From: david@bourbon.ee.tulane.edu (David Kaufmann)
Subject: "orthodox" Judaism and women
Organization: E.E. Dept., Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 06:14:57 GMT
Nntp-Posting-Host-[nntpd-16424]: bourbon

There has been much verbiage, some eloquent, most just  loquacious,  
concerning RorthodoxS Judaism and women. While I feel  competent to 
discuss  the logic of the issues, and the dynamic tension IUve
certainly  
encountered in  more critical media than scj (yes, such exist),
thinking how 
to  express the  positive fulfilling nature of the encounter between 
RorthodoxS  Judaism and  women led to two revelatory but not startling

discoveries: 1)  the emotional  element produces the dynamics, and
thus 
influences, if not  determines, its  direction; 2) this requires,
then,
speaking 
to (if one, like myself,  cannot speak  from) a feminine sensibility
(as 
opposed to speaking at women).

Now, this may come as a surprise to some, but if by feminism is  meant

acknowledgment of and response to the uniqueness of of  feminine  
experience and sensibility, then I consider myself a feminist. By  a
happy  
stroke of Divine Providence, I also rediscovered a book of my  wifeUs,
titled  
RThe Voice of Sarah: Feminine Spirituality and Traditional  Judaism.S
ItUs  
published by Harper Collins and written by Tamar Frankiel, an
observant  
Jewish woman with a Ph.D. in comparative religion, who has  taught at

Stanford, PRinceton, and UC-Berkely and authored three other  books,
none  
on Judaism, but all on religion.

I have only begun the book, but I am quite impressed, and I  suggest
that  
rather than bandying allegations, opinions and anecdotes as  logic and

evidence, we take a deep breath and consider the reasoning of  an
expert.

To this end, I will quote from part of the preface. I will also try
to bring
Dr.  
FrankielUs insights into the questions and discussion.

Consider:

RThis book has grown out of my experience and learning as an
observant  
Jewish woman and as a feminist. Many women view these two  categories
as  
mutually exclusive. I once thought so too, but I now enjoy the
struggle of  
living in both camps.S

R... The attraction continued but the rage dwindled as I began to  get

acquainted with orthodox women. I found utterly  incomprehensible
their  
rationale for accepting this ancient way of life, but I saw that  they
were  
sincere. Moreover, I saw that they were, indisputably, powerful  and
influential in their families and communities. As I grew to know
them, my  
first feelings of condescending pity toward these victims of
patriarchy  
changed to admiration and wonderment.S

RAs a feminist, if I had only been listening to the words, I  wouldnUt
have  
stayed around for more than a few weeks. But I was also _doing_
Judaism,  
and that was more powerful than anything I was told about it.  And
there  
was the continual evidence of the deep inner strength of the  women
around  
me. I couldnUt believe that women like this would have lived for
three  
thousand years under an oppressive male system that offered  them
nothing.  
No matter how strongly they believed that G-d gave the Torah  and told

them  to all these things, they could not have emerged so healthy, so
whole 
as  women unless the system were nourishing them.S

R...So I began to draw on my own reading of Judaism, and also  on my
years 
of  studying comparative religion, to develop a deeper  understanding
of our  
tradition of feminine spirituality.S

RNow the work is to turn this outward, to speak out with my  own voice

about  my experience and my understanding of it. This, to me, is the
essence 
of  feminism, and I am stil a feminist. I am also a scholar of
comparative  
religion, and I occasionally draw on insights from that area of
study...S

RThu, despite my sympathy for feminism and my wide exposure  to the  
secular wisdom of our time, I cannot join the chorus of voices  who
demand  
changes across the board in Jewish practice. I have come to  know this
Torah,  
this law, from another side. I know it has a beauty and depth  that is
at once
 
strong and delicate, like a silken web. ... Some of the very things
that some
 
feminists want to eliminate are sources of great spiritual growth  for
women.  
Certainly for me, deepening my commitment to Jewish practice  has  
intensified my feminine consciousness in more ways than I can
explain.S

There is more, but that is enough, I think, to start. For anyone
sincerely  
interested in the subject, this is a critical book. 
ZZ

David Kaufmann
INTERNET:	david@bourbon.ee.tulane.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish