Tel Aviv Council Member Demands Equal Tefillin Rights for Female Students in Schools

Hadas Regulski, a member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council and Women of the Wall activist, has called on Meir Shimoni, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Education, to issue an immediate clarification ensuring that the directive mandating the allowance of tefillin-wearing in schools applies equally to both female and male students across all streams of Jewish education, including state-religious and ultra-Orthodox schools. Regulski criticized the recent directive issued by the Education Minister as populist, unnecessary, and harmful, but stressed that as long as it remains in effect, it must be implemented in accordance with principles of equality, human dignity, and non-discrimination.

She warned that since tefillin-wearing is traditionally viewed in many religious communities as a male-only practice and the directive is written in masculine language without explicit reference to female students, there is a significant risk of discriminatory enforcement in some schools. Regulski demanded that school principals be instructed to apply the directive equally to girls and boys and emphasized that no threats, pressure, or discrimination should be directed at female students who choose to wear tefillin, including threats of expulsion.

Regulski urged the Ministry of Education to clearly state its support for any female student wishing to exercise her right to wear tefillin on school grounds and called for the immediate publication of this clarification to prevent gender-based discrimination in schools regarding this religious practice.