WOMEN'S ISSUES BOOK ONE The Female and Her Characteristics Prepared by Ner Le’Elef 1 WOMEN'S ISSUES BOOK ONE: Prepared by Ner Le’Elef Publication date 09 October 2007 Permission is granted to reproduce in part or in whole. Profits may not be gained from any such reproductions. This book is updated with each edition and is produced several times a year. Other Ner Le’Elef Booklets currently available: AMERICAN SOCIETY BOOK OF QUOTATIONS EVOLUTION HOLOCAUST JEWISH RESOURCES LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ORAL LAW PROOFS QUESTION & ANSWERS SCIENCE AND JUDAISM SOURCES SUFFERING THE CHOSEN PEOPLE THIS WORLD & THE NEXT WOMEN'S ISSUES (Book Two) For information on how to order additional booklets, please contact: Ner Le’Elef P.O. Box 14503 Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem 91145 E-mail: [email protected] Fax #: 972-02-653-6229 Tel #: 972-02-651-0825 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION ONE 6 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN 6 ESSENCE OF FEMALE 6 GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN’S ISSUES 7 CHAPTER A: OVERVIEW OF CHARACTERISTICS 8 13 נוקבא :CHAPTER B i-The Female Concept 14 Himself manifests a Male and Female Side 14 השם-a 17 ה and the female - revealed ,י b-The male - hidden 21 כלי וחומר-c 23 רצון and תשוקה -d male 24 – חכמה ;female –נבואה -e wife to husband 24 - השם in relation to כנסת ישראל -f ii-Male and Female – a Historical Perspective 24 CHAPTER C: FEMALE CHARACTERISTICS 29 30 צניעות ובינה יתרה-i 31 מצוות עשה שהזמן גרמא-ii 32 אמונה-iii iv-Serenity 33 v-Other Characteristics 35 35 רחמניות -a Women are more tight-fisted with guests; 36 – צרות עין באורחים-b Women are Lazy 37 – עצלניות-c d-Emotionally Sensitive – Cry Easily 37 38 בושה-e f- Talkative – Communal and Holistic 39 41 חכמה, בינה, דעת :CHAPTER D i-Introduction 42 42 חכמת נשים-ii 45 בינה יתירה-iii 47 דעתן קלות -iv CHAPTER E: PHYSICAL AND OTHER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES 51 i-Physical Differences 52 ii-Other Differences 55 CHAPTER F: OTHER SOURCES 67 i- Language 68 ii- General 68 3 SECTION TWO 69 69 צניעות INTRODUCTION 69 CHAPTER A: DEFINITION 71 i- One of 3 keys to unlocking all of Yiddishkeit 72 ii- Literally, hiddenness, not modesty 72 iii- Definition 73 iv- Intrinsic 75 CHAPTER B: CONTRAST 76 i- Humility 77 ii- Shame 77 78 חוצפה -iii iv- Insecurity 78 CHAPTER C: SCOPE 79 i- G-d Himself 80 81 תורה ii- The iii- The maintenance of this world 81 iv- Wisdom 82 v- Language 82 vi- Other 84 vii- Limitations 86 viii- Consequences 87 CHAPTER D: WESTERN WORLD 88 90 צניעות CHAPTER E: MALE - FEMALE 91 צניעות i- Women have a greater capacity for into this world 93 קדושה ii- Women, the ability to translate 94 בושה iii- Women have a greater capacity for women more serious 95 צניעות-iv- Consequences for non and Intimacy 95 צניעות, בושה – v CHAPTER F: FAMILY 97 i- Decline of Marriage in Western World 98 ii- Home/family: The primary institution of Jewish civilization 103 iii- Women: The central figures in the home 105 CHAPTER G: WOMEN'S DRESS 110 Clothing – General 111 ii-Women's Dress 116 iii- Hair 120 iv- Women's Beauty 129 CHAPTER H: MODESTY AND SEXUALITY 134 WOMEN'S ISSUES -APPENDICES 144 4 APPENDIX A: WESTERN REALITIES AND VIEWS OF FAMILY 144 i- Relationships: Pre-Modern era 145 ii- Women and work 145 APPENDIX B: FEMINIST MOVEMENT 147 Introduction 148 i-Radical Earlier Views (60's & 70's) 149 ii- Causes 150 iii- Later, milder views (mid to late 80's) 151 iv- 3rd wave, pro-women views (90's) 151 v-Women & Work 154 APPENDIX C: EFFECT ON JEWS 161 i- Secular Jews 162 ii- Women’s Liberation Movement Within Orthodoxy 162 a- The desire of some women to be men 164 b- The movement draws on the weakest segments of Orthodoxy 164 ISSUES 166 צניעות APPENDIX D: MISCELLANEOUS i- Slacks 167 APPENDIX E: READING LIST 168 5 SECTION ONE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN ESSENCE OF FEMALE 6 GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN’S ISSUES 7 CHAPTER A: OVERVIEW OF CHARACTERISTICS 8 CHAPTER A: OVERVIEW OF CHARACTERISTICS There are many characteristics that are described as specifically female (see the list below). It is important to know which traits these are and to see how they all integrate to create a holistic concept of the female force1. These characteristics are explained in Chapters B through D. Some of these concepts will be explained below briefly to show their context with other Midos and will then be explained in greater detail elsewhere (especially .