C of E has women Bishops: what about women Orthodox Rabbis?

Yesterday the official state religion of England - The Church of England- made a decision via a vote at its General Synod to allow women to become Bishops. I am not too sure what to make of this myself, in so much as whatever the tradition and theology, once they voted for women Vicars in 1992, the end logic was to also allow for those higher up the chain. I know that some will be unhappy about this decision, but it did get me thinking about women in Orthodoxy being Rabbis, Judges and the rest. 

I cannot see any reason in Jewish law for women NOT to be Rabbis, but even so I have mixed feelings on the issue myself. .On the one hand I can see from the Hebrew Bible that women had often played important leadership roles,e.g.  Miriam, Deborah, Esther; furthermore in my humble view women in Judaism are ALREADY leaders in so much as it our women who govern our homes, not us men and of course in the secular world women now have careers & jobs of their own. I fully support this and women's education to whatever level they wish to go to, be it religious or secular or preferably both. The wife of a Rabbi is often 'part of the team' when it comes to Rabbis work, so again another position of authority, even if it is partnership with her husband, rather than on their own.

On the other hand I just don't want to put a coach and horses through the tradition-which in Judaism has a very powerful influence in its own right-  that means we do not ordain as a general rule female Rabbis. Does there need to be a discussion about this in the Orthodox Jewish world or is it something which we do not need to discuss ? From my experience - and female readers please don't take offence- us Sephardi tend to be 'folksy' as in down to earth, ffriendly or neighbourly,sociable & small 'c' conservative, so I do ask myself is there any clamour for women to be Rabbis? If there is no great rush of women wanting to do this is that a reason to say 'no' to any discussion ?

True we now have  a situation where women have become "halachic advisers" (in the Orthodox world), but there is only ONE officially 'ordained' Orthodox Rabbi that I know of,Sarah Hurwitz, but in order not to rock the boat they didn't call her Rabbi to begin with, but recently she has taken on the title Rabba, which really upset the Ultra Orthodox Haredi, who are already furious over the 'women of the wall' campaigners. And do we necessarily need to upset the applecart among ourselves, when there are already other divisions within Jewry?

I don't see this as one of those make or break issues which defines you as Orthodox, so I am genuinely torn here. I am certainly all in favour of women being Cantors, on executive councils of Shuls, being Halachic advisers etc.  In respect of Cantors,yes, I know about kol isha, the spirit of which I am 100% in agreement with. Note that in in the Bible there numerous examples of women -Jews- singing in front of men (e.g. Exodus. 15:20-21,1 Samuel 18:6,1 Chronicles 25:5,Psalm 68:26). So my view is that Kol Isha is quite correct, but that this does not prevent women singing solo in front of men, but what it means is that women should not sing SEXUAL songs in front of men, because this is the whole spirit behind the law (modesty).

Of course us Sephardi could claim to have had the first female Orthodox Rabbi -again not officially as she was called Tanna'it- a scholar of the Talmud and ran a Jewish seminary whilst performing the occasional miracle- in the 17th Century Iraq, a lady called Asenath Barzani.

What do readers think?

More Madness - this time its Sephardi(sadly) !

From what passes for Sephardi among the echelons of the Rabbinic leadership. Via the the Jewish worker  and the Jerusalem Post,Rabbi Shalom Cohen the spiritual leader of Shas (the Sephardi Haredi political party -it pains me to put Sephardi and Haredi together in a sentence, it really does!) has ostensibly banned Sephardi-Haredi  women from attending academic colleges :

The letter goes -

"We are witnesses today that there are students who learned in [Charedi] seminars who are applying and requesting to learn academic studies.
Our Rabbis, the Gedolei Yisroel, completely opposed academic studies even in Charedi colleges since a number of the lecturers are university graduates and don't have the pure torah ideology that we are raised on.
Likewise, the coursework in the colleges is based on academic and scientific methodologies which contradict daas torah.
Therefore,  female students should not even consider going to learn academic studies in any setting, because this is not the path of Torah."

