women in judaism
When we look at some of the written as well as unwritten laws of Judaism, it's not too hard to see why there is a big push in the feminist movement to reshape the roles of women in Judaism. Many women believe that their roles in Judaism are inferior to that of men, and they are attempting to shift some of the emphasis away from men and towards themselves. The first thing that should be noted in Judaism is that all interpretations of the Torah and Talmud, including women's roles have been made by men. Since women were not given the chance to study or interpret their religion, all of the authority has been placed in the hands of men. As a result many women feel that men, as the dominant sex, have interpreted the religion in their favor, placing women with unequal, subordinate roles (Wolf).The unequal relationship between the two sex's, becomes obvious when we look at a few of the Jewish laws such as, divorce, and the constant reference to God as the masculine pronoun "he" (Koltun 4). One of the first unequal relationships that we can look at begins with the creation of man. The book of Genesis contains a passage which states that, God created man first and then the woman second, out of the male's
The difference between these two branches of Judaism, and their different times of accepting women as rabbis, is that Reform Judaism is based on the modern interpretations of the Halachah, whereas Conservative Judaism, which in addition to the modern development of the Halachah, is also based on the continuation of traditions (Greenberg 14). New editions of payer books have reached the Reform, as well as Conservative synagogues, with new regards for historical women and men. For example, the feminist movement is suggesting that the courts intervene in a way that if a husband, who has previously been ordered to serve the wife with a get, doesn't do it within six months; that he should be jailed until he serves her with the get (Zuckerman 42). Some interpret specific verses in the Halachah as a minyan consisting of 10 people for whom it is an obligation to pray, but since praying is a time-bound mitzvot, women are not obligated to do this. According to the Halacha, the woman has very few legitimate reasons to request a divorce. This is a letter from her husband stating that she is no longer married to him, and she is allowed to leave him and remarry (Wolowelsky). Seeing as males perform almost all religious ceremonies in Judaism, and exclude women from communal prayer (Broyde), it is no wonder that modern Jewish women are standing up for their wishes, and are trying to find modern interpretations, satisfaction, and solutions to their problems within the Halacha (Jewish law) (Beecher). For a long time women were not allowed to have Bat-mitzvahs, the equivalent to the male Bar Mitzvah. Given the fact that within Judaism, women aren't perceived as legitimate witnesses of a court of law, furthermore complicates the situation. Recently some suggestions have been made to which changes could result in terms that are less biased. A woman's chances to win! a court decision, becomes even more challenging when it is impossible to have any female witnesses to testify her side of the story (Koltun 105). In these cases the wife does not need to agree with the divorce, she is merely a silent participant in the settlement of the divorce, and may end up being divorced against her will (Biale 100). Since women are seen as private and not public figures, and therefore not meant to study or derive wisdom from the Torah; nor are they supposed to recite or participate in communal prayers, they are not given equal opportunities to connect with God. Although there is no direct Halachic objection to women becoming rabbis, (Greenberg 20-1) it is interpreted that a woman may not act as a witness, or take part in a minyan.
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Acceptance Essays
