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Studying Women's rights in and comparing it with Judaism

Shalom Baranes Phd Student, Faculty of Law and Theology, University of york, Canada

Abstract: In this paper, we study women's rights in Zoroastrianism and Judaism. In Zoroastrianism and Judaism, women's rights have been emphasized. In both religions particularly in Zoroastrianism, equality of woman and man has been emphasized. In fact, it can be said that religions can be good source of women's equality while defending women's rights, protecting their rights and protecting their privacy. In this paper, women's rights are first studied in Zoroastrianism and then women's rights in Judaism are studied and in the last stage, conclusion is made about them and they will be compared.

Key words: women's rights, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, social rights.

1. Introduction Woman is a reality which has tolerated many tops and downs during history and has seen premature to divinity. Woman has hidden secret in addition to human reality and its different manifestations should be discovered and its different forms should emerge to be identified and introduced as they seem to be.

By looking at life history of woman in the previous eras and search for the different events for which the woman has had played role, it becomes evident that in case woman cleans her soul and turns to the spiritual worlds and whenever she cleans her mind of caprice and pretensions, she will be so majestic and powerful that she could determine destiny of a nation. Therefore, woman is trainer of humanity and center of family training and without this admirable trainer, the society will not become happy and home requires the responsible and thoughtful presence of a competent mother. This role cannot be conventional or even arbitrary and the Most High God has placed creation of woman in such position in elegant and wise system. Woman is the center of existence and base of kindness and love of the family, centre of instructing sincerity, intimacy, devotion and benevolence for all.

This paper has been organized in three Sections: in Section 1, women's rights in Zoroastrianism are studied, in Section 2, women's rights in Judaism are studied and in the last Section and as conclusion, women's rights in these two religions are compared.

2. Women's rights in Zoroastrianism regards the human thought and wisdom as the main criterion for measurement and recognition. These two elements have role in his/her worldview. Spentä Mainyu meaning

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sacred wisdom is called God of the whole universe. He believes that only the wise people find out tradition of truth and integrity with help of thought and wisdom and make others aware and happy and regards wisdom as key to knowledge and understanding of truth and religion of the truth. He has regarded knowledge as the means of recognizing good and bad.

Human is responsible for his behavior and actions and receives reward or punishment. Most of the bad conduct is due to idleness. According to Mazdayasna, everyone is obliged to do good and beneficence and solve the problems and fulfill his and others' requirements through diligence and action. In this tradition, high emphasis is on justice as an evident reality. People are divided into three groups based on the actions which they perform in this world: 1- those who perform good and proper actions, 2- those who perform improper and bad actions, 3- those whose good and bad actions are equal. Reward of the first group is paradise which has been regarded as brilliant center, country of goodness, Elysium etc. the second group is the house of evil which is hell and the third group is the limbo which is regarded misvaneh in and Hamestgan in Pahlavi means mixed place. Conscience includes power of discernment and discerning power of human and is validated with human power. According to the old narrations, it helps human in another world and turns into a beautiful girl to help pass the Chinood bridge and reach Elysium but it is like an ugly crone who takes them to Hell.

In Zoroastrian worldview, life is highly important because it belongs to goodness and against which is born by Satan. For this reason, wisdom and thought, knowledge, freedom, will and choice, work and effort, resurrection, paradise and hell, life and goodness are the bases of Zoroaster. Therefore, in Zoroastrian teachings, clash between and his enemy, Angra Mainyu is a multilateral combat between truth () and untruth (liar).

In one of the sections of Avesta which is known as or , it has been said that " I am Zoroaster arousing Ahura Mazda and I learnt for the first time that you are the one Mazda who is Unique arbitrator who called the people through me to mediate, have good conduct and the best truth and work on the earth and not to follow the animals and follow good and true way. Such persons , men and women who apply religious orders will be saved and will enter the eternal Ahuraei land as reward for their good choice and all of those who accept religion will be saved and I will pass Chinoot bridge (straight way ) with all of them while singing. We see that men and women are reminded in this section and all of those including women and men who join this religion and observe orders of this religion will pass the development path that is there is no difference between woman and man in religiosity and following this religion and it has been expressed commonly. In Gathas, social position of woman and man has been mentioned. It has been said that: now, o' marrying girls and those who conclude marital bond, remember my words, select the good conduct with the religious teachings and each of you should act kindly and wisely and the one who excels over another one in kindness , purity , truth and piety because this will be the best

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way of success in life1. What is available in text of Avesta about woman and man is two sides and equality of woman and man has been inferred from these two general texts.

