Girls allowed?
DVIR ABRAMOVICH
THE report that Nofrat Frenkel, chairperson of the feminist Jewish worship group Women of the Wall, was arrested and may be imprisoned for wearing a tallit and carrying a Sefer Torah in the Western Wall plaza caused me to reflect on the state of Jewish feminism.
Jewish feminism has been one of the greatest changes in Jewish life, creating one of the most dramatic and monumental shifts in centuries of history. Feminism has impacted upon Jewish women, whether religiously observant or not, permeating all aspects of Judaism and creating a more fulfilling lifestyle in the process that should make everyone cheer. And they’re doing it on their own terms.
And don’t let anyone tell you there hasn’t been a tremendous change in a remarkably short time. Consider the yeshivahs and Jewish schools where young women are fully educated; the increased significance of bat mitzvah ceremonies; crowning ceremonies; britahs; Rosh Chodesh celebrations; and women rabbis and female executives holding prominent positions in the Jewish communal world.
In a large measure, enough time and achievements have been chalked up for feminists to acknowledge the accomplishments.
In 2008, the American Jewish Congress produced an advert titled This is Israel, with photos of three Israeli women — the Supreme Court president, the Speaker of the Knesset and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The message about successful women in Israel was unmistakable.
Yes, there are real reasons to lament patriarchy’s oppression, but the facts on the ground tell us that women have slowly catapulted themselves from the margins to the centre and have become prime moulders of the agenda for the 21st century.
And let’s not forget the serious impact the feminist movement has made on the field of Jewish studies. Putting aside the universal oppression issue, female scholars, while admitting that the status of women over the centuries has been less than ideal, have described the strong, active, visionary women of Jewish history and have resurrected female role models for future generations. Others have argued that women have always held responsible positions within the family and have never been the passive or submissive types we are frequently told about. I like theologian Susannah Heschel’s observation that women are more like an orange on the seder plate — not a rebuke to tradition, but a fertile addition to it.
There are feminist haggadahs, texts dealing with lesbian Jews (Nice Jewish Girls, Twice Blessed), as well as books about domestic violence and the stereotype of the Jewish princess or Jewish mother.
A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book, Taking Back God: American Women Rising Up For Religious Equality, Reading Ruth and Out of the Garden are some of the many texts available.
Even as we worry over Jewish continuity, women of all ages are finding their way into and back to Judaism. Jewish women, holding wildly different, sometimes oppositional perspectives, are digging through to find new room for innovation, minus the trappings of patriarchy.
This is not to say that Jewish women have not suffered grave injustices. But even pre-feminist Hebrew writers, such as Devorah Baron, Yocheved Bat-Miriam and Anzia Yezierska, wrote stories about brave and creative women who rallied against the perceived limitations of their religion and imagined new choices and ways of life. Contemporary Jewish women now have the choice to work in or outside the home, the chance to gain an education, Jewish and secular, and of course, the opportunity to write about women’s issues.
Certainly, in the Reform and Conservative branches women have gained access to virtually every sphere and have had a hand in making policy. And there are a growing number of Orthodox women who are pushing the limits of religious tradition.
In Melbourne, there are women’s study groups that are reclaiming the Bible, reading and interpreting from a specifically female viewpoint to retrieve meanings that affirm rather than put down women or erase them. Sure, many challenges remain for Jewish women — the agunot issue (those whose husbands won’t grant them divorces) to name only one. But in the spirit of honesty, we must congratulate Jewish women on the genuine vision and re-vision they have shown and for their courage. Some even believe that only women can save Judaism from decline.
A rabbi at an American synagogue asked some children during Purim: “Vashti disobeyed the King. Was she bad?” A girl of about eight raised her arm and said, “Well, the King thought she was bad. But she was also kind of good.”
Enough said.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, the Jan Randa senior lecturer in Hebrew and Jewish studies, is director of The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Jewish History and Culture. He is also president of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies.
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