Dr. Lavie is a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid (There is a Future), a political party founded by former journalist Yair Lapid that seeks to represent the center of Israeli society, the middle class. It focuses primarily on civic, socioeconomic, and governance issues.
Dr. Lavie became Chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, issues she passionately wishes to promote. Her list of interests and activities also include National Security and Foreign Affairs, so she is a member of those committees as well, in addition to the Ethics Committee and the House Committee, simultaneously heading the Knesset caucus on religion and state. One woman with an amazing array of commitments and contributions!
Her valuable contribution was recognized last July 2015 when she was named “Outstanding Member of Knesset” by the Israel Democracy Institute.
Aliza Mashiach was born on September 23, 1964 in Kfar Saba and attended the religious Bar-Ilan high school in Netanya where she was also a member of the Bnei Akiva youth movement. She continued her studies at Bar-Ilan University, receiving a BA in 1988, an MA in 1997 and a PhD in 2002. At university she met Zuriel Lavie, a law student, and they married in 1987. Following their marriage, the couple served as emissaries of Bnei Akiva in Durban, South Africa.
Since 2000, Aliza Lavie has served as a senior lecturer at Bar Ilan University’s School of Communications. Presently, in addition to all her other activities, Dr. Lavie heads the Center for Media and Religion, which attempts to understand the ways in which religions use the media in order to influence the greatest potential audience, with a final focus on their effects in Israel.
Ten years ago I met Aliza Lavie at a party promoting her book, Jewish Women’s Prayers Throughout the Ages. It is a most remarkable volume. It includes Jewish women’s prayers like the Biblical Chana’s plea for a son to prayers from the Middle Ages in Ladino and Yiddish. To my amazement, I found prayer from a future mother-in-law. Baring her trembling soul, her prayer is a cry for hope, for understanding… for good luck.
As Dr. Lavie and her family live in my city, Netanya, I keep hoping I will bump into this amazing woman: a highly-acclaimed Member of Knesset, a well-known author and television personality, a famous educator, an outstanding Judaic scholar, a dedicated mother, and a passionate activist for Judaism.
Primarily for Jewish women.