JEWISH FEMINISM
Judaism’s Orthodox feminist movement has succeeded in opening doors for women
committed both to Jewish law and gender equality. After 30 years of steadily pulsing its
messages into the culture, feminism has reached deeply even into the most traditional
religious communities. The radical transformation of divorce law in Egypt--making it
easier for women to end a marriage--is but one example. Discussion among American
Catholics about the ordination of women is another.
Orthodox Judaism, too, has been touched by this new social movement. Orthodox
feminism, once considered an oxymoron, is a fact of life. Questions about women’s roles
and rights are raised daily on issues that were uncontested for centuries. The
consciousness of the entire modern Orthodox community has been raised, with rabbis
readily acknowledging women’s issues to be a primary concern in their congregations.
Conferences on feminism and Orthodoxy in 1998 and 2000 turned out record numbers
of participants, 2,000 strong; many showed up unregistered, boarding planes the night
before as if impelled by some mysterious force. The explosion in Jewish women’s higher
learning is unprecedented, with women studying Talmud as if by natural right. One
would not guess that these texts were virtually closed to women for 2,000 years.
New Orthodox synagogue architecture reflects the desire to create space in which women
will not feel at the periphery, creating a women’s section on par with the men’s section.
Orthodox women’s prayer groups, though not universally welcomed, have grown in
number and in size. Models of women’s leadership--congregational interns (the female
equivalent to assistant rabbis), presidents of synagogues, principals of Jewish day
schools, advocates in the Jewish divorce courts, advisers in halachic (Jewish legal)
matters--all are new to the Orthodox scene.
Yet, just as all these gains are being made, “feminism”--the very word itself--has
increasingly become a red-flag word inside Orthodoxy. When feminism mattered not at
all, it was not a subject for discussion. But suddenly, feminism is at the door--or halfway
through the door--of modern Orthodoxy. And many inside have squared off.
Some examples: A mainstream Orthodox women’s organization was invited to join as
cosponsor of the 1998 Orthodox feminism conference, a role that same group had played
the previous year. The organization’s leadership said yes, but only on condition that
conference organizers drop “feminism” from the title. (They refused.) And this year,
women from 11 countries met to form an international Orthodox feminist organization,
but the issue of whether “feminism” should be part of the title went unresolved. Probably
half the Orthodox women who would be described by any objective standard as feminist
shy away from the word in defining themselves.
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ESTHER-THE SAVIOR WHO BECOMES A NATIONAL HEROINE
An understanding of Esther’s deep commitment to her people changes any initial
impression we may have received of her as a woman who compromised her honour by
going complacently to the palace, losing contact with her past, and becoming a woman of
the harem. Here, her role was to be pleasing in the sight of the king, to amuse and
satisfy him — with all that this role implies.
The danger she underwent for the sake of the nation, and her declaration of a day of
celebration and feasting, was the act of a woman who had carried out a dangerous
mission and felt a need to perpetuate the mission, not only in the deepest social and
national sense but also as something of profound significance in her own life. She felt her
deed had value as a sacrifice and epitomized the many tasks fulfilled for national or
ideological reasons. Into this category must come those tasks, difficult and perhaps
among the less pleasant, that women must sometimes carry out to achieve their goal: to
surrender themselves totally, while protecting their identity and remembering where
loyalty must lie.
In the case of Esther, she was not involved in a
actually became the queen, reaching the heights of
woman in those days could hope for. Nevertheless,
important, and that it was up to her to represent the
dubious temporary love affair but
ambition and achievement which a
Esther felt that her task was more
Jewish people at this moment.
The sages have evaluated a role of this kind in connection with Esther: “Better a
transgression for the sake of heaven than a good deed which is not.” This saying
expresses an understanding of the spiritual dedication that goes beyond mere personal
danger and involves also a degree of personal humiliation, a renunciation of self.
From the point of view of the Jewish woman, Esther’s role was not honorable. Had she
married a fellow Jew and become a decent housewife, the feeling would have been that
she was fulfilling a mitzvah (for the sake of heaven or otherwise) in a perfect, dutiful way.
The very fact that she was in the palace to begin with was, in a certain sense, the result
of a chain of “transgressions in the name of God.”
Other generations have maintained that when a man gives up his life while his soul is
pure and unsullied, he has reached one level of sacrifice; and that there is a further level,
where an individual not only gives up his life but also exposes his soul to a danger whose
result none can foretell.
This test of sacrifice, the hidden, unexplained test which is not stressed in the Scroll of
Esther, changes this woman from a mere historical figure to a national heroine. The
mechanism of the miracle is plainly revealed and visible. All its elements are clearly
spread before us. Esther is the woman around whom this miracle revolves, the saviour
whom we later bless in the religious festival of Purim recalling her act of heroism.
NEHAMA LIEBOWITZ-TEACHER OF ISRAEL
Nehama Leibowitz, who died in Jerusalem on Shabbat, 5 Nisan, 5757 (April 12, 1997) at
the age of 92, was a phenomenon in the world of Torah study and education. A Russianborn graduate of the University of Berlin who immigrated to Israel in 1931, Nehama
became the instructor of three generations of teachers and acquired an extensive and
profound influence on Torah pedagogy worldwide—no mean feat for anyone, let alone for
a woman. She taught thousands of others inside and outside Israel, including leading
public figures.
