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COPYRIGHT 1993 American Jewish Congress
THE PRESENT ARTICLE SUMS UP MY REACtions from participating in several forums devoted to discussions regarding the status of women in Judaism. I regard myself on the one hand as a traditionalist, ideologically committed to the dictates of Halakhah as it stands, and this involves the rejection of reformist demands that the Halakhah accommodate itself to the "spirit of the times" in a manner deviating from authentic Halakhic procedure. On the other hand, I have a definite sympathy for some of the feminist feelings expressed in these discussions.
The particular aspect of the status of women in Halakhah that I want to deal with is not one that I regard to be at the moment a problem of universal Jewish concern. It is an ideological one, which relates to the call of some Jewish feminists for a basic shift from the hierarchal (or inferior) relationship accorded to women vis a vis men in Jewish law, to one of equal status. This view of the problem could seemingly be solved only by a blanket abolition of discrimination or role stratification between the sexes, not only as regards the legal status of women in matters of marriage and divorce, but also regarding opportunities for learning, religious leadership, public expression in community ritual, and the like. As Blu Greenberg envisions it in her book, On Women and Judaism,(1) the conclusion of this process would lie in the legitimization of women rabbis and poskim (decisors), to the mutual enrichment of the individual women concerned and Judaism as a whole. But this ideological question is at the moment merely of localised import. For, although it is probably felt most acutely by many women from Englishspeaking countries, particularly the more highly educated amongst them, a large percentage of the religious community still sees in the traditional feminine role a very viable proposition, and thousands of Jewish women still manage to find genuine religious inspiration and spiritual fulfillment in relating their main role in life with the more private function of housewife and mother.
I do not mean to belittle the problem of those who do experience it. It is a dilemma which is being painfully confronted by a growing number of Jewish women who feel a strong attachment to tradition, yet find it difficult to relate some of its tenets to their de facto status in Western society. But discussions of the problem that I have attended have been moving, yet also disturbing. Moving, because it is evident that, at least for the specific circle of people involved, the subject under discussion is a vital one. Disturbing, because the mode of feminist reaction is so inappropriate or even counter-productive to its declared purpose, indicating the great measure of estrangement that exists between the women concerned and the authorities whom they wish to address.
The source of this disparity of outlook stems, as I see it, from confusion regarding two issues:
1. The theological question: what room is there in Halakhah for
change altogether?
2. The practical question: if there is room at all for change, how
is it to be effected?
With regard to the first question -- one feature common to all the agitators for change that I have encountered is a general attitude towards the Halakhah which could be described as instrumentalist, i.e., that Halakhah exists in order to express or cater to certain spiritual needs or values which Jewish tradition is said to embody. The Jew stands autonomous before the law and molds it in accordance with these needs or values. I have not witnessed any serious attempt at clarification as to how these needs or values are to be determined. The subordinate relationship of the law to them has been expressed most succinctly by Blu Greenberg: "When there is a Rabbinic will, there's a Halakhic way." Instead of the traditional "Let the law pierce the mountain," comes "Let the mountain pierce the law" -- the implication being (a) that Halakhah, in its entirety, is determined by humanly conceived considerations of social well-being and popular concern (b) that given sufficient motivation there are virtually no limits within Halakhah for accommodation to these considerations (c) that all Halakhic argumentation and rationalization is just so much window dressing after the fact. "Viewed in this light," as one observer has put it, "the rigidity of Orthodoxy in recent centuries and its failure to adjust to the changing environment in the course of the past 200 years, is seen as obscurantist, if not downright malicious."(2) What is lacking in this autonomous stance is an appreciation of the spiritual dimension of "accepting the yoke of Heaven" and the subjugation before something transcendent, which is a basic attitude underlying the outlook of the traditional Halakhist.
Clearly, any agitation for legislated reform regarding the position of women in Judaism cannot be divorced from more theoretical speculation regarding the nature of Halakhah and its relationship to the absolute and to the temporal. As has correctly been pointed out, "It has always been recognized that such factors as economic necessity, social well-being and popular acceptance played a role in Halakhic decisions, and the authors of various responsa admit as much. But these were seen as peripheral factors having a local and temporary impact."(3) Moreover, the justification for taking these factors into account was in order to facilitate the execution of existing Halakhah, not in order to provide it with new purpose. Perhaps the most powerful impetus to a totally instrumentalist view of Halakhah, even among people professing complete commitment to its authority, is related to the growth of historical criticism in the past century and a heightened awareness of the role of social, economic and other external environmental factors in shaping Halakhic decisions.
It is significant that, on none of the occasions that I have experienced, did anyone ever attempt to present one particular line of apologetics traditionally raised in such discussions: namely, that the Halakhic position regarding women is based on a certain psychological or even metaphysical truth -- a conception of the basic difference in character between the sexes which demands consideration or preservation. That this gambit has not even been worth mentioning is an indication of the fact...
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