There is an ongoing debate as to the role of women in Israel's army and to the degree of integration of women into male-dominated military positions. Using qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and participant observation), this dissertation examines the participation of women in the Israeli Defence Forces with a focus on organizational belonging and military status. / Women soldiers find distinct ways of experiencing organizational belonging and gaining status in the army. Much of women's variation in organizational belonging is linked, not to positions held, but, rather, to the kind of base at which a woman served during her service. Those serving in closed bases (at which soldiers stay to sleep), report developing a greater sense of organizational belonging than those serving in open bases (at which soldiers return home to sleep). This distinction is linked to notions of combat. Those serving at closed bases are more likely to serve in close proximity to combat. As well, closed bases are associated with combat more than are open bases regardless of the nature of individual closed bases. Thus, women serving on closed bases benefit from the prestige associated with combat positions as well as from the organizationally bonding experience of staying to sleep on the base. This stands in contrast with women serving on open bases who are more likely to have their sense of organizational belonging affected by their actual army position and rank and tend to seek status through association with higher ranking soldiers such as their officers and commanders. / There has been a great deal of literary discourse concerning women's participation in the IDF concentrating on women's military positions and ranks. While my research relates to this discourse, it differs through its emphasis on base placement over army position/rank. My study concludes with a discussion of my contribution to organizational belonging literature and with reflections on the implications of my findings for both the IDF and Jewish women in Israel.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): Barak A. Salmoni. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

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Founded in the eighth Century CE by Anan ben David, the basic tenet of this breakaway Jewish sect was that the Bible was the only divine script. Over the ensuing years, a long line of sages consolidated this dictum, establishing a set of rules which at times was even more rigid than the Rabbanite teachings they had rejected. From the tenth to the twentieth centuries the Karaites were dispersed and persecuted as were their Rabbanite brethren. By the middle of the 20th century, their largest settlement, a flourishing community in Egypt, came to an end with the eruption of hostilities between Israel and her Arab neighbours. Most of this community settled in Israel where they met with opposition or indifference from the Rabbanite establishment. This work describes the history of the Karaites, their present situation and the barriers they have overcome in the fulfillment of their special brand of Judaism. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M.A. (Semitics)

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Egyptian vultures were observed at 3 kinds of feeding sites (randomly-placed sites stocked with 2 chicken carcasses, a fixed site stocked daily with 4 chicken carcasses, and a fixed site stocked 2x monthly with livestock carcasses) in the Negev desert, Israel, during breeding seasons of 1989 and 1990. Observations at large and small carcasses suggested Egyptian vultures were facultative social foragers; they invariably foraged in groups at predictable food supplies, but large flocks rarely gathered at small carcasses. Individuals did not recruit conspecifics to carcasses. Adults located more randomly-placed, small carcasses than other age-classes; at all sites they fed more intensively than nonadults and dominated them in aggressive encounters. These behaviors reflected the need to obtain more food in less time in order to feed and care for young. Egyptian vultures feeding at small-carcass sites had little competition from other species. Breeding adults made food deliveries to nests after feeding themselves. Adults fed out of proportion to their numbers because food items were small enough to defend effectively. Vigilance was strongly and consistently related to flock size. At the large-carcass site, griffon vultures and mammalian scavengers consumed the most food; Egyptian vultures experienced reduced and unpredictable access to food relative to small-carcass sites. Breeding adults made food deliveries to nests after gaining access to food, without feeding themselves first. Vigilance was unrelated to flock size, probably because other species determined access to food and risk of physical harm. Adults were unable to feed preferentially because food items were either too large (carcasses) or too small and diffuse (scraps, insects) to defend. Overall, most interactions of group and individual characteristics on individual feeding behavior were modified by site characteristics--chiefly perceived physical risk (due to unfamiliar surroundings or other competitors), food dispersion, and food availability. Supplemental feeding, an important tool for supporting threatened vulture populations, can benefit particular sizes or age-classes of vultures. Large vultures are favored by few, large carcasses with limited skinning. Small vultures are favored by small carcasses. Small vultures and subordinate vultures of all sizes are favored by many, easily accessed, well-dispersed food items.

This thesis aims to reassess the principal concepts used by archaeologists in their attempts to interpret the late Iron Age archaeology of southern Israel and Jordan. This study focuses in particular on the archaeological remains that have traditionally been associated with the 'Edomites' mentioned in the Old Testament. This reassessment involves examining two inter-related themes. The first is largely historiographical, the aim being to highlight the socio-political and intellectual contexts in which the study of the 'Edomites' became an important discourse. This is achieved by contextualising both the beginnings of south Levantine Iron Age archaeology as a whole and the archaeological investigation of the 'Edomites', as well as the study of the historical sources that mention Edom' and the 'Edomites'. The second theme concerns the material culture used by archaeologists to address questions regarding the 'Edomites', such as the areas they spread to, whether they spread by migration, invasion, or trade, and the nature of their kingdom and religion. Firstly, the theoretical underpinnings of these archaeological approaches is reassessed. Building on that, an analysis of what is traditionally interpreted as 'Edomite' pottery - material that has been commonly used to address the questions posed above - is presented. This analysis focuses on the ways in which this type of pottery was used, and where possible, the contexts in which it was deposited/found, thus highlighting how people in the past used it as part of specific social practices. The results demonstrate that the pattern of material culture usually thought to underpin traditional understandings of 'Edomite' archaeology is actually quite varied and that 'Edomite' ethnicity may not be the best explanation for such diversity. Following the critique of the discourse of 'Edomite' archaeology, a number of alternative ways in which the late Iron Age material culture of the southern Levant might be understood are suggested. These alternatives focus on theories of practice, appropriation, and foodways.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02