Rachel Pisam doesn't like to "be a symbol at all", as she puts it, but even without making a lot of noise, she is a true role model owing to her long list of impressive accomplishments. Most noteworthy of which is becoming the first woman to receive the rank of assistant fire commissioner (tafsar) in Israel's Fire and Rescue Services — the emergency organization's second-highest rank.
Pisam is a 56-year-old Haredi mother of 11 and grandmother of 18 grandkids.
Her appointment to the eminent position aroused much awe, given it's not every day that you see an ultra-Orthodox woman securing a spot in such a senior position, usually filled by men. More so, she was up against four men who were competing for the same position.
Nonetheless, the Fire and Rescue committee unanimously selected Pisam, who until then had held the position of Deputy Director General of Human Resources at the Public Security Ministry.
Pisam takes a lot of pride in her journey, which she says started from the bottom. "I was only 23, my eldest daughter Noa was one year old, I looked for a job and I didn't have an education or a profession," she says.
The young mother started off as a mail clerk at the Housing and Construction Ministry's Survey Department. Within just five years, she managed to climb up the ladder in the human resources department.
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Rachel Pisam is the first woman to receive Israel Fire and Rescue Services' assistant fire commissioner rank
She then pursued a bachelor's degree in social sciences and humanities and a master's degree in public administration at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Pisam admits that she's swamped with work, which calls for a lot of planning ahead. "I'm always planning the next day, the next task, the next week," she says.
Some five years ago, Pisam was promoted to deputy director general at the Public Security Ministry before pursuing further higher education at Harvard about a year ago.
Nonetheless, she stresses that "home and children were always top priority."
"I always remembered that work is a means, not an end, while the home is the goal and thank God I managed to combine them both even when it's hard," Pisam adds.
Pisam's appointment was well received by members of the firefighter force.
"She's a gift to the firefighters, capable of integrating humanity in her tough and demanding job," members of the firefighters union said.
For Pisam "International Women's Day is a day to stop for a minute, make sure we haven't forgotten that women are something special, that it's an honor to have women in the workplace, research, and education," she says.
"Stay true to yourself, bring yourself to the same levels and succeed thanks to who you are. Don't try to be someone else."