Yitzhak Rabin Lecture Featuring Professor Pnina Lahav
The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies was pleased to host this year’s Yitzhak Rabin Lecture on April 25th featuring Professor Pnina Lahav. Lahav, a Professor of Law, Emerita, and a member of the Center, delivered a talk titled “The Only Woman in the Room: Writing the Life of Golda Meir.”
“The Only Woman in the Room: Writing the Life of Golda Meir” with Professor Pnina Lahav
In her lecture, Professor Lahav explored the life of Golda Meir, Israel’s fourth prime minister, in the context of the twentieth century through a gender lens. She discussed how Golda Meir overcame gender bias to achieve her goals and become a trusted leader. Professor Lahav also delved into the misogyny in Israeli culture that made it difficult for women to hold positions of power and explained why Israelis ultimately turned against Golda Meir in 1973.
The program began with a welcome video from Dalia Rabin, daughter of Yitzhak Rabin and a notable politician herself. Bat-Sheva Margalit Stern, Ph.D., an expert in 20th-century Jewish women, served as the respondent, while Professor Nahum Karlinsky moderated the discussion.
A livestream option was made available for those unable to attend the lecture in person, and the lecture’s recording is now available on our YouTube channel.
The Yitzhak Rabin Lecture Series at Boston University is generously supported by Mr. Jonathan Krivine (CAS ’72).
About the Speaker: Pnina Lahav is a Professor of Law, Emerita, and a member of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies at Boston University. Her fields of expertise are constitutional law, first amendment law, and legal history. Most recently, she has received the Israel Studies Award for Lifetime Achievement (2017) and Prime Minister Golda Meir for Society and Leadership Award (2021). Recently, Lahav has focused her attention on the status and history of women, and her biography of Golda Meir, Israel’s fourth prime minister, presents Golda Meir’s life in the context of the twentieth century through the gender lens. This biography, titled The Only Woman in the Room: Golda Meir and Her Path to Power (Princeton University Press: 2022), is a part of the 2022-2023 book picks of the Jewish Women’s Archive.