Prof. Ruth Halperin - Kaddari, a Ramat-Gan native and mother of four, is a professor at Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Law, holding a Master of Laws (L.L.M.) and a doctoral degree in law from Yale University Law School. She has also been a laureate of the Fulbright scholarship. Prof. Halperin-Kaddari is the founder (2001) and director of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women in the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University. For the past decade she has been a member of the United National Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Professor Halperin-Kaddari is a researcher and publisher of journals in Israel and abroad on the topics of family law, legal pluralism, feminism and law, and the author of the book “Women in Israel”. As a feminist lawyer who is committed to both feminism and the law, Halperin-Kaddari set a goal to eliminate the inherent inequality in Israel’s family law, thus bringing about a change in the status of women in the context of the religion-state relationship.

Halperin-Kaddari is an initiator of such legislatives as the amendment to Spousal Property Relations Law, which allows division of property between spouses also before the divorce is granted; raising the legal age of marriage in Israel from 17 to 18; as well as regular publishing of Rabbinic rulings to promote transparency in Rabbinical courts.

Halperin-Kaddari is an inspirational female role model from the academy, who is committed to social public activity. She’s a feminist lawyer and an advocate of women’s rights, who’s not afraid to stand boldly at the forefront of driving social change, in face of the establishment. She uses the law to lead the struggle for promoting women’s status women in Israel, trying to eliminate the inherent inequality in Israel’s family law. All of these are the main reasons for awarding Professor Halperin-Kaddari with an honorary award citation for a woman who arouses inspiration.

Aside from her legislative initiatives, the legal clinic of the Rackman Center established by Halperin-Kaddari provides legal representation to women in deep emotional distress resulting from relationship and family-related crises, as well as from their deteriorated socio-economic state. Moreover, Prof. Halperin-Kaddari led generations of women, who were educated at the university and at the legal clinic, to develop new modes of thinking regarding the ability of women to bring about change also in places where inherent inequality exists and where the exclusion of women takes place in the public sphere.

Her international activity within the framework of the United National Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has brought great honor to the state of Israel and to its women, and her membership in the Committee for the third term is an unprecedented achievement for an Israeli representative.

Despite Prof. Halperin-Kaddari’s young age, she has been an inspiration and a role model for many young women, advocating that despite the difficulties and the struggles, women have their place in Israeli society, including the orthodox community. Further, they are able to prevail social struggles, aimed at achieving gender equality in Israel.  

Prof. Halperin-Kaddari’s impact on the legal academic and the hands-on world is tremendous. The fact that there’s an entire community today which has applied this sort of critical and feminist thinking in family law is mostly accredited to her pioneering activities in the arena thereof.