In the last week as we read about the roles of women in both the bible and jewish culture I found it slightly disturbing that there is such a disparity between men and women when it comes to learning about torah. Stereotypes of judaism are always about the role of the jewish mother. She nags you, feeds you too much, never likes your boyfriend (unless he is from a good jewish family), uses the mothers guilt, is nosey. These are all stereotypes of jewish mothers that I have heard, however the role of the mother in the family life of jews seems to be very important if there are so many stereotypes about them. I have found that generally something does not get a stereotype if it does not make a lasting impression, well it seems to me that women of the jewish faith have left an impression
I was stunned during the scene in the film that we watched when all the women were praying at the wall in Jerusalem and men were protesting them and yelling for them to leave. I would think that these men would want the women that they value so much to be able to have the same experience as they do with the torah. It seems as if it is a selfish thing one is doing to deny women the right to study the torah, did these men ever think that they may have been getting the analysis wrong all these years? And that a woman may shine some new light on the study? Rejecting women and separating them during certain services and studies only perpetuates old world sexism and male hierarchy. I mean if a man loves his bubbie so much wouldn't he want her to be able to connect with the torah as he has?
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Another thing that seems surprising then about Judaism and its view of women is that to be technically Jewish, your mother has to be Jewish. The religion follows a clear matrilineal path yet still leaves very little room for women in some of its most important practices. I admit that some rituals, lighting the Shabbat candles, involve women, but few others do.
I was also troubled by that scene in the movie; it's hard to see people being so angry in the name of religion, especially towards people of the same faith. I thought people might be interested in some of the modern Jewish feminist movements. In Religion and Sexuality, we read Like Bread on The Seder Plate, a Jewish Lesbian response to the role of Women in Judaism. I was fortunate enough to attend a feminist seder last year and it was encouraging to see how modern women modify tradition to include themselves, such as telling stories of biblical women rather than men.
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