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A Close Look on
the Role of Women in Judaism
The Reform Judaism strongly believes in the equality of men
and women, to the extent that they introduce alternative
mitzvot (commandments) and rituals to be able to deal with
Jewish religious requirements. They have generously allowed
women to perform the duties of rabbis and cantors, counts
women as an integral part of the minyon (the quorum
requirement for public prayer), permits women to make the
first move in a divorce proceeding and even provides the
equivalent of a berit (circumcision) ceremony for girls
although no medical procedure is performed.
Reform Judaism is considerably more liberal since they
advocated shorter religious services, the use of English in
most of the rituals and the mixed seating of men and women
during worship.
On the other hand, Orthodox Jews have a more complex
interpretation on the role of women in religion as they
observe Jewish laws more strictly. Although Orthodox Judaism
look at Jewish women as actively involved in matters like the
observance of Sabbath and dietary laws, reflection, social
interaction, personal development, business practice and
charity the role of women in these matters of concern are
subject to the particular interpretation from era to era and
from each individual person. Orthodox Jews firmly believe that
Jewish law does not regulate every detail of life but rather
provides a fundamental framework within which each person may
express their individuality and personality.
For thousands of years, the duties and obligations of a Jewish
wife and mother are looked on as leading indicators of
religious expression and responsibilities for Jewish women.
Orthodox Jews firmly believe that the joint roles of wife and
mother provides for enormous opportunities of spiritual
manifestations and growth. The overlapping role of women as a
wife, mother and as an individual person in Orthodox Judaism
provides for an endless resource in which to practice familial
love, personal intellectual and spiritual development and in
the community including performance of communal
responsibility. The Torah however points out that it does not
preclude women from holding jobs but rather emphasizes that
material achievements should not be the primary goal but
should only be secondary to more profound religious obeisance
and dutiful performance of family-centered life, prayer, and
charity.
Although the ideal role of a woman in Orthodox Judaism is to
get married in order to more fully perform her duties and
obligations, traditional Torah authorities say that marrying
is not a requisite for a woman to fulfill her religious duties
and obligations. Instead, dedication to others is an
acceptable virtue to a family-centric life in the strictest
sense.
The difficulty of defining the role of the Jewish woman in
Orthodox Judaism therefore is not as easily defined in the
traditional sense because there are various intersecting
planes of responsibilities, roles, obligations and duties that
a woman needs to develop by herself in accordance within the
general constraints of Jewish law and philosophy.
The issue becomes more complicated as the Torah proclaims the
equality between men and women but then makes an important
distinction between rights and obligations. It becomes even
more complex because Orthodox Judaism looks at events and
interaction in terms of duties and obligations and from the
sociopolitical viewpoint of rights and privileges as we are
more familiar with. In Orthodox Judaism, the issue of rights
and privileges never arises and is almost antithetical to
duties and obligations.
Source:
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