Adina Bar Shalom. Photo: YouTube.

Adina Bar Shalom

Educator

Adina Bar Shalom, the daughter of the late Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (with whose opinions she has sometimes disagreed) has served as an “ultra-Orthodox bridge” between the religious and the secular in Israeli society. She received the prestigious Israel Prize for her work. For instance, she established a college to give Haredim in their late teens and early 20s — initially women and now, both sexes — secular qualifications that would enable them to enter the workforce. At the time, the idea was radical. The institution now has 1,000 students, and the idea has been replicated across the country. “I have no doubt that Haredi women will be leaders in the future,” she has said.