3. Marriage condition of the women and right of choosing spouse Marriage in Zoroastrianism should be based on wisdom, love, cooperation and attachment to construction. Marriage in Zoroastrianism is highly important2. In the sacred Zoroastrian book, it has been mentioned that once the young girls reached age of puberty, they asked Ahura Mazda to marry a wise, handsome and healthy husband. Ahura Mazda has emphasized that Biokani (marriage ) tradition is the best work. In Zoroastrian book, there was relative freedom for choosing wife. As recommended by Zoroaster, marital bond is a sort of equality between woman and man. For this reason, he addresses men and women equally and tells them to regard wisdom as basis for choosing spouse3. Zoroaster also recommends his daughter –Chistan – and other young girls to consider wisdom as one of the conditions of choosing husband4. Another Zoroastrian source also recommends the Zoroastrian man to select a smart and wise husband for their daughters because smart man is like the fertile land and any seed which is sown in it will yield crop. Marriage age has been mentioned 15 years for girls5.

The girls had right to make decision about their future husbands. Therefore, they had relative freedom of choosing husband though consent of the parent for marriage was one of the conditions of marriage. In Zoroastrianism, father didn’t have right to force his daughter to marry. Girl wouldn’t be disinherited in case of opposition to her father unless a girl fell in love with a man and married him in case of disagreement of her parent and this was called disobedient girl in Zoroastrianism. The engagement for the teen girls was one of the traditions which prevented them from choosing their husbands in future6. The Zoroastrian believe that in case angel –symbol of ability and blessing –is accompanied with women, they will be happy and the women who help their pious husbands will become capable7.

3.1. Right of divorce Although marriage in Zoroastrianism was regarded as sacred, it was not easy to get divorced. In Ancient , there were strict laws about divorce. The husband couldn't easily release his wife. It has been written in the book" the Dēnkard", in case husband wants to

1 Rajabi, Parviz(2001). Missing millenniums (first edition). Tehran : Toos. P. 67. 2 , Dinshah(1974). Morality of Ancient Iran. P. 87. 3 Irani , Dinshah(1974). Morality of Ancient Iran. P. 87. 4 Razi, Hashem(1995). Avesta. Tehran: Froohar Publication. P. 74. 5 The same, P. 79. 6 Rajabi, Parviz (2001). The missing millenniums (first edition), Tehran: Toos, P. 454. 7 Hejazi, Banafsheh(1991). Woman in history(first edition). Tehran: Shahre Ab. P. 53.

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divorce his wife, he shall refer to the judge for complaint. If the judge gives judgment about continuing their relation, they should continue. The disobedient husband will be severely punished not to divorce her for any reason. The cases of divorce are limited to the following four cases: 1- committing adultery and ascertaining her moral turpitude, 2- in case the wife does magic work and instructs it, 3- in case the wife is infertile. In this case, the husband could make her married and marries another woman or marries the second wife without divorce of the first wife,4- in case the wife hid the menstruation period , the husband could divorce her and in case the husband had no sexual potency , she could ask for divorce1.

4. Women and participation in religious affairs The presence of three Amesha Spentas (immortal holies)- Spenta-Ârmaiti, Haurvatât and and symbols of kindness, growth and turbulence of water and symbols of eternality and growth 2. It indicates important role of woman and mother in Zoroastrian thought and women's intervention in religious affairs. In another reference, it has been mentioned that in the Zoroastrianism, women could keep the sacred fire after menopause and were permitted to manage the religious formalities. In the Dēnkard, reference has been made to ability of women to judge so that the women informed of law was preferred to the men who were not informed3. Woman and man were equal in performance of religious duties. Both were obliged to perform 6 religious duties every year. One of these duties was to feast for father and mother. In this east, a celebration party was held for happiness of the spirits of father and mother. It is necessary to note that engagement of woman in house affairs and child care exempted her from performing religious formalities4.

