The women who should enter Israel’s sukkah this Sukkot - opinion

Yifat Sela, chair of Emunah, uses the Sukkot tradition of ushpizin to highlight persistent gender inequality in Israel. Over seven evenings, she personifies barriers women face: the broken rung in promotions, self-selection out of opportunities, underrepresentation in high-tech management (17.6%) and the civil service top tier (9%), and a 44% pay gap. She calls for recognition, public conversation, and broad partnerships to build a more equal sukkah.

Yifat Sela, chair of Emunah — the Religious Zionist Women’s Movement, writes an opinion piece for Sukkot 2026 that uses the tradition of ushpizin (symbolic guests invited into the sukkah) to frame a seven-day meditation on gender inequality in Israel. Each evening personifies a different barrier: the woman who built the sukkah (Naomi Shemer's song, Golda Meir as the last female PM), the woman left behind by the broken rung (93 women promoted to first management per 100 men), the woman who did not put herself forward, the woman who did everything right yet faces a 44% pay gap and only 17.6% senior management in high-tech, the woman who made it but is alone (9% women at top civil service levels), a girl seeing possibilities, and finally a full sukkah of biblical and historical figures. Sela argues that correcting these injustices requires recognizing challenges, bringing them into public conversation, and creating broad partnerships between women and men, organizations, and sectors.