 |
| Can these Charedi young women become airline pilots? |
How, one may ask, does a Charedi Jew become a pilot? Flying
an airplane as a professional pilot is about the last thing any Charedi would
ever dream of doing – considering their emphasis on full time Torah study. Where
would they get the expertise? And how could they take off time from their full
time Torah study to learn the trade, let alone get a job?
That’s easy. This type of person has no obligation to learn
Torah full time, even according to the strictest interpretation of Halacha.
Some are now even saying that they should be discouraged from studying Torah
too deeply. How in heaven’s name is that possible? considering the importance placed
on full time Torah study beyond any other endeavor?
The person in question is a woman by the name of Nechama. Nechama is married with 3 children - and happens
to be my son in law, Rabbi Micah Greenland’s cousin. Which makes this doubly
exciting for me. It was his wife Rivkie, my daughter that
pointed me to the YWN article that reported the story.
Imagine that. A Charedi woman that went through their educational
system (Beis Yaakov) - becoming a commercial airline pilot. She is doing this
with the full blessing of her husband and parents, who are also Charedi. I
could not be more proud of this religious young woman having achieved such success
and have no doubt that she will one day be a commercial airline pilot.
Fact is - I don’t see why Charedim would have any problem at
all with this. After all, Charedi women in Israel do get a fairly decent
secular education and are far better prepared than their male counterparts to
enter the workforce. And they do. In all manner of job, profession, or career. The
Charedi educational system is set up to prepare women for the workforce. Women
are expected to help support their families. And they are educated in ways that
help them do that.
When the time comes to get a job, they are better trained to
do so - having learned study skills that prepare them for college or advanced courses
in various professions. Including pilot training in this case. Pilots earn a
decent living so I am sure that her future husband will be able to learn full
time for as long as she remains employed as a pilot for El-Al, or any other
airline that would hire here.
That no woman has ever become a pilot probably has more to
do with the difficulty of anyone getting into that profession, than it does
with the religiosity or sex of the applicant.
And while I am very happy to see such accomplishment, I
think it says a lot about El-Al that they have no problem with qualified Charedim
of either sex working for them in that
capacity. So much for secular bias against Charedim.
Congratulations to Nechama, to her husband, children, and parents.
And especially to El-Al. This is a win/win for everyone.
