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2001 The Rhetoric of Heteroglossia of Jewish Feminism: A Paradox Confronted Kevin Jones George Fox University, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Published in Women and Language, 2001, 24(2), pp. 58-64 http://www.womenandlanguage.org/

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication Arts at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications - Department of Communication Arts by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Rhetoric of Hctcrogloss ia of Jewish Feminism: A Paradox Confront ed Kevin T. Jones and Rebecca Mills

A bstr(lct: .Judaism has been unprecedented m lfS Jewish fem inists maintain a role of general effort!; to mclude II'Omen 111 a tradioonal~v pamarchol significance th roughout most of Judaism. While still not religton. 011er the post thmy years. the language of recognized by the Orthodox. today women routinely 1o the Jalfh, nnctem ruunls and ceremomes. sacred have become rabb1s and arc counted in minvnns• of Refonn and been altered and re-wl'ltten to include II'Omen by uniting most Conscrnltivc synagogues (Zaidrnan SO). Their the f orces 11'/uch hold '' togelher ll'ilh !he forces which i1tl1ucnce is profound ;rnd powerful. American women were pullmg tt apart. 1'l1is essay examines how Judaism have transformed their status in Judaism, cre.ating one of has conji"ontetl tins paradox by using Bnkhtin 's notion nf the most dra m t~tic cultural shins in centuries of Jewish Helemglossin. or co-exi.wing dialects, a.\' 1he ,.·ehic(e that histor•y . This cultural shift in the United States has had a mnkes tl1is 1111inn possible. profound influence on the movement of Jewish feminism in Israel (Ben-David 83). Hesche!, a scholar and author of one of the first books on Jewish feminism notes. "The Baum ( 1 99~) notes that in the wi nter of 1972. ten newfound power of women is the greatest change in well-educated young women from Manhattan, caught up Jewish life since the destruction of the Temple in the first in the: enthusiasm of the 1960's and the writing of a centu ry" (Baum 1998, A I ). relatively wlknown Jewish wo man named Betty Friedan, This position of power luls been accomplished braved t!Jc snowy roads of the CatskilJ Mow1tnins to through the illtering of Jewish riles. rjtwlls, and confront an assemblage of Conservative rabbis at the celebrations. The lan!,'1tage of the law has been cllangcd in famous Concord Hotel. The young women wanted t!Jc order to create change while maintaining consistency. Conservative movement to consider orda.i.u.ing female Jewish ceremonies such as the Passover Seder have been rabbis and irl\'esting fcmn le cantors. These issues were rewritten to include the plight of women. Exclusive conlroversial wit hin the Jewish community. of great Feminist Scdcrs, held for women only. arc celebrated significance to these women and the others they evcl) ycr1r around the country. Women argue that their represented. and \\ould have drastic consequences for frlllh is strengthened and they arc allowed lo focus more years to come. Not only was specific change sought, but on "bat it mc.1ns to be Jewish t.hroug.h the inclusion of tlte most emotionally charged issue bccnmc the question of women in tradiuon:ll services (Z..1vora.l 2000. 76) literally ...who counts?" Traditionally. Judmsm requires a Anchored in tradition and rituaL tlte modification of these quomm of tcu people. a minyan. for public prayers to be cclcbmttons is not ne\\' to Judaism. Pctsouk (1996) notes.

