Journal 3 in 2003
Bezugspunkte: Europa / Israel / USA

weiter I Übersicht I zurück

Alice Shalvi
Bet Debora, Berlin, May 2003, Friday, 23/5, 3 p.m.

CONTEMPORARY RABBINIC RESPONSES TO WOMEN'S "LIBERATION"

The major issues:
xxxxxa) Torah study, once considered inappropriate or even worse;
xxxxxb) Women in rabbinical courts, especially regarding divorce and iggun;
xxxxxc) Women as decisors and as rabbis;
xxxxxd) Women-related ritual

Preliminary: We are talking mainly about Orthodox rabbinical response, since both the Reform (Liberal) and Conservative rabbinate have proved far more open on these matters, though even in the halakhically-based Conservative movement progress has been slow in the matter of women rabbis.

xxxxxa) Torah study was at one time considered wholly inappropriate for women. Cf. "Anyone who teaches his daughter Torah is as if teaching her lewdness." Even today, the study of Talmud is confined almost entirely to Orthodox men; there are no higher yeshivot for women. Nevertheless, an increasing number of women are taking upon themselves the study of Torah and we now have a generation of women who are expert in this field and in halakha. Few rabbis now condemn such study, though it is still not customary in ultra-Orthodox circles, such as Beit Ya'akov. I.e. de facto rabbinical acceptance, though no recommendation.

xxxxxb) With the increase in number of women trained in halakha, especially in personal law (dinei ishut), women have trained to serve as pleaders in rabbinical courts (to'anot rabbaniot). Initial opposition and attempts to put obstacles in their way have now given way to acceptance. In Israel, a woman thus trained, Rachel Levmor, serves as official advisor to the rabbinical courts. Furthermore, there has been an interesting response to the work of the (Conservative) Centre for Women in Jewish Law at the Schechter Institute, which has published critical analyses of individual divorce cases, presenting solutions which could have been found had the dayanim wished. A woman was recently appointed to the body which selects the chief rabbis of Israel and she has also been asked to serve on the disciplinary committee which evaluates the performance of dayanim and responds to inefficiencies and abuses of power.

xxxxxc) A (small) number of women have been certified as decisors in the "women-related" areas of kashrut and taharat mishpache. In fact, many Orthodox women are turning to them for decisions in other matters as well, thus empowering them further. There are still no Orthodox women rabbis, but a few women (in N.Y.) serve as rabbinical assistants, though not as Poskot. It is doubtful whether there will ever be Orthodox women rabbis, but by another name they may soon exist. Even in the Conservative and Reform movements very few women hold pulpits in major congregations (that is, those that pay more!). Women have instituted separate prayer-groups and Torah reading, which are becoming increasingly common and accepted (cf. also Shira Hadasha in Jerusalem).

xxxxxd) Ritual is the area where women have made most progress, particularly regarding life-cycle events such as simchat bat, bat mitzvah, wedding, and celebrations such as Rosh Hodesh. They have renewed ancient customs such as Rosh Hodesh and developed new rituals and prayers where none existed (e.g. for childbirth or miscarriage). Women are again composing tehines (personal prayers). In other words, where there was a void rather than a prohibition, feminists are filling that void in a wide variety of ways. R. Moshe Feinstein moved from prohibiting bat mitzvah to recommending it, provided it in no way resembled the bar mitzvah.

Knowledge is power. The more women know about Torah and halakha the more they will empower themselves and ultimately bring about a transformation even of Orthodox Judaism.