http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/women.htm
The Role of Women
The role of women in traditional Judaism has
been grossly misrepresented and misunderstood. The position
of women is not nearly as lowly as many modern people think;
in fact, the position of women in
halakhah (Jewish Law) that dates back to the biblical
period is in many ways better than the position of women
under US civil law as recently as a century ago. Many of
the important feminist leaders of the 20th century (Gloria
Steinem, for example) are Jewish women, and some
commentators have suggested that this is no coincidence:
the respect accorded to women in Jewish tradition was a part
of their ethnic culture.
In traditional Judaism, women's obligations and
responsibilities are different from men's, but no less
important (in fact, in some ways, women's responsibilities
are considered more important, as we shall see).
The equality of men and women begins at the highest
possible level: God. In Judaism, unlike Christianity, God
has never been viewed as exclusively male or masculine.
Judaism has always maintained that God has both masculine
and feminine qualities. God has, of course, no body;
therefore, the very idea that God is male or female is
patently absurd. We refer to God using masculine terms
simply for convenience's sake, because Hebrew has no neutral
gender; God is no more male than a table or chair (both
"masculine" nouns in Hebrew).
Both man and woman were created in the image of God.
According to many Jewish scholars, "man" was created "male
and female" (Genesis
1,27) with dual gender, and was later separated into
male and female.
According to traditional Judaism, women are endowed with
a greater degree of "binah" (intuition, understanding,
intelligence) than men. The
rabbis inferred this from the idea that woman was
"built" (Genesis
2,22) rather than "formed" (Genesis
2,7), and the Hebrew
root of "build" has the same consonants as the word "binah".
It has been said that the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca,
Rachel, and Leah) were superior to the patriarchs (Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob) in prophecy. It has also been said that
women did not participate in the idolatry regarding the
golden calf. Some traditional sources suggest that women
are closer to God's ideal than men.
Women have held positions of respect in Judaism since
biblical times. Miriam is considered one of the liberators
of the people of Israel, along with her brothers Moses and
Aaron. One of the Judges (Deborah) was a woman. Seven of
the 55 prophets of the Bible were women.
The Ten Commandments require respect for both mother and
father. Note that the father comes first in
Exodus 20,11, but the mother comes first in
Leviticus 19,3.
There were many learned women of note. The
Talmud and later rabbinical writings speak of the wisdom
of Berurya, the wife of Rabbi Meir.
In several instances,
her opinions on
halakhah (Jewish Law) were accepted over those of her
male contemporaries ( a far cry from women NOT being
allowed to teach a man as per Paul's church). In the ketubah (marriage
contract) of
Rabbi Akiba's son, the wife is obligated to teach the
husband
Torah! Many rabbis over the centuries have been known
to consult their wives on matters of Jewish law relating to
the woman's role, such as laws of
kashrut and women's periods. The wife of a
rabbi is referred to as a rebbetzin, practically a title
of her own, which should give some idea of her significance
in Jewish life.
There can be no doubt, however, that the
Talmud also has many negative things to say about
women. Various rabbis at various times describe women as
lazy, jealous, vain and gluttonous, prone to gossip and
particularly prone to the occult and witchcraft. Men are
repeatedly advised against associating with women, although
that is as much because of man's lust as it is because of
any shortcoming in women. Women are discouraged from
pursuing higher education or religious pursuits, but this
seems to be primarily because women who engage in such
pursuits might neglect their primary duties as wives and
mothers. The rabbis are not concerned that women are not
spiritual enough, but rather are concerned that women might
become too spiritually devoted.
The rights of women in traditional Judaism are much
greater than they were in the rest of Western civilization
until this century. Women had the right to buy, sell, and
own property, and make their own contracts, rights which
women in Christian countries (including the USA) did not
have until about 100 years ago. In fact, Proverbs 31,10-31,
which is read at Jewish weddings, speaks repeatedly of
business acumen as a trait to be prized in women (v. 11,
13, 16, and 18 especially).