said. Trnditionnll•v. Judnism cou nts onlv• men. For these "Judaism in fact has fal ways] evol\'ed. and Jews have first women who sought change. 1he so-called mothers of always crc.1 ted new ri tuals'' ( 150) But the new rituals Jewish feminisut. their dre<1m was to reform aud lllliSI be created th rough tJtc inclusion of the old tradition. reco nstmcl Judaism while not aba ucloniug tradition. Their Those forces I hat ho .ld Jud ;lisnt together must find n way effort cu lmi nated one year Inter when the Rabbis ordained to co-exist with those fo rces that arc bent on pulling it the fi rst wo mau. These women emba rked on a delicate apa rl. journc)' thai would allempL to both crc;lte change ;md The scenli ngly contradictory desire to maimain a

mai ntain consistcncv• . female voice in a post modern society while simultaneously This perceived struggle between l:ln!:,'\t

her book Engendering Judnism. explains the hurdles has been rhetoricall•v reconstructed to include women Jewish feminists have had to overcome: "Jewish law \\'hilc maintnimng the traditions and \'alue.s of Orthodox needed to be reconstructed to elimul;Hc the ancient Judaism. premise that women arc subordinate to men, yet at Lhe To understand how Jewish Feminists have same ti me maintain tl1c law. For without law there is no accomplished this task, we used the dialogic tools of means to lransiMe the stories and values of Judaism into Mikhail Bakhtin His concept of beteroglossia, mea.nll1g action·· (A I-I ). roughly the dialectic voices present i.n language, serves as an excellent met hodology for examining 1h e rhetoric of

Women and Language, Volume XX IV, No. 2, Page 58 Jewish feminism. This essay will fust identify t11e I believe that God wants there to be justice" (Baum 1998, components of Jewish feminism, second, outline Al4).2 The quest for justice sought to refocus the debate Bakhtin's U1eory of heteroglossia. and finally identify how from feminist platform to a spiritu.:'ll platfonn. Women Jewish feminists have engaged in heteroglossi:1 in various argue that lhrough their inclusion in traditional services. traditional ceremonies and rites to achieve a voice in their faith .is strengthened and they a1·e aJiowed lo focus on Judaism. what it means to be Jewish. Professor Tova Cohen. director of the Ganya GoLtcsfeld Heller Center for the Jewish Feminism Study of Women in Judaism, ex-plains that "reinterpreting Jewish ritual from a feminist perspective . . . open[sJ up The quest for a voice in Judaism has not been easy for Jewish learning, on various levels, to a wide nwnber of women. ln Israel, tlte mere presence of women praying women~ (Ben-David 83). Ellen Blum can attest to this wilh men near ·the Western Wall provoked violent protes1s fact. After attending a Feminist Seder, she stated, "This by .Orthodox men . .In America, wrangling over the role of one act of comm~mion with other Jewish women changes women split some Jewish commtinities even as il spurred my life for awhile ruld propels me to do new things'· U1e growth of others. Jewish women had to wrestle with (Bawn 1998 Al5). Old Testnment scripture. or more importantly. Jewish law. Jewish ceremonies and rituals have been modi fi ed While the inclusion of women as rabbis llnd in min.vans across the United States not to separate women, but \>vith has become routine in Reform and most Conscrnllive the intention of exploring ways of nurturing and fostering synagogues, resistMce is still strong among the Orthodox. their spiritunl growth. Anne Bayme explains that her In J 948 Mordecai K.-1phm. the founder of t11e spi ritual transformati011 began with an all-women's Seder Reconsl.ructionisl movement within Judaism in Americfl. 