4.1. Women and education right One of the distinguished characteristics of the religious Zoroasterian teachings is emphasis on wisdom. Accompaniment of Zoroaster with Chisti god who is god of wisdom and knowledge clarifies position of science before Zoroaster for us. Such god who appears sometimes in Avesta in the form of as agent of science and knowledge indicates participation of women in training of children. Chista god has considered role of corrector and trainer for mothers. For this reason, mother is the best trainer in Zoroastrianism and started training children from the early years of life. In this way, mothers illuminated heart and soul by training their chikdfren and in case of the absence of mother, sister or aunt trained them. Public education means family stage in which they separated girls from boys and prepared them for housekeeping and becoming mother5 . In higher education stage,

1 Razi, Hashem(1995). Avesta. Tehran: Froohar Publication(Pp. 83-84. ) 2 Eftekhar Zadeh, Mohammad Reza(1998). Iran , tradition and culture (first edition), Tehran: Froohar, P. 182-183; Poor Davoud , Ebrahim(1328). (hymns)(third edition), Tehran: University of Tehran; P. 38. 3 Bijan, Asadollah(1971). Tend of civilization and training in Ancient Iran (first edition). Bija, P. 104. 104. 4 Razi, Hashem(1995). Avesta. Tehran: Froohar Publication. P. 86. 5 Hekmat, Ali Asghar(1961). Education in Ancient Iran . Tehran : Research Institute /. P. 371.

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their education was also different based on social position of families but the fact is that special education in Sassanid period was related to the noble class and didn’t have public aspect 1.

Generally, religious and ethical teachings up to age of 5 years were instructed by children and then the clerics trained the children. Therefore, it can be said that there was limitation for acquiring science and knowledge for women in Sassanid period2. As the sources referred, Atooseh learnt script and made effort to train the noble people. Khashayar Shah was trained under supervision of wise Atoosa and was prepared for succession3. In Yashts wherever the word "worship" has been mentioned, women have been regarded the same as the men: now, we worship soul and conscience and power of perception and spirit and wisdom and we worship the early as the instructors of religion and the early listeners of religion , those pure men and women who caused victory of truth.4

4.2. Rank of woman in Zoroastrianism After Zoroiaster performed affairs based on beliefs, woman was saved from that abnormal condition and interfered in social affairs like men as far as she led and presided over family at most times. In marriage, her personality and view were preserved and unlike methods of many people, her witness was more or less accepted in courts and even could attain the position of clergy in the seven-member religious ceremonies as head of zawata . In Ādurbād-ī Mahrspandān, we read : don’t prevent your wives and children from acquiring art not to bring sorrow to your house and not regret in the future. In the Zoroastrianism, woman and man are of the same dignity and rank but angels are female. Woman was regarded as highly valuable and important and she was introduced as symbol of purity and chastity5.

4.3. Woman's rights in Judaism Judaism is based on legal system. After collapse of the second temple (70 A.D.) by the Romans, we see customary legal system. The first step in this field is to stop executing the punishments such as and amputation of the hand until emergence of the savior of humanity world. In Europe, activity of the Jewish courts until century 18 continued for enforcing the Jewish laws (except for retaliation and prescribed punishment. by mentioning new thoughts about humanity autonomy and emphasizing on human's right of legislation, we see more limited scope of activity of the Jewish courts to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and testament. The Jewish religious leaders enacted strict criminal judgments. The Jewish priests had become formal administrator of Moses and lived comfortably enacted severe punishments such as the adulterer and adulteress and the person who commits buggery and the person who is the victim of buggery. Non-

1 Ravandi, Morteza(1961). Social history of Iran |(third edition). Tehran : Sepehr.P. 723. 2 Hekmat, Ali Asghar(1995). Avesta . Tehran : Froohar Publication. P. 121. 3 Razi, Hashem(1995). Avesta. Tehran: Froohar Publication. P. 124. 4 Poor Davood , Ebrahim(1928). Yashts . P. 110. 5 Razi, Hashem(1995). Avesta. P. 214-215.

