STATUS OF WOMEN IN JUDAISM

In Judaism, G-d is neither male nor female

The Talmud says both good and bad things about women
• Women are not required to perform certain commandments
• Certain commandments are reserved specifically for women
• The first of the month is a minor festival for women
• Men and women sit separately in traditional synagogues
• The idea of Lilith as a feminist hero is based on a questionable source

INTRODUCTION
• 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) is in many ways better than the
position of women under American civil
• In traditional Judaism, women are for the most part seen as separate but equal.
• 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 .

EQUALITY OF MEN AND WOMEN

• The equality of men and women begins at the highest possible level: G-d.
• In Judaism, unlike traditional Christianity, G-d has never been viewed as exclusively
male or masculine.
• Judaism has always maintained that G-d has both masculine and feminine qualities.
• G-d has no body, no genitalia, therefore the very idea that G-d is male or female is
patently absurd.
• Referring to G-d using masculine terms is simply for convenience's sake, because
Hebrew has no neutral gender; G-d is no more male than a table is.
• Both man and woman were created in the image of G-d. According to most Jewish
scholars, "man" was created in Gen. 1:27 with dual gender, and was later separated
into male and female.
• Women have held positions of respect in Judaism since biblical times.
• Miriam is considered one of the liberators of the Children of Israel, along with her
brothers Moses and Aaron.
• One of the Judges (Deborah) was a woman.

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• Seven of the 55 prophets of the Bible were women (they are included in the list of
biblical prophets).
• The Ten Commandments require respect for both mother and father.
• Note that the father comes first in Ex. 20:12, but the mother comes first in Lev. 19:3,
and many traditional sources point out that this reversal is intended to show that
both parents are equally entitled to honour and reverence.
• There were many learned women of note. eg Berurya, the wife of Rabbi Meir.
• Women have held positions of respect in Judaism since biblical times.

• NEGATIVES
• 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 this is usually
because of man's lust rather than because of any shortcoming in women.
• It is worth noting that the Talmud also has negative things to say about men,
frequently describing men as particularly prone to lust and forbidden sexual desires.
• According to Jewish tradition, a covenant was formed between the Israelites and the
God of Abraham at Mount Sinai.
• The Torah relates that both Israelite men and Israelite women were present at Sinai,
• However, the covenant was worded in such a way that it bound men to act upon its
requirements and to ensure that the members of their household (wives, children,
and slaves) met these requirements as well.
• In this sense, the covenant bound women as well, though indirectly.
• Marriage and family law in biblical times favoured men over women.
• For example, a husband could divorce a wife if he chose to, but a wife could not
divorce a husband without his consent.
• The practice of levirate marriage applied to widows of childless deceased husbands,
not to widowers of childless deceased wives; though if either he or she didn't
consent to the marriage, a different ceremony called chalitza is done instead, which
basically involves the widow removing her brother-in-law's shoe, spitting on it, and
proclaiming, "This is what happens to someone who will not build his brother's
house! “
• Laws concerning the loss of female virginity have no male equivalent.

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 • other gender differences found in the Torah suggest that women were subordinate
to men during biblical times, however,
• However, men had specific obligations they were required to perform for their
wives.
• These included the provision of clothing, food, and sexual relations to their wives. [3]

Education
• Jewish women had a limited education.
• They were taught to read, write, and run a household.
• They were also given some education in religious law that was essential to their
daily lives, such as keeping kosher.
• Both Christian and Jewish girls were educated in the home.
• Although Christian girls may have had a male or female tutor, most Jewish girls had a
female tutor.
• Higher learning was uncommon for both Christian and Jewish women.
• Many women gained enough education to help their husbands out in business or
even hold their own.
• Just like Christian women who ran their own business, Jewish women were engaged
in their own occupations as well as helping their husbands.
• Women were also copyists, midwives, spinners and weavers

NEGATIVES
• Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits,
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; rather, they are
concerned that women might become too spiritually devoted.
• Lilith is a character who appears in passing in the Talmud and in rabbinical folklore.
• She is a figure of evil, a female demon who seduces men and threatens babies and
women in childbirth.
• She is described as having long hair and wings
• . It is said that she seizes men who sleep in a house alone, like a succubus
• She is also mentioned in midrashim and kabbalistic works, in which she is
considered to be the mother of demons.
• Her name probably comes from the Hebrew word for night (laila).

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She is similar to and probably based on a pagan demon named Lulu or Lilu that appears in
Gilgamesh and other Sumerian and Babylonian

RIGHTS
• Women had the right to buy, sell, and own property, and make their own contracts,
rights which women in Western countries (including America) did not have until
about 100 years ago.
• In fact, Proverbs 31:10-31, which is traditionally 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,
• 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!

ROLE
• 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 and the spiritual
influence that the woman has over her family.
• 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.
• The child of a Jewish woman and a Gentile man is Jewish because of the mother's
spiritual influence;
• The child of a Jewish man and a gentile woman is not.
• A woman cannot be expected to just drop a crying baby when the time comes to
perform a mitzvah. She cannot leave dinner unattended on the stove while she
attends evening prayer services
• It is this exemption from certain mitzvot that has led to the greatest
misunderstanding of the role of women in Judaism.