1 lhsynagogue, the backgrounds \\1110 had met in consciousness-raising congrcg<~tion began using egali tarian language, not groups. had formed a study group called Fzmt Naslum. referring to or addressing God as ·'He .. in English. Bayme lhe Hebrew name for UJC women·s court in t11e ancient states. ··wc·re trying to get rabbi in lhc Reform mo\'ement. argues that this hetcroglossia (meRachel Adler. professor nl. the The two contending tendencies are not of equal University of Southern California nnd Hcbrcll' Union force. and each has a difTerent kind of rcal.ity College. echoes Gross·s concern when she stales. "I don ·t attaching to it: centrifugal forces are clearl y more ~ . . bel ievc catego ri es or ntbrics of Jewish IH w are i mmtllnble po"crful and ubiquitous- theirs is the real.ity of Wo111en and Language, Volume XXIV, No. 2. Page 59 actual aruculalion. They detcrnune the way we language slrata against which it is alwuys juxtaposed. with aClUally experience language as we use it - and which it is always in dialogue. For Bakblill this are used by it. Unifying centripetal forces are less juxtaposition. t11e intemction of strata in dialogue with powe. rful alld have a complex ontological status . one another.. not any si11gle ullerance. is the source of XIX meatU ng. We have found limited applications of beteroglossia. Languages of religion and tltc lnw. for inswnce, represent For Bakhtin. heteroglossiu is whnt makes novels possible. centripetal force. resistant to change. and not subject to HopKins ( 1989) engaged in an eiTective analysis of the testing and amcndLng of meanings. Most human hcteroglossia i11 Flailllery O'Connor's Wise Blood. Jones discourse, however. is subject to the centrifugal force of ( 1993) e;-..-pflnded tl1e application of heteroglossia beyond change. Words change with every speaker. witlJ every the novel to t11c text of presidential discourse. We intend context, with every uuerance of them Thas disintegmting this essay to funher c:-:pn nd the application of force opposes the stability of fi xed meanings, causi ng an heteroglossia by identifying the presence of ccntrifugnl ever-growing richness or language. and ccnlripetallanguage forces in religious ceremonies Within the context of these two forces. Bakhtin discusses one of ltis key terms. hclcroglossiA. which can llc1croglossia nnd .Jewish feminism be defi ned simply as the dialects that to-exist in langunge3 (:-:ix). These co-existing diniects should not be confused Judi'lism is rooted i11 ancient ri tuals and traditions. with co-existing languages. or foreign languages. which trnditions that have become the centripetal fo rce holding are catted polyglossia. Foreign words and phrases are the identity and culture or Jud:tism together. Petsonk signs of polyglossia. In large cemers of colwre and rradc ( I ?96) no res: the effect of competing languages is most obvious, but speakers everywhere are polyglot at least to an e.xtcnt A ritual is a spintual ballet. It captu res in because other languages have influenced the language symbols the emotions that go with an important avai lable to them. The concept of a "pure" language is :a life lransition. Think of the cheer that goes up delusion. whcu lbe glass is broken ;11 tile m~dding. or l/1c Hcteroglossia refers to the condition not of co­ moment of finality when the mourner shovels dirt existing languages but co-existing dialects. At first glance onto the coffi n nt a fun era l. Passing from oue this observation appears bot11 obvious ~1 n d tmditional to stnge of ILfc to another can be frightening; rituals scholurs in speech comm.unicati on. who, after all, case the transition by affirming the s.1credness of 1 described gcographicnl and cu11Ural dialects dec;Jdes :~go. the momcnl and hclpiug people feel <> connc.cliOII But earlier dialecticians did not t:tkc ns thei r field the wide 10 their community and heritage ( 142). r.1 nge of stylistic uuerances that Bakhtin includes under heteroglossia. nnd their Kaddish. the hour (each day has its own slog:1n . its own vocabula ry. its ow 11 emphases). (263) Feminist Setlc•· Any style marked enough to stgmal its presence contributes to hcteroglossia. For Bnklllin. this Passover is the most :mcient of all Jewish festivnls. beteroglossia. an ever-present mixture of constantly Celebrated for seven d:ws. on the anniversarv. of 1he evolving strata of language. is the condiuon from which Exodus of the Jews from Egypt over 3,000 )•ears ngo. menning derives: it enables meaning. Every uuerance, Pnssovcr is inherently a rhetorical event. Its central indeed every word, affects and is afTcctcd by nil the acti vity is tr<;tnsm ission of the story of the Exodus to future Women and Language. Volume XX IV. No. 2. Page 60 gencrmions. The ritual supper on th e first night of pa st oppression. new meaning is crcnted within a familiar Passover is cnllcd the Seder: Families gmher nround a context festive table and the story of the bcg111nings of the Jewtsh Additional heterogloual nets can be identified in tlle nation arc told. Included in this story is the recitation of chnngutg of tJ1e Hnggndah. which includes the ten 1h e ten plah'lles 1llnt were visited on Egypt r>ri or to th e plagues. The oral recuat ion :.nd 111clusiot1 of tJJC speech in Exodus of the Jews. Togeth er. lhe compilatiOns of prose the Seder IS demanded by tradiuon However, the which func11 011 as a guide for the riwal is called the scmtmt ic alteration pncilies 1h e centrifugal forces. Hnggadah. Auother important facet of the observance of Ll trca tcnmg the inclusion of women in Judaism Time and the Seder IS the Seder plate that com:uns SIX dishes space issues are merged. the cen tnpetal and centrifugal represent111g the s1x symbols of the Pnsso,er Seder. forces arc united, nnd the FeminiSt Seder becomes the The rewnttcn Passover Seder includes 1h e pl1 gJ11 of heteroglottal vehicle through which women can explore. women. In I !.>9R , .:100 women attended a Fcnunist Seder 111 creme. and identify their spiritu al nnture. Rabbi Marcia a Brooklyn, New York d1ning hall overlooking tlte Zimmermnn of Temple Israel argues that rewriti ng the Brooklrn Bndgc On each Seder plate. alol\g wt\h \he Haggadah ts no\ only St!!,mficant but also necessary since traditional s~ mbols of the Exodus from Eg~p t was :111 it "br111gs out the \\OIIlOSIII\ e tlu ng'' (Znvor:. l 7B) B~ :1llowing WOillen to • Shnlil noted from her personnl e:-- pen cncc. "when 11 co,; prcc;s thcmsch·cs nud thei r spiritunli.ty iu u more e tlu11 !Men ! I la'c Brou ght Aga1nst Women" These T he rituals of JHil) er arc integml fncets of Judaism ut c lu d~d . "The L:tck of Acceptance of Lcsbwn1sm' Conducted mostl) in the first person plural. prayer is "Gender WHge Gaps and the Fcmlnli':tllon of Po\'ert ~ ... la rgely co mmun;-~1 iu nalure for the Je\1 ish community As ''The Media ltnage of Women". "The LacJ, of Research women bcga n to wkc a more prominent role in Jewish li fc ~ Alleution 10 Women's Medical Needs". " Lac\.. of Fcmak nnd pai'\ICipmion it\ the synagognc, il became evident lhnt Role Models". and "Our E~cl n !. I On Front II1SIOI} .. the ntual of prayer \\ Ould h;n e to change. Two :.reas The Ce lllripet:il forces or lhc Feminist Seder include reqmrcd change to include women: the l::wguagc used and the rcci t:IIIOII of the E~od u s SIOI}'. the prese nce or the the wa~ prayer was couducted. Grossn1an ( 1992) uotes, Seder plat e. tltc g;,Jthcring of the Je,,ish CO tltlllunity on the "Until now. the prayer book has expressed the spiritual first e,·en1ng of Passover. and the rccoguit ion of the ye:~ rnin gs of half the Je\\ lSh people. the