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of the bride was indicative of indecency and the girl was stoned to death. In the Jewish religion, marriage was the factor of separation of woman from her family. Robbing girls and female slaves is regarded as a sort of marriage1. Marriage principle is based on purchase of girl whose price is paid as marriage portion. Consent of father is the main condition of marriage. If the father is not satisfied with marriage of girl, he will only receive cash money. Marriage should be permitted by the girl's parents and father may avoid receiving marriage portion although satisfaction of girl should be considered. Man should marry widow of his deceased brother who has no children. The first child of the woman will belong to brother of the deceased husband. Such marriage aims to protect inheritance of brother. If a person refuses to marry his brother's wife, the sheikhs of the tribe will advise him and if he doesn’t accept it, he should be disgraced. Polygamy is common among the Jewish2.

Among the Jewish, marriages with relatives are common and they are prohibited to marry the strangers. Wife is obedient at home and her worships shall be permitted by the husband. If the Jewish girls marry, they will not inherit and the boys will inherit twice as much as the girls. The girl will inherit when the deceased person has no son. During the said process, the Jewish law is converted into customary laws over time, though the Jewish scholars resisted against customary nature of the family's laws. According to them, the presence of the current strict laws of marriage guarantees strength of family. Reward only occurs in the framework of the canonical family; therefore, privacy of family should be defended. The Jewish girl's share of inheritance is only dowry though her share increased to one second of the boys' share by amending law3. Their share will increase to one second of the boys' share4.

Like the Muslim girls, the Jewish girl doesn't have right to request for divorce. In Judaism, the child will inherit his/her religion from mother. In the Torah, woman has highly distinguished. God says in the Torah: we have entrusted women with the Torah. Orthodox infers from the Judaism that identity of woman in family foundation is given meaning in the form of mother, sister and husband. Although the conservative perceptions have selected more individualistic approaches, they have allowed activity of women as clergy and chaplain. With emergence of reformists, we see movement to individualism, weakness of family in favor of individual identity, driving canonical laws to private domain and adopting equalitarian approach among humans5.

1 Shakoori, Abulfazl(1992). Trend of historiography in contemporary Iran. Islamic Revolution History Foundation. P. 165. 2 The Oral Center (1996). The Iranian in contemporary history. . P. 744. 3 Sheit Khatab, Mahmoud(2009). Baghdad Publication. P. 57.

5 Jewish Oral Center (1996). Iranian Jews in contemporary history. California. P. 217.

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4.4. Position of woman in the Torah When the book "Torah" is read, it can be hardly believed that we face women such as Sarah, Rivgha, Rahel and Debora who lived 3000 or 4000 years before us but their human traits are such that they are near us now. The Torah has very high criteria for piety both for men and women while admiring goodness and warning people about weaknesses and shortages even at the highest position as most of their personalities are not regarded as absolutely good1.

4.5. Social environment at time of the Torah The Torah period is the one which started since time of Abraham i.e. 2000 B.C. and lasted until Ezra i.e. Century 5 A.D. During this period, the tribe composed of several families at center of which was man and family members were supported by him2. Most of the boys remained in their family after marriage and the oldest one replaced his father after his death. Woman in such family had heavy responsibility because the major responsibility was to keep home and do some affairs such as gleaning, milling, spinning wool and cotton, dying, management of affairs related to brides and girls etc. were her responsibilities. Although woman was obedient to her husband, she was the most respectful and if husband insulted his wife or beat her, he should be punished. Although the Torah and the Talmud mentioned some weaknesses for women, they have also mentioned some admirable expressions: pious woman is a crown on head of her husband 3 or brave woman is worthier than ruby4. Woman is highly admired in the Torah and many rights have been granted to her at the ancient time and they are equal to those of men in any cases and some women have reached position of leadership, prophecy and judgment5.

