Never a Native

by Alice Shalvi

Shalvi has been a pioneer in advancing the status of women in Israel and in religious girls' education. She has been an active participant in peace dialogues and inter-religious initiatives and has been a social activist all her life.
Born in Germany in 1926 to Orthodox parents, Shalvi grew up in London and studied English at Cambridge, before moving to Jerusalem in 1949 where she went on to pursue a PhD at Hebrew University, eventually teaching English Literature.
In 1950, Shalvi met and married her husband, Moshe Shelkowitz (later Shalvi), who died in 2013. They had six children together.
One of Shalvi's greatest accomplishments was the establishment of the Pelech School which she headed from 1975 to 1990. This experimental/ progressive religious high school for girls in Jerusalem has become a model for women's Orthodox education across the country.
Shalvi was a co-founder of the Israel Women's Network, established to advance the status of women.
In 2007 she was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievements in the areas of education, social welfare and human rights.

Genres: Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

Published March 19, 2019

Reviews

[Naama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from a beloved friend. I’m always a bit biased in favor of any book that’s given to me in this way, but I truly think that this time I would’ve treasured the book irrespective of how it got to me.
I don’t know how many people publish their autobiographies in their nineties, but at least for me , reading someone describe so many later stages of their life was very inspiring: it gave me the sense that midlife is still open to so many possibilities. Alice Shalvi achieved so much after she hit fifty: With an impressive academic resume and 6 children ‘under her belt’, she forged ahead and not only became an iconic founder/principal of one of Israel’s most prestigious religious high-schools, spawning generations of women leaders and scholars, but also founded and successfully led the Israel Women’s Network, which forever changed the lives of women in Israel.
Having said that, her book gave me the impression that it’s her earlier years she longs for: the formative years in England, life as a student in London, life as a single in Katamon. It’s an eye-opening, somewhat saddening perspective. Ah, the carefree days of youth.
Moreover, she writes with regret about her feelings of failure as a parent, and states that all of the awards in the world don’t compensate for her lack of nachat. That’s downright depressing coming from such an accomplished woman, and yet, it’s clearly coming from an authentic place in her heart and mind that should be heeded.
In general, I felt the book was authentic. Alice revealed very personal information which not only made her seem like an approachable role model but also said much about the human experience. On the one hand, she writes about her academic gifts (reminded me of Michelle Obama’s autobiography and drove home how much of a role genetics plays in academic achievement). On the other hand, the first part of the book is full of shame and other hard feelings about her looks, a source of constant inadequacy which seemed to be as primal and frustratingly inevitable as her lamentations about parenting failures - at the end of the day even one of the greatest feminists of our generation couldn’t escape the expectations seemingly created by social constructs but perhaps running more hardwired into us than we’d like to admit.

Lastly it was interesting to note that her religious feminism was not an outgrowth of religious scholarship but rather an amalgamation of the different worlds she straddled, or perhaps even a practical leaning. Her move to Pelech was because her daughter needed a fitting school and her move to Schechter was because she was offered a job. I’m not suggesting there was no ideology behind it, but it does seem like there was less of an organically religious ideology at play.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite the autobiography. I don’t know enough historical detail to properly appreciate all of it, but Ms. Shalvi’s descriptive style drew me in and kept me interested. What a remarkable woman and a remarkable life. The final chapter is true inspiration describing a life well lived.

[Lsilberman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library in the summer of 2019, but never finished it--it was interesting, but not interesting enough to renew the library loan and read until I finished it.

[Elaine Hoffman]

Liked most of the book except the first few chapters of family history. It's good enough to skip that part and read the rest or plough through the beginning.