In tribute to the roots of International Women's Day, born of the protests of working American women at the turn of the last century, I want to praise the actions of the National Labor Court of Israel and tell some stories.
These are not the kind of stories that necessarily make headlines, but they did change the reality of life for the brave women who decided not to swallow injustice and to fight it instead.
These women turned to the court for help, paving not only their own paths to a new and fairer reality, but also the paths of many other women who had had similar experiences.
Simcha is a teacher who worked for many years in the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Israel kindergarten network. She and her friends, most of them in their 50s and some the sole breadwinners and mothers of families with many children, were fired from their jobs.
The dismissals were due to the fact that their employment as veteran kindergarten teachers was more expensive for their bosses. Simcha and her friends chose to fight.
They set up an association for ultra-Orthodox kindergarten teachers and petitioned the Labor Court, which ruled that their dismissals were discriminatory on the grounds of age and that they should be allowed to return to work for pay equal to that of teachers working in the state system.
Salame, a Bedouin woman living in Rahat, divorced her husband. For 22 years she was unaware of her fiscal rights and did not demand them.
But standing before the Labor Court, Salame described how Yasmin, her grown-up daughter, motivated her to stand up for her rights. Thanks to Salame's determination, the court ordered the National Insurance Institute to pay her the benefits she deserved.
Young mother Naomi was alarmed by questions asked in a job interview, and the court ruled that she be compensated after it was proven the employer assumed that as a woman leading a religious lifestyle she would not be able to meet the job requirements.
An anonymous woman, whose details are confidential, left her violent husband. As a result, her application for a widow's pension submitted after his death was rejected.
She petitioned the Labor Court, leading to a groundbreaking ruling that the right to a pension should not be denied to a woman who left the marital home due to the violent behavior of her spouse.
In doing so, the court expressed support for judicial policy that seeks to encourage women who suffer from violence not to come to terms with their situation, and to provide them with a safety net and financial support.
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The National Labor Court in Jerusalem in session during the coronavirus pandemic
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)
Simcha, Yasmin, Salame, Naomi and other similarly determined and courageous women rose up and took action, thereby contributing to the empowerment of women.
I heard a moving story of a different kind from the former president of the juvenile court, retired judge Galit Wygodzki Mor. She told me about an ultra-Orthodox girl who chose a different path in life and decided to leave her parents' home.
Her worried parents feared that she was placing herself in danger and asked the Juvenile Court to recognize the girl as an at-risk minor and consider transferring her to a locked residence in order to receive a diagnosis.
The judge heard from the parents and the social worker and the family who were hosting the girl, and finally asked to hear from the girl herself, in her voice.
She found herself faced with a smart, serious and convincing girl who wanted to find her way in the world and determine the path of her own life.
Before the court, the girl described her hopes and dreams and from that point the proceedings became a process that eventually led to the resumption of the relationship between the girl and her parents. All of it was achieved without the girl having to abandon her own choices.
The judge never imagined that a decade after telling the girl during the hearing, "I wonder where you will be in ten years" that she would receive a phone call from a medical student who wanted to thank her for her trust in her so long ago.
These stories and many others illustrate the importance of a judicial system that helps women seeking to change the realities of their lives: women discriminated against because of age; women who did not know how to ask for their due; and women who did not want to face questions that intrude on her privacy.
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Israelis hold a Tel Aviv rally to protest violence against women
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
The coronavirus era is presenting challenges the entire job market - and perhaps the female one in particular.
This period has also, unfortunately, given rise to increased domestic violence.
These facts make it all the more important to remind ourselves that one of the key goals of judicial practice is to help women defend their rights and ensure that the courts are accessible to them and Israeli society as a whole.
Esther Hayut is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel