Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social and economic changes, particularly the transition from a collectivistic to an individualistic society, on the meaning of work (MOW) in Israel. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire probing the MOW domains (economic orientation, intrinsic orientation, interpersonal relations, entitlement and obligation norms and job satisfaction) was conducted on a representative sample of the Israeli labor force in 1981 (n=973) and 2006 (n=898). Findings A comparison between the results of the 1981 and 2006 surveys shows a significant increase in economic and intrinsic orientation, and a significant decrease in interpersonal relations orientation, job satisfaction and obligation and entitlement norms. Work centrality remained stable. The demographic factors, especially education, have some impact on the MOW domains. Practical implications The transformation of work values reflects the changes in employees’ expectations and needs. Therefore, organizations are compelled to find new material and non-material reward systems and methods to maintain employee commitment, motivation and satisfaction. Various implications for organizations and management are discussed. Originality/value This cross-sectional study explores how the combination of economic and social changes is reflected in employees’ job satisfaction and other work values. Furthermore, the study examines the impact of the main demographic factors on the MOW and offers suggestions to gain employees loyalty and commitment based on all the findings.

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This article deals with orthodox feminists in Israel. Its aim is to study how women create a religious feminist identity and attach to orthodox feminism as a shared space. For this purpose I interviewed 44 women, all of whom declared openly that they regard themselves as orthodox feminists. The interviews dealt with the creation of a religious feminist identity and the conceptions, beliefs, customs and soul searching created by this identity. Five different narratives are presented: the traditional, retiring, interpreter, juggler and rabbinical. Every one of them provides a different world view and a unique answer to the issue of how to be both religious and a feminist. These narratives are not binary (feminism versus religion, feminism or religion) but rather an open-ended interweaving between feminism and religion that produces religious feminism without a hyphen.

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