Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
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Why
Are Women 2nd Class in Judaism?
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Dear Gil:
Why are women
2nd class citizens in our religion? I am referring to praying
in the synagogue and not being allowed to read from the Torah.
I read that it relates to women being inferior and not having
the knowledge of a man. This creates turmoil inside of me. How
can I embrace my faith when I read that women are unclean?
Women are the ones that bring life into the world. How did we
get such a bad deal?
D
Dear D:
You'll probably
enjoy this ditty: When God created man, She was kidding!
Getting beyond
quips, there are two contradictory answers to your questions.
One: most of Jewish law and Jewish text are the product of
men, so there is a certain bias built into Judaism. Answer
two: many of these sages and Judaism in general held women in
high esteem. The intention was and is to honor women in
Judaism, in part, precisely because women bring life into the
world.
If this is so,
then why all the "second class" treatment you
describe in your Email? I believe a big part of the answer is
found by looking at the issue using the context of days gone
by. The Middle East in ancient days was male dominated.
Society was tribal and clan based and was often headed by a
male chief or leader. Still today, in many of the countries in
the region, much of this old tradition exist and the status
and treatment of women in those countries is appallingly.
But the Middle
East was not unique, the whole world was male dominated -- and
still is! Only now and only in the Western World are women
beginning to get equal rights. Historically speaking the
gaining of these rights is a relatively new phenomenon. In the
US, kicking and screaming, men finally granted women the right
to vote in 1920 -- not exactly ancient times!
For thousands of
years, Judaism, like the rest of the world has been led mostly
by men. But in the last fifty years, Judaism has changed a
great deal regarding women. Today, Conservative, Reform and
Reconstructionist Movements have made huge strides in granting
woman rights and power. All three movements ordain woman
rabbis, allow woman to read Torah and pray with men, have
worked to make their prayerbooks gender neutral and speak of
the Matriarchs and encourage women to wear kippot, tallis and
tefillin. Obviously, individual synagogue handles these
practices differently but in general these three movements
view women as deserving rights equal to men.
"But,"
you may be thinking, "what about the Orthodox."
Within Orthodox circles there are certainly women speaking out
for changes but, by in large, I would refer to my point about
our tradition holding women in high esteem. You may not agree
with the following rationale, but our tradition says woman are
"released" from many obligations because of the
important role woman play as mothers and wives. The home is
viewed traditionally as a holy place with the women bringing
in the spiritual light, (this is why women light the Shabbat
candles.) Many of these women feel respected as, in the words
of our tradition, "women of valor with a worth higher
than rubies."
Sexist garbage?
Not according to many observant women who view their role with
comfort and happiness. Before you dismiss this as
brainwashing, think for a moment about the reverence we have
for "Jewish Mamas." All kidding on the subject
aside, we Jews deeply value our mothers and grandmothers.
Unfortunately,
in the space of this column, I cannot get into greater detail
explaining more of the rationale behind Jewish laws views
toward women. But, as I said at the outset, much rational
comes from respect for women.
I see this and
admire the intention, at the same time I have problems with
some of our traditions' views toward women especially the
issue of agunot -- women trying to get divorced. But today,
within Judaism there is a wide latitude of practice relative
to women and I feel very comfortable partnering with my wife
to raise our two daughters to become proud and fully
participating first class Jews.
Thanks for
writing!
Gil
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© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email
columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!
All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you
also include this little copyright notice. Thank You!
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