I had selected the following Email for a column a couple weeks ago and then in the news this week comes the story of the court ruling in Israel allowing women to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I am referring to praying in the synagogue and not being allowed to read from the Torah. I read that it relates to women being inferior and not having the knowledge of a man. This creates turmoil inside of me.
Women are the ones that bring life into the world.
Getting beyond quips, there are two contradictory answers to your questions. The intention was and is to honor women in Judaism, in part, precisely because women bring life into the world. I believe a big part of the answer is found by looking at the issue using the context of days gone by. The Middle East in ancient days was male dominated. Society was tribal and clan based and was often headed by a male chief or leader.