Women have the right to be consulted with regard to their
marriage. Marital
sex is regarded as the woman's right, and not the
man's. Men do not have the right to beat or mistreat their
wives, a right that was recognized by law in many Christian
countries until a few hundred years ago. In cases of rape,
a woman is generally presumed not to have consented to the
intercourse, even if she enjoyed it, even if she consented
after the sexual act began and declined a rescue! This is
in sharp contrast to Western society, where even today rape
victims often have to overcome public suspicion that they
"asked for it" or "wanted it". Traditional Judaism
recognizes that forced sexual relations within the context
of marriage are rape and are not permitted; in many states
in the West, rape within marriage is still not a criminal
act.
There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the
primary role of a woman is as wife and mother, keeper of the
household. However, Judaism has great respect for the
importance of that role. The
Talmud says that when a pious man marries a wicked
woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked man marries
a pious woman, the man becomes pious. Women are exempted
from all positive
commandments ("thou shalts" as opposed to "thou shalt
nots") that are time-related (that is, commandments that
must be performed at a specific time of the day or year),
because the woman's duties as wife and mother are so
important that they cannot be postponed to fulfill a
commandment. After all, a woman cannot be expected to just
drop a crying baby when the time comes to perform a
commandment.
It is this exemption from certain commandments that has
led to the greatest misunderstanding of the role of women in
Judaism. First, many people make the mistake of thinking
that this exemption is a prohibition. On the contrary,
although women are not obligated to perform time-based
positive commandments, they are generally permitted to
observe such commandments if they choose. Second, because
this exemption diminishes the role of women in the
synagogue, many people perceive that women have no role
in Jewish religious life. This misconception derives from
the mistaken assumption that Jewish religious life revolves
around the synagogue. It does not; it revolves around the
home, where the woman's role is every bit as important as
the man's.
To understand the limited role of women in
synagogue life, it is important to understand the nature
of
commandments in Judaism and the separation of men and
women.
Judaism recognizes that it is mankind's nature to rebel
against authority; thus, one who does something because he
is commanded to is regarded with greater merit than one who
does something because he chooses to. The person who
refrains from pork because it is a commandment has more
merit than the person who refrains from pork because he does
not like the taste. In addition, the commandments, burdens,
obligations, that were given to the Jewish people are
regarded as a privilege, and the more commandments one is
obliged to observe, the more privileged one is.
Because women are not obligated to perform certain
commandments, their observance of those commandments does
not "count" for group purposes. While a woman must pray the
silent standing prayer just as a man does, she need not pray
the
full prayer service of the synagoue that a man prays.
Thus, a woman's voluntary attendance at daily worship
services does not count toward a
minyan (the 10 people necessary to recite certain
prayers), a woman's voluntary recitation of certain prayers
does not count on behalf of the group (thus women cannot
lead services), and a woman's voluntary reading from the
Torah does not count towards the community's obligation
to read from the Torah.
In addition, because women are not obligated to perform
as many commandments as men are, women are regarded as less
privileged. It is in this light that one must understand
the man's blessing thanking God for "not making me a
woman". The prayer does not indicate that it is bad to be a
woman, but only that men feel fortunate to be privileged to
have more obligations.
Another
thing that must be understood is the separation of men and
women during prayer. According to Jewish Law, men and women
must be separated during prayer, usually by a wall or
curtain called a mechitzah or by placing women in a second
floor balcony. There are two reasons for this: first, your
mind is supposed to be on prayer, not on the pretty girl
praying near you. Second, many pagan religious ceremonies
at the time the Torah was given on Sinai involved sexual
activity and orgies, and the separation prevents or at least
discourages even thinking about such things. A separation
like that in today's synagogue was also made long ago in the
Temple.
The combination of the exemption from certain
commandments and this separation results in some women
feeling that they have an inferior place in the synagogue.
Because of these problems, many
Orthodox women rarely attend services.
But as said before, this restriction on participation in
synagogue life does not mean that women are excluded from
Jewish religious life, because the Jewish religion is not
something that happens in synagogue. Judaism is something
that permeates every aspect of your life, everything that
you do, from the time you wake up in the morning to the time
you go to bed, from what you eat and how you dress to how
you conduct business. Prayer services are only a small,
though important, part of the Jewish religion.
