her life and of her life: women of the wall Xnet site