Addressing the Issue of Gender Bias and Harassment 

Remember the #MeToo movement? 

Reports that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted and harassed women surfaced in 2017. That compelled Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, newly promoted vice dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, to ask her female students—acknowledging that they will likely encounter bias at some point—if they wanted to talk about this. The response was an overwhelming YES! Rabbi Peretz then reached out to leaders in women’s rights and a program was created, including the topics, What is bias? Harassment? Its Causes? Scenarios? The program was then expanded to communities, clergy search committees, and the Rabbinical Assembly, and it has been used in more than 60 sessions.  

On January 27 and 28, Women’s League offered a virtual program entitled, You, Me & We Too: Overcoming Bias and Harassment (and What Does It Mean for Me)?  Rabbi Peretz asked attendees to engage in an exercise recalling an experience when we each felt different from others and describe it in the chat. What happened? How did we feel? How did this experience influence future choices? The responses were heartbreaking. Rabbi Peretz recalled her own experience of feeling different and not accepted while living in a community with no other Jews. She said the lens through which people view us can be hurtful. 

The exercise that most resonated with the listeners was the Unconscious Bias Activity Chart, in which categories were listed: Gender, Race, Age, Sexual Orientation, Education Level, Religious life, Marital Status and Extrovert/Introvert. Attendees were asked to think of six people unrelated and determine how similar or dissimilar they were to the six based on these categories. Overwhelmingly, the people selected were very similar to attendees. The question arose, how can unconscious bias be overcome? 

The Daughters of Zelophehad were discussed. What could they see about fairness and women’s rights that Moses couldn’t see without G-d’s help? Rashi, commenting on this, spoke of the validity of their argument. G-d agreed with their interpretation and their ability to see an issue of fairness and modify perspective, and expanding viewpoints ultimately led to a change in the laws of inheritance. 

In modern times, vice president Dick Cheney was able to change his views on the LGBTQ community when his daughter came out as gay. 

Rabbi Peretz suggested one consider the things they make assumptions and judgments about, saying we all have automatic responses. She suggested one ask, “What do I need to learn and undo?” She explained that we are wired to make unquestioned judgments and have biases; we prefer people like us and assign judgment expecting a certain outcome. If a person or group against whom we have a bias is successful, we attribute it to “luck.” If they exhibit failure, it’s their “shortcoming.” We then confirm our initial thought by everything they do. She then explained the “Ladder of Inference” used to determine whether bias and judgment influence decisions or if one acts upon the use of facts and data. 

Rabbi Peretz posed, “What can be done to overcome this judgment and bias?” Programs like this are the first step. Our larger culture, including Israel, the United States, and the whole world will make this issue more important. She taught three steps: Stop, Challenge and Choose. First, stop and ask, what is happening? What’s the big picture? How was I feeling before this happened? Have I felt this way before? Then, could there be any other explanations? What was the intent? Finally, choose:  Which outcome do I want? What options do I have? 

Her last lesson spelled out the acronym IMPLICIT. The goal is to use the tools of introspection, mindfulness, perspective-taking, learn to slow down, use individuation to evaluate people, not their affiliation, check messaging, institutionalize fairness, and “take two”—since overcoming bias takes time. 

Profound awareness was taught during this interactive program. We thank Rabbi Cheryl Peretz for providing valuable training. It was made possible because of contributions to the Torah Fund Creating New Spaces campaign, which supports this program at the Ziegler School as well as a student study space in the Jewish Theological Seminary. Torah Fund is close to reaching its $200,000 goal for the Creating News Spaces special project. If you can, please make a donation to the Spaces campaign. The work to overcome bias is more essential than ever.