J2: Women

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Exempt or exclude?

Anyone who has studied Judaism will be aware of
the fact that it consists of a system of laws. Just
about every aspect of the lives of observant Jews
are shaped and directed by Jewish law. Legal
discussions in the Talmud (the Oral Law) and other legal sources are usually about who is obligated to perform the commandment or law and who is exempt from following it. For example, people who are ill or who do not feel comfortable are exempt from sitting in a sukkah during the festival of Sukkot. They do not have to sit in the sukkah as this would add to their illness and discomfort and they would not be able to experience the joy that one is supposed to experience on Sukkot.

The Talmud in tractate Kiddushin divides the laws or commandments into four categories:

1. Positive laws that are time-bound. These are laws phrased "You shall ... " that has to be performed at a specific time, e.g. "You shall say the Shema once in the morning and once in the evening."

2. Positive laws that are not time-bound. These are laws phrased "You shall ..." which can be performed at any time, e.g. "You shall love your neighbour as you love yourself".

3. Negative laws that are time-bound. Laws phrased "You shall not ..." which has to be performed at a certain time, e.g. "You shall not light a fire on the Sabbath".

4. Negative laws that are not time-bound, e.g. "You shall not kill."

According to Orthodox Judaism, women are expected to perform all these laws in the same way as men do with one exception. Women do not have to perform the first category of laws, namely the positive laws that are time-bound. Women are therefore exempt from:

- saying Shema twice a day,
- putting on phylacteries (tefillin),
- wearing tzitzit (fringes on 4 cornered garments),
- counting the omer,
- hearing the shofar on the Jewish New Year,
- sitting in a sukkah and
- waving the four species on Sukkot.

As you can see, this is not a particularly long list and as women are merely exempt from these things but not excluded, most Orthodox Jewish women today do perform most of the laws listed above. Some (not many) even put on phylacteries (tefillin) regularly, citing as their example Michal, the wife of King David and daughter of King Saul whom the Talmud describes as having worn tefillin every day.

Women have the same obligation as men to pray but for men this is a time-bound law that they have to perform in public three times a day whereas a woman does not have to do it at a specific time. However, if women really are exempt but not excluded from public prayer, why can they not and do they not participate more in public prayer and why do they not read from the Torah during public services?

Again a legal principle is applied: Only a person who is obligated to pray three times a day can be counted as part of the minyan (required public prayer quorum of 10). Nonetheless, there are examples in the Talmud of women being called up to the Torah in the synagogue but it seems that this was not the norm and indeed the Talmud says that this practice detracts honour from the male members of the congregation - make of that one what you like.

So, Is Judaism a sexist religion?

The case for:

- One could argue that excluding women from fully participating in public prayer and assuming leadership roles such as rabbinical positions clearly shows a gender bias. It seems that Orthodox Judaism wants to keep women out of the public sphere and silence them.

- It is all very well to say that women are merely exempt and not excluded from performing certain legal duties. Yet in practice, exemption often means exclusion. This is certainly the way many women perceive the system to work.

- Making women pray behind a partition at the back of the synagogue or on an upstairs gallery marginalises them completely. Many women dislike attending synagogue as they feel that they are not even meant to be seen and they might have difficulty in some cases even following the service due to these seating arrangements.

- When an Orthodox woman gets married she literally does not get to speak during the entire ceremony. If she needs a divorce, she can also find herself in a very difficult position. (See Marriage and Divorce below)

- Jewish women are just expected to get married, stay at home, cook clean and raise children. Men are free to pursue careers and are often honoured publicly in synagogue being called up to say a blessing on the Torah. Women remain more or less invisible in the public sphere.

- When a Jewish man loses a close relative, he publicly says kaddish in synagogue. For most people this is a great support in their time of mourning as the congregation knows that they are in mourning and can offer them support. Because of their position in synagogue, women do not have this option of saying kaddish openly in synagogue and they might end up feeling that their loss is not considered as important as that of a man.

The case against:

- Judaism attaches equal importance to the public and private sphere. In fact, many essential ceremonies take place in the home rather than the synagogue, for example the Sabbath kiddush ceremony and the Passover Haggadah reading. Giving women more private than public duties does not imply inequality in a religion that does not see a discrepancy between the two spheres.

- Jewish law specifically states that women are "exempt" and not "excluded" from the laws mentioned. The fact that women do observe most of the positive time-bound laws proves that this is an exemption rather than an exclusion. It might not yet be acceptable in all circles for women to put on phylacteries but as they are not forbidden to do this it is perhaps just a matter of time before this becomes quite an ordinary occurrence.

- Jewish law does not require women to pray behind or upstairs from men. The basic legal definition is that there should be some separation between them in order for both groups to be able to fully concentrate on their prayers. In many synagogues women pray on the same level alongside men with a partition down the middle and there is no reason why this should not be implemented in more synagogues.

- Even in Biblical times, women could not be married against their will (see the story of Rebecca, wife of Isaac). Very little besides blessings and traditional formulae are spoken under the wedding canopy (Chuppah). A wedding is considered a very holy occasion which the couple approach by fasting and praying . Even the groom only pronounces one line in Hebrew but the wedding contract is entered to by both parties on equal grounds. The divorce laws were designed to make provision for women but some men do abuse the system and this is an issue which is currently being addressed in various ways. (See Marriage and Divorce below).

- The commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" is addressed to men, not to women. Jewish legal writers such as Maimonides (12th century) have therefore said that Jewish law does not obligate women to get married or have children whereas men have to get married to fulfil this law. Women, on the other hand are free to follow a pure career path with no such legal obligation. The marriage contract states that men have to provide their wives' material, emotional and physical needs without requiring any such obligation from women. Furthermore, the Jewish status of a child depends on the mother and not the father, again giving women more power.

- Women's position in public prayer has been explained and kaddish is something that can only be said if a minyan is present. There are legal opinions that permit women to say kaddish in public and the only problem mentioned by commentators is that this is not something that is yet socially or politically acceptable - it is therefore not a legal problem as such and there is scope for change.

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