4.6. Heritance of women in Judaism The main differences between inheritance of man and woman and specifically, general and partial deprivations of woman in Judaism are as follows: in case the deceased person is child that is his/her father and mother are alive , the father will be on the second story of heirs but mother will be completely deprived of her child's inheritance and if the father and mother are the only heirs, only father will inherit from his child and mother will not inherit at all and not be placed on any story of inheritance. In case the deceased person has son or even grandsons, the girl will not inherit from her father and the girls who didn’t marry when their fathers were alive, their brothers are obliged to accept all of their educational expenses as far as they didn’t marry and when they want to marry, they will be given dowry and dowry of the girls should not be less than share of inheritance and fathers

1 - Beinart, Haim, "Plants", Encyclopedia Judaica, F. Skolnik (ed.), Jerusalem 2006, p24 2 Sheit Khatab, Mahmoud(2008). P. 119. 3 Holy Book, The Book of Genesis-Sura 3-verse 17. 4 The same, sura 5, verse 8. 5 Taheri, Mohammad Hossein(2014). Recognition of Judaism . Tehran: Reasons. P. 75.

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can determine the share of inheritance of their daughters half of their sons' share. 1 Of course, this rule has been amended in the amendatory regulations by virtue of which half of the male heirs will inherit from their parents whether married or not. Although the wife is on the first story of the husband's heirs, this will be possible when the wife has no children but if she has children, she will be only entitled to own the marriage portion and dowry which belongs to her as her property and in case she has no children, she will inherit estate from her husband in addition to marriage portion and dowry2.

4.7. Negative attitude of the Jews to women's rights In the Torah, the holy book of the Jews, woman has been disdained. For example, it has been said that the father has right to sell his daughter as a slave and she has no right to disobey her father3. In this law, girl (or female sex) is regarded as object and property and has no human value and dignity.

It has been said in another place of the Torah that Eve (woman) was born of Adam's rib4. Therefore, woman should be always obedient to man and man's ownership of woman has originated from this claimed rule of creation. Based on this altered word which has no specified original meaning has been interpreted by different Jewish and Christian scholars such as Paul the Apostle , the Christianity founder writes Epistle to the Corinthians5 :

Man is not from woman but woman is from man and man hasn’t been created for woman but woman has been created for man.

In Judaism, Eve in paradise deceived Adam and committed sin of eating the prohibited fruit and expelled from the paradise. For this reason, female sex should be punished as a permanent guilty sex until the end of the world and it has been written in the Torah 6 that woman should be punished for life to compensate for the sin which she has committed in the paradise and caused her husband to be expelled from the paradise. Some of her punishments are pregnancy and labor.

5. Marriage of woman in Judaism Marriage and formation of family are regarded as a religious duty. In the first commandment out of 613 commandments of the Holy Torah, God ordered Adam (father of human being) to give birth to children so that they can mention name of God. The Jewish

1 Martin Buber(2015). About Judaism. Tehran: religions , P. 85. 2 Sharif , Abdolazim(2010). Woman in Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Tehran:Hajar, P.124. 3 Holy Book, the Book of Genesis-Ashah 21-verse 7. 4 The same , the Book of Genesis-Ashah 2 , paragraph 22-23. 5 The same , chapter 11, Sentence 9-10.

6 The same , the Book of Genesis-Sura 3 , verses 6&7 and verse 16.

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scholars regarded marriage very important and highly emphasize on its execution. It has been mentioned in the Talmud: anyone who has no wife will be deprived of happiness, blessing and goodness. The Book of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 18 says: God said: it is not good for Adam to be alone; therefore, I create a companion for him1. Verse 25 also says:

For this reason, man abandoned his father and mother and had bond with his wife and they were regarded as one person. Therefore, the Jewish scholars said: everyone who has no wife will not be regarded as a perfect person2 .

Marriage is an important and essential case. It has been mentioned in Mishnah Magilla : human is permitted to sell a Sefer Torah and pay his marriage expense through it as human is permitted to sell the Torah for acquiring the Torah (science and knowledge ). Position and rank of marital duty are very excellent. The common term for marriage is which means Sanctification. With marriage , wife and husband are sanctified for »قیدوشیی « implies that wife and " قییدو "each other to follow the most sacred life target. The word husband are obliged to observe the most delicate points of chastity in marital life3. Mishnah Suta quotes from the scholars: a person who marries a woman due to her wealth will be reproached and will have bad and undutiful children. This book gives wise advices about selection of wife or husband. For example, it rejects high age difference of the wife and husband and brings the reason from the Holy Torah which has said: don’t make your daughter unchaste and don’t force her to be prostitute.4 It refers to the father who has forced his daughter to marry an old man.