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From 1942 to 1971 Nehama issued her renowned “gilyonot” (circulars) on the weekly
Torah portions, for which undertaking she was later awarded the prestigious Israel Prize
Nehama would pose questions about the Torah text and selected commentaries, and
students from all parts of the world and all walks of life would respond. No
correspondence course ever had so many diligent participants over so long a period of
time; no other teacher could have sustained such interest for so long. Nearly twenty
years after the “gilyonot” ceased to be formally circulated, her “students” would send in
their replies to her questions, and Nehama, red pen in hand, would read them, assess
them, and return them. Over 40,000 sheets were counted before she gave up that
particular effort after only a few years!
AVIVA ZORNBERG-LEADING LIVING WOMAN TORAH SCHOLAR
The leading living female Torah scholar today is Aviva Zornberg. In the introduction to
her important work on the Book of B’reishit, The Beginning of Desire, she writes the
following: “essentially my way of reading sources is highly untheoretical [should we read
“instinctive”?] the work of interpretation is done “in the field”, in close attention to
themes and motifs I sense within the words on the page. It is a kind of listening for the
meta-messages of the text. My assumption is that the narrative block that constitutes a
Parsha has thematic integrity”.
I would suggest that most earlier scholars did not think of the text in that way at all. It is
interesting to note that scholars, such as those at Bar Ilan University, who are grappling
with the integrity of the text and each Parsha, are drawn primarily from former students
of Nehama!
Zornberg explains that her sources “include areas such as literature, literary criticism,
psychology, philosophy and anthropology.” Anyone who has had the privilege of learning
with her knows that this is no exaggeration. She explains that she uses various sources
to “set up a field of tension and mutual illumination with the Biblical text”. Explaining
her use of Rashi (and how it differs from the traditional use), she cites an example. When
Rashi comments on Joseph’s abstention from sexual intercourse during a family, [male]
Jewish scholarship has expounded on this basis laws about the proper behaviour. Aviva,
on the other hand, reads the commentary to gain insight into the person who was
Joseph, his inner conflicts and personality. She does not reject or belittle Rashi’s
greatness; she puts it to new use.
For Aviva and for Nehama, it is the integrity of the text that is beyond criticism. No
commentary can possible cover all the possibilities and all the richness of the Torah. The
task of the reader is to bring as many resources as she can to bear on the text so that it
is a living source of Jewish life, values and joy.
LEAH SHAKDIEL – ISRAELI TEACHER OF RELIGIOUS FEMINISM
Born in Jerusalem in 1951 to a family of Modem Orthodox pioneers, Leah Shakdiel
moved to Yeruham, a small development town in the Negev Desert, in 1978, with a group
committed to Halacha, social responsibility, peace, and ecology. Married to psychologist
Dr. Moshe Landsman, and mother of Rachel (19), Tzvi (17), and Pinchas (15).
BA from Bar Ilan University in English and French Literatures. Other studies include
Bible and Oral Law, Jewish Thought, Jewish History, and Education. Taught Hebrew
and Jewish studies, developed teaching materials, trained teachers, coordinated and
directed projects and institutions in the areas of education and community. Socially and
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politically active on behalf of peace, empowering the disadvantaged, civil and human
rights, and feminism. As a School for Educational Leadership Fellow (1994-6) developed
a model for feminist pedagogy for Israel.
Currently works in teacher training in Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, gender
equity programs for the Ministry of Education, and teaches Jewish feminism in The
Shechter Institute in Jerusalem. She is on the faculty of Bat Kol and writes extensively
for Judaic academic journals and popular journals, including online publications. In
1988 became Israel’s first female member of a local Religious Council, following a
successful struggle that ended with a landmark Supreme Court decision.
BLU GREENBERG - AUTHOR. LECTURER AND
ORTHODOX FEMINIST
Blu Greenberg is an author and lecturer who has published widely on the issues of
feminism, Orthodoxy, and the Jewish family, as well as on other subjects of scholarly
interest. Greenberg is the author of “On Women and Judaism: A View From Tradition,”
“How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household” “Black Bread: Poems After the Holocaust”
and “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba,” a children’s book co-authored with the
Rev. Linda Tarry.
Since 1973, she has been active in the movement to bridge feminism and Orthodox
Judaism. She chaired the first International Conference on Feminism and Orthodoxy in
1997 and the second in 1998. She is the co-founder and first president of the Jewish
Orthodox Feminist Alliance and has served on the boards of many organizations,
including EDAH, the Covenant Foundation, Project Kesher, U.S. Israeli Women to
Women, and the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers.
She is the current chair of the Petschek National Jewish Family Center, and a former
president of the Jewish Book Council of America. She serves on the editorial board of
Hadassah Magazine and on the advisory boards of Lilith, the Jewish Student Press
Service, and the International Research Institute on Jewish Women.
She was a participant in Bill Moyers’ “Genesis” special on PBS and a consultant to the
film “The Prince of Egypt,” and she serves on the Board of Religious Advisors to PBS’s
“Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.” She lectures widely in Jewish communities and at
universities in the U.S. and abroad.
She is married to Rabbi Irving Greenberg. They have five children and 12 grandchildren.
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