Alice Shalvi

{{Infobox person

| name = Alice Shalvi

| image = Alice Shalvi 2013 (cropped).JPG

| caption = Shalvi in 2013

| native_name = אליס שלוי

| birth_name = Alice Hildegard Margulies

| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|10|16|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Essen, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|10|2|1926|10|16|df=yes}}

| death_place =

| occupation = Professor of English literature, educator, women's activism

| yearsactive =

| native_name_lang = he

| other_names =

| relatives =

| children = 6

| parents =

| spouse = Moshe Shalvi

}}

Alice Shalvi ({{langx|he|אליס שלוי}}; 16 October 1926 – 2 October 2023) was an Israeli professor and educator. She played a leading role in progressive Jewish education for girls and advancing the status of women.

Biography

Alice Hildegard Margulies (later Shalvi) was born in Essen, Germany, to an Orthodox Jewish family. Her parents, Benzion and Perl Margulies, were religious Zionists.[http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=58571 One on One with Alice Shalvi, A Woman's Work] Alice was the younger of two children. The family had a wholesale linen and housewares business.

In 1933, soon after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the family home was searched, prompting their move to London in May 1934.[http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/a-soldier-for-sexual-equality-1.372175 A soldier for sexual equality], Haaretz In London, Shalvi's father and brother imported watches and jewellery. When the Blitz began, they moved to Aylesbury, 50 kilometres north of London, and lived in a small house in Waddesdon, which was part of the estate of James Rothschild.

The family built a factory there for ammunition calibration devices that established them financially. In 1944, Shalvi studied English literature at Cambridge University. In 1946, she was sent to the 22nd Zionist Congress in Basel as a representative of British Jewish students.

In 1949, after completing a degree in social work at the London School of Economics, Shalvi immigrated to Israel, settling in Jerusalem. She became a faculty member in the English department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and earned her PhD there in 1962.{{cite web|url=http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsaz/AliceShalvi/cv.htm |title=Alice Shalvi's CV on the Official Israel Prize website |language=Hebrew |date=17 April 2007 |accessdate=20 June 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100627175948/http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsaz/AliceShalvi/cv.htm| archivedate= 27 June 2010 | url-status= live}}

In May 1950 she met Moshe Shelkowitz (later Shalvi), a new immigrant from New York City, whom she married in October of that year. They had six children: Joel (b. 1952), Micha (b. 1954), Ditza (b. 1957), Hephzibah (b. 1960), Benzion (b. 1963) and Pnina (Perl, b. 1967).{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/shalvi-alice| last=Wishlah| first=Charlotte| title=Alice Hildegard Shalvi| encyclopedia=Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia|publisher=Jewish Women's Archive|accessdate=20 June 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100716172347/http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/shalvi-alice| archivedate= 16 July 2010 | url-status= live}}

Moshe Shalvi died on 6 July 2013.[http://www.avelim.co.il/moshe-shalvi-zl/ משה שלוי ז"ל Moshe Shalvi | Jerusalem Post, בית עלמין סנהדריה, הארץ, הקרן החדשה לישראל, שתיל, תיאטרון החאן | 07.07.13] Alice Shalvi died on 2 October 2023, at the age of 96.[https://www.timesofisrael.com/alice-shalvi-trailblazing-feminist-and-educator-dies-at-97/ Alice Shalvi, trailblazing feminist and educator, dies at 97]

Academic and public career

Shalvi headed the English literature departments at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She was the founder of Pelech, an experimental school for religious girls that unconventionally taught Talmud{{cite web|first=Ruthie |last=Blum Leibowitz |url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=58571 |title=One on One with Alice Shalvi: A woman's work |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=19 April 2007 |accessdate=20 June 2010}} (1975–1990), and of the Ohalim movement of neighbourhood associations (1973–1979); she was also founding director (later chairwoman) of the Israel Women's Network (1984–2000). In this position, she was one of the most prominent feminist advocates in Israel, developing a program that covers most forms of discrimination and disadvantage faced by women in Israeli society. An important aim of her work was gaining acceptance of Israeli women's contributions in all sections and at all levels of the armed forces, since army service plays a significant role in Israeli economic, political, and social life. In the 1990s she founded the International Coalition for Agunah Rights.{{cite web|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/13166/ |title=An Interview With Alice and Moshe Shalvi |publisher=Forward.com |date=16 April 2008 |accessdate=21 June 2010}} She also served as rector of the Schechter Institute for four years. Shalvi also served as a member of the advisory board of the Remember the Women Institute{{cite web |title=About the Institute |url=https://rememberwomen.org/about.html |website=Remember the Women Institute |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=26 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526043411/https://www.rememberwomen.org/about.html |url-status=dead }} In 2018 she published a memoir entitled Never A Native.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/272440/alice-shalvi-never-a-native|title=The Most Famous Israeli You've Never Heard Of|date=2018-10-22|website=Tablet Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-02-06}}

Awards and recognition

In 1989, Shalvi received the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award, as founder of the Israel Women's Network.{{cite web|url=http://www.acri.org.il/story.aspx?id=176 |title=List of recipients of the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award on the Association of Human Rights in Israel website |language=Hebrew |accessdate=20 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819195848/http://www.acri.org.il/story.aspx?id=176 |archivedate=19 August 2010 }}
In 2000, Brown University awarded her a Doctor of Humane Letters.{{Cite web |title=Honorary Degrees |url=https://corporation.brown.edu/honorary-degrees |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=Corporation {{!}} Brown University |language=en}}
In 2007, she was awarded the Israel Prize for her lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State of Israel.{{cite web|url=http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsaz/AliceShalvi/nmk.htm |title=Judges decision for awarding the Israel Prize |language=Hebrew |date=25 April 2007 |accessdate=20 June 2010}}
In 2009, she was co-recipient (with Rabbi Arik Ascherman) of the Leibowitz Prize, named to commemorate Yeshayahu Leibowitz, presented by the Yesh Din human rights organisation for public activism in the spirit of Leibowitz's political and philosophical teaching.{{cite web|url=http://www.yeshgvul.org/articles.asp?id=464354c84cf91be654b2fee0f5b51798|title=Announcement of award of Yeshayahu Leibowitz Prize 2009|accessdate=20 June 2010}}{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Shalvi was a member of the board of The Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information.{{Cite web |url=http://ipcri.org/IPCRI/Who_We_Are.html |title=Official Web Site |access-date=26 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522061919/http://www.ipcri.org/IPCRI/Who_We_Are.html |archive-date=22 May 2011 |url-status=usurped |df=dmy-all }}
In 2017, she was honored with the Sylvan Adams Nefesh B'Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize Lifetime Achievement Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Prof-Shalvi-at-90-Advancing-women-to-transform-society-498009|title=Prof. Shalvi at 90: 'Advancing women to transform society' - Israel News - Jerusalem Post|website=www.jpost.com|access-date=2019-02-06}}
In 2018, she was awarded the National Jewish Book Award for Women's Studies for her book Never a Native.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/awards/national-jewish-book-awards/past-winners?category=30783|title=Past Winners|last=|first=|date=|website=Jewish Book Council|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605120023/https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/awards/national-jewish-book-awards/past-winners?category=30783 |archive-date=5 June 2020 |access-date=2020-01-26}}

Published works

Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia{{Cite web|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3510945,00.html|title=Encyclopedia sheds light on achievements of Jewish women|date=2008-02-25|website=Ynetnews|language=en|access-date=2020-01-26 |last1=Rozenberg |first1=Dr Lilach }}
Studies in English language and literature, 1966
The relationship of Renaissance concepts of honour to Shakespeare's problem plays, 1972
Never a native, 2018