5.1. Ranks of woman in Judaism The Jew has clarified his meaning about the women with this point: Women shall light Shabbat's candles but if there is no woman at home, man will perform this duty. The reason is that Eve forced Adam to eat the prohibited fruit and forced him to disobey God. Woman turned off life light of human because soul of humans is like a light and committing sin darkens it. For this reason, woman compensates for this fault by lighting the Shabbat by lighting Shabbat's candle to some extent,5 because execution of the Shabbat's orders and lightening candles lighten faith and will mitigate sin of woman. Of course, parturient woman or patient is exempted from lightening Shabbat's candle and her husband should do so instead of her. Women shouldn’t avoid lightening Shabbat's candle during menstruation period.

In the Talmud (the most important Jewish book after the Torah), rank of woman has been mentioned: human shall read these three prays every day: Sacred is God who created me

1 The same , Chapter 2. Verse 18. 2 Bolle, K. W., "Cosmology", Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade (ed.), , Macmillan, 2010, p74 3 Feldman, Seymour, "Cosmology", Encyclopedia Judaica, F. Skolnik (ed.), Jerusalem,2008, p147 4 Holy Book, the Book of Genesis-Chapter 19. Verse 29. 5 Long, C. H., "Cosmogony", Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade (ed.), New York, Macmillan, 2009, p212

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Jewish and didn’t create me as woman, didn’t create me as illiterate and ignorant. It has been said in the book ”Prayer blessed“ that He didn’t create me as pagan , didn’t create me as slave and didn’t bring me to the world as woman1.

There were different views about intellectual capacity. Women have low capacity. The women should stay at home and men should go outside and obtain information and knowledge from other men.

The Talmud has stated about the woman whose husband has disappeared: the woman whose husband has disappeared or abandoned her without divorce or whose whereabouts are known is called "Agona" in Hebrew and "biveh"(widow) in Farsi is regarded as the married one according to law unless it has been proved that husband died2 .

The Talmud quotes from Ibn Sira about girl:

Girl is a worrying treasure for father ….when she is little girl, he fears that she may be deceived and made unchaste. When she reaches age of puberty, the father fears that she may deviate from chastity and when she grows old, father fears that she may not marry and when she gets married, he fears that she may not give birth to child and when she grows older, her father fears that she may do magic works 3.

This view can be found in the interpretation of one of the verses of priests' blessing: May God bless you and protect you. May God bless you means that may God give you sons and protect you against having daughters because girls require careful and permanent care4.

6. Comparison and conclusion The fact that Zoroastrianism and Judaism regarded man and woman as equal caused more organized social and political position of women in these two religions as powerful social class.

In Zoroastrianism, women enjoyed freedoms such as freedom of choosing husband though some traditions such as engagement in minor age and consent of parents for marriage limited scope of freedom to some extent. Marriage in Zoroastrianism didn’t have only physical dimension but the Zoroastrians regarded marriage as a sacred case which had abundant blessing origin. Benefits of women were different considering type of marriage. Cancelation of marriage contract in Zoroastrianism was not easy. In this religion, two parties to the marriage contract could request for divorce, therefore, only men didn’t enjoy divorce right and they could divorce their wives only by presenting the convincing proof in

1 Holy Book, the Book of Genesis-Chapter 3, Verse 16. 2 The same , verse 18. 3 Holy Book, the Book of Genesis-Chapter 3, Verse 16.

4 Long, C. H., "Cosmogony", Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade (ed.), New York, Macmillan, 2009, p224

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the court. In this field, there are different sayings in Judaism. On the one hand, it emphasizes on equality of woman and man and on the other hand, it mentions that father has absolute control over his daughter such that he can also sell his daughter and it has been mentioned in Rebbiun's writing that man can sell his daughter but woman can't do. Man can make his daughter to marry but woman can't do. Jewish Rebbiun regards right of husband to possess his husband's property as a corollary of the husband's ownership of his wife. If a person becomes owner of a woman, don’t we conclude that he is also owner of her property? And if he attains the woman, will he attain her asset as well?