men who were annivcrsar) of an uuportant ln s t onc;~ l e,·cnt Whereas the \\riters. editors. ;lnd l rJilSiatOrS Of a litUfg) t( Uit \I'ClS centripellll forces lllillnttnn the trachllon and ,·:llues of the designed for usc b) men" ( 187) No matter hO\\ sensitive :11\CICIII rtlualS Of JudaiSIIl. lhe lltclUSIOII of fCIIIIniSt these pra yers m1 ght hm·c been. l11ey ''ere writLen from a rhetoric :tddrcsscs the cent ri fu ga I forces 1hat clwllcngc male perspective with male p;lrlicipmion in mind. Because Judaism Both ancient rituals and 111oclern \':t ines demand of tlus e'\clusion of \I'Omen. worship services resembled cer1ain \\ards. l:nl.t:,'Uages. and speech "men's clnbs" nnd the traditional prayer still recited eve!}· In the symbolic ligh t111g of the ca ndles. the women morning b~ Onhodo~ males is. "Blessed an Thou. Lord still lit candles 111 the trad itional form:11 . but new m e~1ning our God King of the Universe. \\ho h;lS not m:1dc me t1 was :1ssigued lo the event when the seder participants wom;~n " (Gross mr:~n I !) I) . dcchtrcd that the candles "shed light" on the oppression of In I ~72 . woman was the tetttlt person in tlte (Grossman 189). Not only was sexist language eradicated. room., she ntight hear comments sucb as, 'There aren't the feminine fonn in the Hebrew prayers was added to Lhe enough people here for us to say Kadwsh ,. (230). This liturgy. Tltis was a clear indication, even to Conservative implied that women could grieve over the loss of a loved sy11agogucs. tllal women may engage freely in the ritual one. but onl y men could pray. Adler had the e:oq>crieuce of pr-actice of prayer Uuu was traditionally reserved for men. wa nting to recite Kaddish for her grandmoU1er, but was Grossman believes Lluu tlte introduction and use of female told by the rabbi that she had to pil)' $3 50 and hire a man pronouns has not only increased women's participation to pray for her (14 7). The experience of being told that but also overturned "stereot)•pes of women 's weakness" they could not participnte in a ritual observance of {Oppenheim 153). What tlte feminist movement mouming in U1e synagogue awnkened many women to accompljshed in this area was sensitizing Ule community their exclusion in Judaism and caused them to demand to Ute way language is used to perpetuate and fos1er t h:lt "omen be equal to lllen iJt all aspects of prejudice, and included women in the development of congrcgmionnl I ife. prayer (Ben-D:tvid JB). The reciwtion of K:.1ddish b_y women has engendered In addition to changing the lang\tagc used, women much controversy but progress has been mttde. Grossman had to be included in the way prayer was conducted. notes Tntditionally, women were ooJy allowed in certain areas of the synagogue and were not coumcd in the minyan. or !Although women's! individual actions do not quorum, of we ten men necessary for prttyer. Adler ( 1998) change the structure of the syn<~gogue or its conunents. " It is not only in the women's gaUery. then. service. they do. by their public nature. ha,·e ~m tllat women are slill invisible. And it is not only at the eiTect on the consciousness of aU the men and Western Wall !l1at, after six years of court battles, women women who are present. A sunilar fu nction was must stil l pray in silence. including women in praye r performed earl ier by those women within requires including not only thei r bodies. but their Orthodox synagogues who stood and said the prayers." Kaddish prayer aloud when they were in Co--cx.isting di ~tl ec ts that make up hctcroglossia can motwti.ng, even though they were not required to be seen through the changes thm were made to prayer. do so. Today. a woman saying Kadwsh is no Judaism has specifi c types of prayers and times set aside longer an aberration that is met wi th resistance­ for praye r Theology;· onl y incl ude women several categories e.xist. The religious and ltistorical within the existing framework. or centripct

