Can I be a Orthofem?
An orthowhatee? Not a new contraceptive drug, but an orthodox feminist. Let's temporarily ignore my beer-swilling, ball-scratching, football-watching tendencies (how will I cope when it's not football season? take up sewing?) I'd like to put forward the argument, ask the question, raise the issue and get it out in the open.
I believe that women should be as Halachically involved as they want to be. Not because men and women are equal (come on, we all know we're not - one of us is far superior and you know who it is) but because as aspiring inspired Jews we want to be able to use the full gamut of religious experience available to us. Because when I put myself in women's shoes (not just prancing around the bedroom in high heels and make-up pretending to be Madonna) I catch a glimpse of how frustrating the communal experience can be. Guys, imagine going regularly to shul knowing you weren't allowed to get an aliyah, pesichah, have hagbaah competitions, show off your davening abilities from the amud, and even in some places say kaddish for a loved one. Simchas Torah often becomes a dull spectacle, you can't always run for office on many shuls, you are dhimmi, a second-class citizen in Jewish communal life.
I dream of a time when women can be halachically as involved as they would want to be. We have made many great strides in this area and I believe we will continue to do so. My motive is not a strictly feminazi one, not because we've abolished gender boundaries and identity, rather because I want G-d seeking Jews to be able to experience as much as possible to bring them closer to the aibishter.
Lets get one thing absolutely clear before you take me down like The Fridge on a wet chicago evening with the score tied at 17-17, first and goal with overtime looming. I am an avid fan of Halachah, going to all the home and away games. I believe in it, it is The Derech, it guides my Path and forges my Way. I wouldn't advocate a policy that doesn't have what I consider sufficient halachic authority behind it.
Which is why I ask myself - can I be an Orthofem? I fully accept Orthodoxy and Halachic process, so is my version of feminism acceptable? Or is that existential dissonance between what I dream and hope for, and what is not yet HC (Halachically Correct) too much to handle?
Chag Sameach
TRK
posted by TRK @ 6:18 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
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I love the way you write! Now i just have to get the idea of you in heels channeling Madonna out of my head.
Lol MH...
TRK, I'll give my opinion on the issue that you've raised another time - gotta get to bed b4 the sun rises, but just had to ask, is there a hoiday I missed out on? I mean, I presume that you're not refering to my being on half-term... (Hallelujah!)
There's almost nothing Women are strictly forbidden to do according to Halacha that men are allowed to. The only thing that stands in their ways is the Tznius issues which is unlikely to be relaxed any time soon. Other than davening and singing in front of men they can(sometimes must) suffer just as much as the us men.
trk: sorry for the lowercase letters - i'm typing with one hand while holding my infant daughter.
was nechama leibowitz z'l an orthofem? i doubt it. she didn't need to be. why are you striving for halachik parity? men & women are different but equal. if you want to be a proponent of advancement, hpwabout on an academic level, and not the perfoming one?
when there are superior academic women, halacah will take care of itself. see orthomom's postings on jewish heroines here:
http://orthomom.blogspot.com/2005/07/heroine-of-day.html
my mom learns daf yomi daily (she's finished shas twice so far) yet she hates the ortho-feminist movement. (wish i knew as much gemara as her)
shabbat shalom.
Lulei demistafina, three points:
1. Your statement "I am an avid fan of Halachah, going to all the home and away games" is one of the best sentences I've ever read on any blog anywhere.
2. It is instructive to watch Chazal's wording that it is tiflus to teach women Torah, from which one can (and many commentators do)infer that women learning on their own is fine.
3. The key is intention. Women and men are not equal; we're different. Women who try to blur that line, whether or not they stick to the letter of the halachic law, are not promoting Torah values. Women who are motivated by spiritual yearnings, on the other hand, should do whatever they can halachically, which is fairly broad. The litmus test tends to be how vocal they are. My guess is that very few people know that Jameel's mom could be giving the daf yomi shiur because she's interested in learning not bragging about it.
Great blog, TRK. Ok and now for my rambling: Excuse me, ClooJew but your comment is infuriating. According to the book 'Responsa on Contemporary Jewish Women's Issues', by Rabbi Yehuda Henkin, it is clearly written that 'tiflut' no longer applies because now the talmud is in writing, whereas before it was torah shbaal peh and women take the written word seriously. I also believe the only way women and men are not equal is within the way Hashem created us. My take is, we are not equal in the way we are created but equal overall, sum of parts put together. We are in a generation where women are educated, many times surpassing our male counterparts. IF we are not equal, then we are definately superior lol. Rashi explains tiflut as meaning that women might use her learning to help her sin without being caught. This is not the case today as when anyone wants to become unobservant, they just do so. The Rambam states... "A woman who learned Torah is rewarded..." continues..."the sages commanded that a man not teach his daughter torah"... the keyword here is DAUGHTER.
Teaching his daughter meaning a child rather than teaching a grown woman. It is made clear as it states in Sotah 20a that teaching a child is considered tiflut.... A grown woman learning torah is NOT tiflut. Sheesh its amazing how far we have come, and yet have gotten nowhere.
hayim - i like your comments and the arguments you've made. i have mixed feelings about this topic. to tell the truth, i have no desire to get an aliyah, be called upon to go to minyan 3x a day or put on tefilin. i also feel that some of the women who are so intent on carrying the torah and having their own minyanim (etc. etc.) are doing so bec. they want to be in competition with or equal to men, instead of concentrating on some of the mitzvos that we're given - i.e. are these same people so makpid in tznius and are they so devout in all other areas that it was a natural progression for them to want to go to the next level?
Truth be told, men and women are different. Period. Halacha treatws them differently. period. How you choose to interpret those differences are up to the individual. Are men better than women because they have different halachot? Are women better than men because they need not perform certain mitzvos yet there is no torah concern that this will somehow diminish them as jews (lie there would be for men)? Again, in the eye of the beholder.
It is not black and white and it is open for interpretation. Hey, kinda like evything else.
TRK - Great post. Any post which ties William, The Refridgerator Perry into a discussion of men vs women in halacha must get high marks.
"Excuse me, ClooJew but your comment is infuriating. According to the book 'Responsa on Contemporary Jewish Women's Issues', by Rabbi Yehuda Henkin, it is clearly written that 'tiflut' no longer applies"--frumgirl
Frumgirl,
Not everyone, lulei demistafina, agrees with Rabbi Henkin.
Hayim-Please allow me to disagree!
they do not inherit if these is a male heir
They can if a will is made.
they have no commandment to procreate, nor an obligation to educate their kids
Well I'd consider that a Bonus, we are obligated to procreate they actually have a choice!
Same goes with most Mitzvahs they have a CHOICE we have none, who is being discriminated now?
like agunos, etc.
Agunos are a very complicated story I have to admit that it’s definitely a minus. But it has to do with men being permitted to be married with several women, while women are not because of obvious reasons. Though I'm definitely of the opinion that women should be protected from ever becoming agunos.
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