JUDAISM
Christianity
| Islam
What does the religion teach about how men and women should
relate to each other?
by Howard Greenstein
In the ancient world, with only few exceptions, the political, social
and religious leaders were men. Men enjoyed numerous legal and religious
rights denied to women and a distinctly superior social status compared
to women.
In
ancient Israel, however, the position of women was notably superior
to that of their peers in other cultures. In rabbinic law, for example,
laws of marital infidelity make no distinction between husband and
wife. A woman was permitted to dissolve a marriage if it took place
under false pretenses, if the husband was immoral, if his profession
was intolerable to her, if they were sexually incompatible, if he
embarrassed her, denied her entry to their home, if his demands
blemished her reputation, if he angered easily, insulted her, beat
her or left her for an unreasonable length of time.
There
were no double standards of chastity among Jews, as were common
to the rest of the ancient world. The frequent biblical
references to love and friendship in the marriages of Israel’s
patriarchs and matriarchs are a far cry from the chattel relationship
between man and wife among other desert peoples, and even in many
instances among Greeks and Romans as well.
Outstanding
qualities of leadership and wisdom were not infrequently attributed
to Jewish women in antiquity. The judgment of Deborah was widely
celebrated; Miriam, the sister of Moses, was prominent in any selection
of biblical leaders. The Talmud later recounts with admiration the
wisdom and scholarship of several unusual women. One of the most
remarkable was Beruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir, whose insights
into Jewish law sometimes outshone those of her famous husband.
Some
Jewish women achieved fame as lecturers in medieval Europe in an
age when the general community treated women as little better than
serfs. Dulcie, the daughter of the eminent Rabbi Eleazer of Worms,
in addition to supporting her family, was noted for her brilliant
Sabbath discourses on Jewish law. Several other women of the fifteenth
century were equally acclaimed as outstanding teachers and interpreters
of the law.
In
addition, as wives and mothers Jewish women
have always enjoyed a position of such reverence and esteem that
their implicit power often surpassed that of any male influence
in the family.
In
older Jewish communities, the training of children up to the age
of six was vested in the mother’s hands. Consequently, the
person most responsible for teaching them lasting values during
their most impressionable years was the woman of the home. Even
more crucial was her role as counselor to the entire family. The
Talmud taught, “No matter how short your wife is, lean down
and take her advice.” The sages reinforced
that message by adding, “How can a man be assured of having
a blessed home? By respecting his wife.”
The
rabbis tell of a pious couple who, because they could have no children,
decided to go their separate ways. Each remarried, and both selected
wicked mates. In the end, the pious man was corrupted by his evil
wife, but the wicked man was redeemed by his pious spouse. The moral
of the story, the rabbis taught, is that “It all depends on
the wife.”
A major consideration is that women were so fully occupied with
their domestic duties, it was impossible for them to become deeply
involved in the social and religious affairs of the community. Jewish
law, for example, stipulates that women are exempt from any rituals
that must be performed at a specific time, since their responsibilities
to crying or hungry children or other family priorities preclude
their participation.
In
the western world, the social and communal role of Jewish women
slowly rose to increasingly greater equality, along with that of
their non-Jewish neighbors. In religious affairs, however, the changes
have not been as universal. Today,
in certain Orthodox circles, women are still not permitted to initiate
divorce proceedings or to be counted in a minyan,
the quorum of ten Jews required for all religious worship. In liberal
circles, the status of men and women are virtually equivalent. Women
are now ordained as rabbis and cantors, and their numbers are continually
increasing. Both Reform and Conservative synagogues have extended
religious honors and recognition to men and women equally. In Reform
practice there is no longer even an insistence on an exclusively
male minyan for worship.
Copyright
©2006 Howard Greenstein
Howard
R. Greenstein serves as Rabbi of the Jewish congregation
of Marco Island, Florida. He has previously served congregations
in Florida, Ohio, and Massachusetts. Greenstein has been a Lecturer
at the University of Florida, University of North Florida, and Jacksonville
University. He is the author of Judaism:
An Eternal Covenant (1983) and Turning Point: Zionism
and Reform Judaism (1981).
Excerpts
from What Do Our Neighbors Believe?: Questions and Answers on
Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Howard Greenstein, Kendra
Hotz, and John Kaltner are used by permission from Westminster John
Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky. The book will be available for
purchase in December 2006.
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