contradk torv• situntion. As women reclaimed the rituals of em ironment for future generations. Seder. pra) cr. ;t nd Si.lying Kaddish Lhrough chnnging the This study notes only three areas of prnct1cc in Innguage nnd form of the ceremonies. th ey crea ted a voice Judaism A broader study encompnssi ng the whole of thnl expressed their spirilunlily and let them feel part of n Judaism might i.denufy additional areas where religion that had prev i ous !~ excluded them. B~ heteroglossia is an active. rciC\'3 111 pan of religious ri tual. successfully engaging in heterogloss1a and Such future work might e~plore the stn1ggles of Onhodox accommod;uing the centnpctal and centrifugal forces Jewish women to stn ve to [tnd their own voice among a Jewish !c1ninists brought about long ter 111 . 111e;miugful rigid belief system. Additional studies might explore ways change. in \\'hich women in other religious groups or women in L1 n ( 19\.19) n rl iculates Hesche!' s opmion that 01h er groups considered on the fringe hnvc stn1,ggled to outain n groups wi thin Judaism hm·e not :tl\\ays been as success ful ,·oicc ;md achlc,·e inclusion. ldcntificatlon of fniled

beCCQp\c of f:litll have incorporate \\'Omen into tradniontt l fr.IIIIC\\Orks is begun to 111i x culture with religion and find a (~li th that understood more cl e;~rl~ through heteroglossta Baklttin works for them. Rourke ( 1998) notes th2). Dailg/Hcrs of /he king· Women are now as many Jews affiliated wi tll synagogues in Los and the synagogwz. Philntklphin; · n~~ J.:wish Publicntlon SQCidy. Angeles as there are members of old-line Protestant HopKins. M. F ( 1989). The rhetoric of h~terogl ossiro in Flnnn.:ry denominations" (A 1-l-). O"Conno)r's '"WiSCl Brood. " Q t~ o t ·wdy Jour11al o/ Sp~ec/1 , 75, I 98- 2 11. This growth trend is predicted to not end in Los Jonc'l:, K. ( 1993). ll1c rhetoric ol' h e t ~rogl os.~ i n in Clinton's 1993 mnugurnl Angeles. Proponents or Jewish feminism feel they have uddre&'>. Jotmral o[Commtmlcatlon Sltldie.Y. 12, 29·41. been victorious i.n t.l1eir quest and Ute largest battles arc Knplnn, l\1. M ( 1948). The F'11IW'e o,(tbe/Jm ~ rt ccm)e h •. New York: Lucks, R. (.1980 ). Women and ) lltlOt.WJ: ,Hyth, hi.rtOIJ' and str·uggle. Baum (1998) beh.ind. them. notes U10t scholars. (janL:n Cit)'• NY: Doubkd11y nnd Co .• Inc. researchers, a11d crusaders alike expect continued success Lin, W. ( 1999. l\•lrm:h 3 I). New fruit of nn nnci.:nt trudition. Newsday. p, in tlte next several years. Professor Rachel Adler explains. AS. Oppcnhdm. 1\l. ( 1996), F.:minism, J~wish philosophy. und rdigious "Jewish women held a status parallel to that of children plurullsm. M odom Judat.WI, 16, 147-1 60. and slaves. BUL maJe children could grow up. and slaves P

1 Th<: R c~onslructiouiM IUO\'Cilll!lll has b~CI I in I he fordi-c.mt or mo h.D. is a professor of Communicaliolt S tudi ~ 111 n:loml!i in J u dai<:~ll mu.l hns been the 1110$1 ''rdlesivo of I he 111od~m1i ~1 Chnprnnn LJniw.rsity. Orungl!. CA nnd nmy be contn~1ed nl J~wish mo••emems in uspc(.1 ro wotntn'' (b1idm:m 50), kjOIICS@chnpmniJ,<:d \1. 2. 1\dl;:-r litiS been 11 b'trong chru.upio11 of th.: .;.1us.: for Jewish P.!rninism since writing n t;roundbn:nking ;ortiolc in 1971 cnt itli!d, "The Jew l{cbccrn i\Uib is n gt:!d u n r ~ ~tu cl\!nt i nl'l1 ~1 or ic nnd co tll posi ti <~nl11tltc Wlm Wnsn ' t Th~ro ." dcpnrhnent or English at C~ lito n, iu Stnt.: Po l)t~lutic U ni v~rsity. Pomonn. 3. All rd.:n:nce$ nrc from I•L~ .:otk~1ion l.lf e ):.'l-1)'5 111~ Din logic CA. nt1d ~nn be rl'!ld t.:

Women nnd Language. Volume XXIV. No. 2, Page 64