Modern Orthodox Judaism and Women's Standing Very Broadly

CHAPTER TWO MODERN ORTHODOX JUDAISM AND WOMen’s STANDING Very broadly speaking, Orthodoxy can be categorized into two schools of thought with very differing approaches to modernity. The school of thought that is often referred to as modern Orthodoxy traces its roots to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, who during the emancipation and enlightenment period posed a synthesis between observance of Jewish law and integration into the secular modern world. His motto was “Torah im Derech Eretz” or “Torah and civic living.” The other Orthodox camp responding to the changes taking place during the emancipation and enlightenment saw integration into society as synonymous with the death of Judaism. A commonly cited motto representing the latter position, attributed to a leading rejectionist of the times, Hatam Hasofer, is “the new is forbidden from the Torah,” otherwise translated as “the new is taboo.” His camp and those like-minded became known as Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim. While over the past decades there has been a blurring of this distinction, for the most part, this division is still accurate today. In Israel, the dominant branch of modern Orthodox are also religious Zionists who believe that the building of a Jewish state in the land of Israel is part of a divine scheme which will bring geula (redemption) to the Jews and to the world. On the Israeli religious landscape, religious Zionists and Ultra-Orthodox are nearly the only forms of religious Judaism. Other Jew- ish denominations are highly marginal and not recognized by the state as legitimate. Similarly, the Israeli public does not always consider non- Orthodox denominations, such as the Conservative or Reform movement, as dati (religious) by Israeli standard of Jewish religiosity (Abramov 1979; Tabory 1980; Sharkansky 2000). Yet, it is important to note that in Israel, regardless of the particular denominational differences, Judaism is inter- twined with a deep sense of collective nationalism which creates an envi- ronment less conducive to religious individualism than for example in the United States where much of the founding philosophy of the state is based on individual freedoms (for a comparison between Israeli and American Orthodoxy, see Don-Yehiya 2005). Over the past few decades, a process has been underway by which modern Orthodoxy has adopted much of the separatist and stringent aspects 18 chapter two of ultra-Orthodoxy. At the same time, however, there is a parallel develop- ment of modern Orthodoxy in a different direction, one that leans towards a more liberal approach to religious change. In this vein, some scholars have expounded on a more pluralistic modern Orthodoxy (Fisch 1997; Halbertal 1997; Mautner, Sagi, and Shamir 1998; Ravitzky, Salmon, Ferziger 2006; Sagi 2007; Sagi and Safrai 1997). On this note, the late Charles Liebman, a political scientist and long- time researcher of Jewish Orthodox society, suggested over a decade ago that those who have an interest in the developments and changes in Orthodoxy pay close attention to such perspectives that provide a highly pluralistic approach to halacha (Jewish Law) (Liebman 1998). Particularly, he argued that some modern Orthodox scholars involved in the discourse on feminism and Orthodoxy in Israel are offering interpretations of halacha that question rabbinic authority and may cross the boundaries of Orthodox legitimacy. Before taking a closer look at this discourse, I first want to offer a glimpse into women’s standing as portrayed in classic rabbinical literature, as this serves as an important reference point for all denominations. Women’s Standing in a Traditional Jewish Perspective Women in rabbinic literature hold a subordinate position relative to men in every aspect of life. As Hyman points out, “while men are allowed to define themselves through a wide spectrum of activity in the world, women are defined in sociobiological terms as wife and mother and rel- egated almost exclusively to the home and family life” (in Koltun 1976; 106). In this framework, however, Jewish sources are not without words of praise and reverence for women as wives and mothers. Religious Jews in traditional households are reminded of this sort of praise every Shabbat evening when the husband chants for his wife Eshet Chayil, “a woman of valor,”1 taken from the Book of Proverbs (31:10–31). Yet, the fact that women are given praise for their duties does not change their status in the literature from being limited and inferior, at times even categorized with other marginal groups such as “slaves, chil- dren, imbeciles, androgynes, hermaphrodites, and the deaf-mute” (Ross 2005; 16). Additionally, in rabbinical sources, from Rabbi Eliezer to Mai- monides, we see women depicted as “frivolous, ignorant beings, wasting 1 Eshet Chayil is also translated as “a women of worth” or “an established women.”.

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