Dress of Sassanid women was different considering their social position and classes. Women of the ruling classes and nobles were more bound to veil and it seems that women of lower classes couldn’t tolerate long dresses and mantles like the noble class due to working outside home. In Judaism, there were also strict laws about veil. One of the other contemporary Jewish scholars has said about quality of veil in women:

Women's dress should be so loose and free not to show their organs and not to fasten their belt. He also says about cover of neck and ankle: the entire neck should be covered and even feet should be covered and foot skin should not be seen from the socks and the pictorial socks with strong colors. In fact, it can be said that Zoroastrianism and also Judaism have abundant points of similarity.1

Although makeup of women is an obscene act in both religions but the ancient evidence shows that the nobles embellished themselves and used jewelry for increasing their beauty. The most important social limitations were applied on women during menstruation and labor period. Although root of this thought in Iran was related to the period before emergence of Zoroaster, this limitation became more legal after emergence of Zoroaster. During this period, women were far from their home and deprived of their social activities. The complex ceremonies for cleaning the menstruating and parturient women by the clergymen bothered women and added to their fatigue. Despite these limitations, it should be said that political and religious position of woman after Zoroaster in Iran became stronger than the previous times. There was no special barrier for women to achieve political affairs such as kingdom though they preferred men to women when they were qualified for such affairs.

Women also could manage the religious affairs after meeting special conditions. Some affairs such as keeping sacred fire and judgment were delegated to them.

In Judaism, wisdom was regarded as sacred case. For this reason, there was no barrier for education of women. One of the most important duties of mothers in Zoroastrianism was education of children. They could work as trainer as Queen Atossa trained the nobles. SpentaÎ Armaiti festival or woman's day indicates that despite social limitations of women in Ancient Iran and importance of father in family, women had high social positions.

1 Sharif, Abdolazim(2010). Woman in Islam, Christianity and Judaism. P. 125.

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Appreciating the good women at this day and granting gifts by the children and husband to woman indicate important role of woman in Arian society. There were also many rights for women during the Torah period like Zoroastrian period. The Torah period means the period which started since time of Ibrahim i.e. 2000 B.C. to Ezra time i.e. century 5 A.D1. during this period, the tribe composed of several families at center of which was man and the persons were supported by him.

Most of the boys remained in their family after marriage and the oldest one replaced his father after his death. Woman in such family had heavy responsibility because the major responsibility was to keep home and do some affairs such as gleaning, milling, spinning wool and cotton, dying, management of affairs related to brides and girls etc. were her responsibilities. Although woman was obedient to her husband, she was the most respectful and if husband insulted his wife or beat her, he should be punished. Although the Torah and the Talmud mentioned some weaknesses for women, they have also mentioned some admirable expressions: pious woman is a crown on head of her husband or brave woman is worthier than ruby. Woman is highly admired in the Torah and many rights have been granted to her at the ancient time and they are equal to those of men in any cases and some women have reached position of leadership, prophecy and judgment.

As said above , it was specified that in Zoroastrianism, and mostly in Judaism , man and woman were of the same type and essence which was called human because all effects of humanity in class of man have been also observed in class of woman(the virtues such as generosity, bravery, knowledge , continence and the like which are found in man are also found in woman without any difference. Emergence of effects of the type indicates realization of that type, therefore, class of woman is human but these two classes are common in some characteristics (not the special effects such as pregnancy and the like ) and are different in terms of intensity and weakness but only intensity and weakness in some humanity traits doesn't cause us to say that the weak class is not human and it is clarified that it is possible to reach any degree of perfection for a class and also possible for another class and one of the instances of spiritual idealism is the perfection which is acquired through faith in God and obedience and approximation to God.

References 1. Beinart, Haim, "Plants", Encyclopedia Judaica, F. Skolnik (ed.), Jerusalem 2006, p24

2. Bolle, K. W., "Cosmology", Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade (ed.), New York, Macmillan, 2010

3. Boyce, Marry(1995). A history of Zoroastrianism, Tehran: Toos.

1 Saleki, Behzad(2006). Judaism : Historical study , Tehran: Iranian Phylosphy Association. P. 64.

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