(צניע תו with regard to the Midah of List of Female-Sided Characteristics: Judaism gives us a comprehensive picture of the female mystique, a picture that, in the last 20 years, has been confirmed by all the scientific studies in this area2. We are told of a wide range of feminine qualities, all of which have to be understood together to provide us with a complete picture of what a woman is3. As a starting point, let us look at the first two generations of Avos and Imahos. Sarah and Avraham had a machlokes concerning whether Yishmael should be a part of the Jewish nation or whether he should be sent out of the Jewish nation to form a new nation. This dispute seems to be repeated in the next generation concerning Eisav. Yitzchak seemed to while Rivka felt that he should be excluded. In ,כלל ישראל feel that Eisav should be a part of both cases it was the woman who won out. This tells us that it is a female power to set the boundaries of something, to define the environment, to provide the basic framework in which we operate. Without this power, the male force would simply dissipate4. This applies to the 1We refer to the female force or the female side rather than the woman or the female because the female force expresses itself also in men and also in ‘non-human’ or meta-human situations, like the female side of HaSh-m Himself. 2Until 1982, it was politically incorrect to distinguish between a man and a woman. However, after the publication of Harvard Professor Carol Galligan’s study in that year, the cat was let out of the bag and all the studies from then on showed just how different male and female were. Incredibly, Chazal had clearly talked about these differences over 2000 years ago. where a woman is described as being dynamic, creative and proactive in a אשת חיל 3See for example wide range of endeavors. Failure to look at all a woman’s qualities together can lead to serious misunderstandings. For example, the Maharal sometimes describes women as being superior to men, sometimes being equal and sometimes being inferior. Clearly, the Maharal is referring to different aspects of a woman. One would have to know all that the Maharal has to say about women in order to emerge with a coherent picture of his understanding on this issue. Similarly, the much etc. all have to be understand in ,צניעות ,נשים דעתן קלות ,בינה יתירה talked about female qualities of their dynamic relationship with each other, and not in isolation. We have attempted, in a few lines, to give some approach to this in the body of the text. 4The Male, Right Side is the beginning of G-d's creative force. The Female, Left Side takes that force and translates it into a form whereby the recipient could receive it. היא כח מציאות התחתונים ...(המקבלים) ההשפעות שהקב "ה משפיע (רמח"ל ספר הכללים כה) As long as G-d’s creative force remains on the Male Side, it is too spiritual, too ethereal and non- tangible to have any lasting existence in the world as we know it. Left in this state, it would not have The Male .הקדוש ברוך הוא ongoing existence, and ultimately would simply be reabsorbed back into Side is incomprehensible until it is taken in by the Female Side which expands, nurtures and elucidates it: כי בעודם בזכר הם בדקות גדול ומוסר אותם אל הנקבה כדי להביא ההויה אל בישול מציאותה וגילויה בפועל (שומר אמונים הקדמון ויכוח ראשון אות כז) 9 SECTION 1-CHAPTER A: OVERVIEW OF CHARACTERISTICS Another way of looking at this is to see the female force as a final expression of something in this world, that which provides the framework within which something can be .ק-הin the name of 4 ה It is also the .מלכותof 3 מידה nurtured to express itself. This is the .5מושפע to משפיע they are in a relationship of זכר receives from the נקבה Because the נקבה .is not just a passive recipient נקבה However, it is clear from what we stated above that Without the Female Force, the Male Force would just dissipate and be wasted. The Female Force provides the environment, the context and the framework, which allows the Male Force to grow and develop. This is no different to the physical relationship between husband and wife. The male seed cannot reach fruition on its own. It needs to be absorbed by the woman, combined with her egg cell, and then nurtured in her womb. She provides the total environment for the developing embryo; its warmth, its food, its oxygen – the very walls in which it survives. 1Other ways of saying this is that the female completes, informs, elucidates, nurtures, and develops. then she is ,מביא making connections and rectifications. (First the male is ,מתקנת She is therefore the while the ,מקבל and the כלי the ,חומר Two other dimensions of this is to say that she is the .(מתקנת itself is a נשמה Note, the word) .נשמה = while the male גוף she is the ;משפיע and the צורה male is the female word, as are all the other words of the different levels of the soul: This is because the relationship of male to female is relative to the thing .נפש, רוח, נשמה, חיה, יחידה from the Ribono shel השפעה being discussed.