MITZVOT: NEROT, CHALLAH, NIDDAH

• In Jewish tradition, there are three mitzvot (commandments) that are reserved for
women: nerot (lighting candles), challah (separating a portion of dough), and niddah
(sexual separation during a woman's menstrual period and ritual immersion
afterwards)

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 • . If a woman is present who can perform these mitzvot, the privilege of fulfilling the
mitzvah is reserved for the woman.
• Two of these mitzvot can be performed by a man if no woman is present.
• The third, for reasons of biology, is limited to the woman.
• All of these mitzvot are related to the home and the family, areas where the woman
is primarily responsible.

NEROT
• The first of these women's mitzvot is nerot (literally, "lights") or hadlakat ha-ner
(literally, "lighting the lights"),
• that is, the privilege of lighting candles to mark the beginning of the Shabbat or a
holiday.
• The lighting of candles officially marks the beginning of sacred time for the home;
• once candles are lit, any restrictions or observances of the holiday are in effect.
• The lighting of candles is a rabbinical mitzvah, rather than a mitzvah from the Torah.

CHALLAH AND NIDDAH

• The second woman's mitzvah is challah, that is, the privilege of separating a portion
of dough from bread before baking it.
• This mitzvah comes from Num. 15:20, where we are commanded to set aside a
portion of dough for the kohein.
• The third woman's mitzvah is the obligation to separate herself from her husband
during her menstrual period and to immerse herself in a ritual bath after the end of
her menstrual period.
• The Torah prohibits sexual intercourse during a woman's menstrual period.
• This ritual immersion marks the end of that period of separation and the resumption
of the couple's sexual activities.
• Chanah was the mother of Samuel and a prophetess. She is considered in Jewish
tradition to be a role model for women.

WOMEN’ HOLIDAY ROSH CHODESH

• Rosh Chodesh, the first day of each month, is a minor festival.
• There is a custom that women do not work on Rosh Chodesh.
• Because of the sin of the Golden Calf, the holiday was taken away from the men and
given to women, as a reward for the women's refusal to participate in the
construction of the Golden Calf.

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 • How do we know that the women did not participate in the worship of the golden
calf?

ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE SYNAGOGUE

• To understand the limited role of women in synagogue life, it is important to
understand the nature of mitzvot (commandments) in Judaism and the separation of
men and w
• Because women are not required to perform certain mitzvot, their observance of
those mitzvoth
• 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. The same is true of boys under the
age of 13, who are not obligated to perform any mitzvot, though they are permitted
to perform them.
In addition, because women are not obligated to perform as many mitzvot as men are
• Women also had a role in ritual life.
• Women (as well as men) were required to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in
Jerusalem once a year (men each of the three main festivals if they could) and offer
the Passover sacrifice.
• They would also do so on special occasions in their lives such as giving a todah
("thanksgiving") offering after childbirth.
• Hence, they participated in many of the major public religious roles that non-
Levitical men could, albeit less often and on a somewhat smaller and generally more
discreet scale.
• Michal, one of David's main wives and the daughter of Saul, accepted the
commandments of tefillin (only while menstrually pure,
• Women depended on men economically.
• Women generally did not own property except in the rare case of inheriting land
from a father who didn't bear sons.
Even "in such cases, women would be required to remarry within the tribe so as not to
reduce its land holdings." ]
• women are regarded as less privileged.

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• It is in this light that one must understand the man's prayer thanking G-d for "not
making me a woman."
• The prayer does not indicate that it is bad to be a woman, but only that men are
fortunate to be privileged to have more obligations.
• The corresponding women's prayer, thanking G-d for making me "according to his
will," is not a statement of resignation to a lower status (hardly an appropriate
sentiment for prayer!) On the contrary, this prayer should be understood as thanking
G-d for giving women greater binah, for making women closer to G-d's idea of
spiritual perfection, and for all the joys of being a woman generally.
• 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.
• According to John Bowker (theologian), traditionally, Jewish "men and women pray
separately. This goes back to ancient times when women could go only as far as the
second court of the Temple."[
]
• The reason for this is so that the men do not gaze at the women (which in itself can
be a sin) and get distracted from their prayers.
• 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 Judaism was founded involved
sexual activity and orgies, and the separation prevents or at least discourages this.
• Interestingly, although men should not be able to see women during prayer, women
are permitted to see men during prayer. This seems to reflect the opinion that
women are better able to concentrate on prayer with an attractive member of the
opposite sex visible.
• Interestingly, although men should not be able to see women during prayer, women
are permitted to see men during prayer. This seems to reflect the opinion that
women are better able to concentrate on prayer with an attractive member of the
opposite sex visible.
• The combination of this exemption from certain mitzvot and this separation often
has the result that women have an inferior place in the synagogue
• . Women are not obligated by Jewish law to attend formal religious services, and
cannot participate in many aspects of the services
• so they have less motivation to attend.
• Woman's obligations in the home (which are the reason why women are exempt
from time-based mitzvot like formal prayer services) often keep them away from
synagogue.

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• In several synagogues that I have attended, the women's section is poorly climate
controlled, and women cannot see (sometimes can't even hear!) what's going on in
the men's section, where the services are being led.
• This has improved somewhat in recent years, but men: if you think I'm lying, ask your
wives.
• But as I said before, this restriction on participation in synagogue life does not mean
that women are excluded the Jewish religion, because the Jewish religion is not just
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.