Feminism

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There are allusions to this idea within the mystical tradition: Initially the man’s advantage is more apparent, but in the future, the advantage of women will be more apparent, as alluded in the verse (Yirmiyahu 31:21), “ For God has created something new on earth: A woman courts a man.” In this world, our gaze is external, and therefore the advantages of man, the one who learns and leads, are greater than those of woman. However, in the future we will gain a more profound vision and then the virtue of faith and intuitive perception will be revealed…

Peninei Halakhah, Women's Prayer 3:6:5

That is the context of the claim of Tzelophehad’s daughters. They were claiming their rights as individuals. Justly so. As many of the commentators pointed out, the behaviour of the women throughout the wilderness years was exemplary, while that of the men was the opposite. The men, not the women, gave gold for the golden calf. The spies were men. A famous comment by the Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, 1550–1619) suggests that had Moses sent women instead, they would have come back with a positive report.

Studies in Spirituality; A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Masei; The Complexity of Human Rights 10

Rabbi Uziel adopts a permissive attitude toward the election of women to communal office. He draws attention to Tosafot, Niddah 50a, which records one opinion to the effect that a woman may indeed serve as a judge and that Deborah actually did fulfill this function in an official capacity. If a woman may serve even as a judge it follows that there is no impediment to women holding any other communal office. Thus it appears that at least one authority—Tosafot, Niddah 50a—disagrees with Rambam's position…

Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol II, Part II, Chapter XII Women on Synagogue Boards 16

This great sensitivity to, and deep understanding of, human reality and need, compelled Berkovits to speak out regarding women’s issues. He courageously voiced what he believed to be halakhic truth without concern for normative communal labels or how his views would be received by the establishment. For example, in a letter to the editor of the Jerusalem Post newspaper, he staunchly defended women’s prayer groups after the leadership of Yeshiva University had condemned them, and he voiced public support for the women who participated in them:

Jewish Women in Time and Torah, Foreword by Rahel Berkovits 7

This rabbi’s son interprets R. Judah’s blessings in a sexist manner, namely, that men are thankful that they are not socially inferior like women, who, in this statement, are compared to slaves—either occupying the same low level (according to the son) or one only slightly higher (according to the father). It would seem that the Bavli’s omission of the second part of R. Judah’s statement—about women and mitzvot—made this alternate interpretation of the first part possible; the rabbi and his son seem to know only the first part. This is a third interpretation of R. Judah’s blessing about women…

Rereading the Rabbis; A Woman's Voice, 10 Ritual 69

When Zelophehad's daughters, that had lived piously and wisely like their father and their ancestors, heard that the land was being divided among the male members of the tribe, but not among the female, they took counsel together, discussing what they could do, so that they might not find themselves come out empty-handed. They said: "God's love is not like the love of a mortal father; the latter prefers his sons to his daughters, but He that created the world extends His love to women as well as to men, 'His tender mercies are over all His works…

Legends of the Jews 3:6:75

Russell. Letty M., ed. Feminist Interpretations of Biblical Narrative. Philadelphia, 1985.

The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox, Suggestions for Further Reading 204

In a paper submitted to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards advocating the inclusion of women in a minyan, Philip Sigal asserts that "before we can declare women qualified to count in a quorum we must be certain that public worship is an absolute requirement, that Jewish public worship requires a specific minimum quorum and that women are obligated equally with men to attend public worship services." Sigal then marshals sources showing that women and men share equal obligations with regard to prayer.

Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol I, Part I, CHAPTER III The Synagogue 68

One may respond that the women in the Tanach were expected to submit to the will of their husbands. This presumption, however, is far from the truth. Sarah Imeinu and Rivka Imeinu are celebrated for standing up to their husbands at defining moments when their husbands were about to make a grievous error that would endanger the Jewish future.

Megillat Ruth; From Chaos to Kingship, Perek 1 5:12

In everything that Rav ever said about human conduct his intention to protect the weak against the strong is apparent, he tried in the first instance to make women independent and equal in their rights with men so that they should not be dependent on man’s caprice. At that time a man had the right to divorce his wife on the slightest pretext. The concept of “scandalous thing” (Deuteronomy, 24:1) was so interpreted that the slightest cause could serve as grounds for a divorce. It was enough for a man to see a more beautiful woman than his wife for him to divorce her…

The Jewish Spiritual Heroes, Volume III; The Amoraim of Babylon and the Babylonian Talmud, Rav; Abba Arecha 165

Introduction One of the thorniest problems in halakhah is that a woman may not initiate divorce. If a woman is stuck in a bad marriage and wants to be divorced, it is difficult, if not impossible, for her to force her husband to divorce her and still receive her ketubah. We should however note that in talmudic times it was not impossible for a woman to force her husband to divorce her if she was willing to forego her ketubah. Unfortunately, today, even this is difficult. Our mishnah contains fascinating testimony regarding attempts that women made to force their husbands to divorce…

English Explanation of Mishnah Nedarim 11:12:1

How then, if women emerge so powerfully as leaders, were they excluded in Jewish law from certain leadership roles? If we look carefully we will see that women were historically excluded from two areas. One was the “crown of priesthood,” which went to Aaron and his sons. The other was the “crown of kingship,” which went to David and his sons. These were two roles built on the principle of dynastic succession. From the third crown – the “crown of Torah” – however, women were not excluded. There were prophetesses, not just prophets. The sages enumerate seven of them (Megilla 14a)…

Lessons in Leadership; A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Shemot; Women as Leaders 13

These are six stories of outstanding moral courage and they are all about women, at least two of whom, Zipporah and Pharaoh’s daughter, are not Israelites (the identity of the midwives is left uncertain, perhaps deliberately so). It is the women who recognise the sanctity of life and refuse to obey orders that desecrate life. It is the women who, fearing God, are fearless in the face of human evil. It is the women who have compassion – and justice without compassion is not justice. It is as if the Torah were telling us that Moses, the supreme embodiment of the passion for justice…

Covenant and Conversation; Exodus; The Book of Redemption, Exodus; The Birth of a Nation 38

Can a woman forget her baby,
Or disown the child of her womb?
Though she might forget,
I never could forget you.

Isaiah 49:15

She oversees the activities of her household
And never eats the bread of idleness. Her children declare her happy;
Her husband praises her, “Many women have done well,
But you surpass them all.” Grace is deceptive,
Beauty is illusory;
It is for her fear of the LORD
That a woman is to be praised. Extol her for the fruit of her hand,
And let her works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:27-31

We may not appoint a woman as king. When describing the monarchy, the Torah employs the male form of the word king and not the female.
This principle also applies to all other positions of authority within Israel. Only men should be appointed to fill them.

Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 1:5

Thereupon they answered Jeremiah—all the men who knew that their wives made offerings to other gods; all the women present, a large gathering; and all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt: “We will not listen to you in the matter about which you spoke to us in the name of GOD. On the contrary, we will do everything that we have vowed—to make offerings to the Queen of Heaven and to pour libations to her, as we used to do, we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials, in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem…

Jeremiah 44:15-17

The Gemara relates: Ulla happened to come to the house of Rav Naḥman. He ate bread, recited Grace after Meals, and gave the cup of blessing to Rav Naḥman. Rav Naḥman said to him: Master, please send the cup of blessing to Yalta, my wife. Ulla responded to him: There is no need, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said as follows: The fruit of a woman’s body is blessed only from the fruit of a man’s body, as it is stated: “And He will love you, and bless you, and make you numerous, and He will bless the fruit of your body” (Deuteronomy 7:13)…

Berakhot 51b:5-7

RKADH (Miriam's Cup), Tobi Kahn. Yeshiva University Museum

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