This is ironic for 2 reasons.

First one of the great Sephardi Rabbis, Moses Maimonides, was himself a man of science and medicine and firmly advocated that there was no contradiction between science and Torah, indeed he opined that the Torah was misunderstood if science contradicted it. 

The second is that the actual founder of the Shas founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef explicitly approved the establishment of institutions of higher learning designed for haredim, including the one founded by his eldest daughter, Dr. Adina Bar-Shalom.

As for myself. Oy, I've printed off the edict and ignored it. I'm Sephardi & Orthodox. This belongs in the toilet. But we'd wipe more on than we'd get off,if you get my drift, apologises for the crudeness, but it is the only way I can rationalise this BS. I've been married twice, my first wife had a degree and went on to further studies, my second wife is also university educated. I have 4 sisters. All of them are educated to Masters level, 2 to PhD. All of  them are devout Jews, in their own way. My eldest daughter is currently reading English at University. I have no time for these idiots that are trying to ban women from being educated. 

I'd like to add the word especially given the Haredi setup of men studying the Torah and expecting women to earn money via a job  & look after a family in the traditional Jewish way. This is  a tall order if you ask me, I have no problem with both partners earning and taking joint responsibility for child raising, but it is TOO MUCH to except anyone to be in effect a single parent, but married at the same time... OK it isn't my community, but if you are Haredi and this is what you do; you aren't going to help the situation or your poverty by denying the main bread winner an education to get a better job, to support the family etc. 

Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) & Sotah

Hi All,

A couple of weeks ago I said we'd be doing posts reflecting on the weekly Parashah. Alas we've got a bit sidetracked, so a few have been missed (well 2, 3 if you include this weeks as well!). Don't worry, we fully intend to keep these D'var Torahs going. So briefly, here is one about Naso (Numbers 4: 21-7:89), which was for the week ending 30th May 2014: 

What leaps out to me for this reading is the idea  of the Sotah (unfaithful or 'wayward'  wife) in Numbers 5, 11 to 31, which is a 'trial by ordeal' and to modern eyes can seem as primitive & barbaric  as the idea of drowning witches to see if they were witches; except in this case the trial was to ascertain suspected adultery. Furthermore this legislation is solely against women and not men or should it be said there is no mechanism for women to do the same against their husband, if he was suspected of adultery.  Whilst it is reassuring that, as the Talmud notes (there is an entire tractate  dedicated to this ritual, although the discussion lasts only  a couple of pages),  this practise was abolished in Judaism over 2,000 years ago and in any case would be unenforceable, like much Biblical legislation, due to the lack of a Temple and Sanhedrin , is there any reason for G-d to have put this into the Torah and what is the importance for it today? 

We can never fully know the mind of G-d, but clearly one of the themes that Numbers deals with is trust. Specifically the lack of it; both at the macro and micro level. Israel doesn't trust G-d. That's the macro. Among Israel people don't trust each other, indeed later on even Aaron and Miriam will turn against Moses, because they don't trust him and don't trust G-d; in Numbers 11 and then 16 to 17 there are accounts of similar jealousies, rivalries and claims of others to speak on behalf of G-d.  You will note that in all of these examples the jealous, distrusting parties are wrong .Within this theme then, perhaps, is a subtle criticism of the jealous husband, namely that if he is prepared to put his wife through such a bizarre ( & humiliating ritual), then that is a poor reflection on him and his lack of trust. Perhaps this connects to this overall theme of Numbers, namely that in any relationship, trust is the key and we need to be more trusting. Equally perhaps Israel should have been more trusting  of & therefore more faithful to  G-d.

As we should be today. 

Indeed in  Sotah, (49a and 49b)  the phrase (repeated 3 times) is used :

In whom can we trust? In our Father in Heaven!

Discuss. 

Eli Eli

A poem by  Hannah Szenes, a paratrooper of the British Special Operations Executive , a Jewish heroine of World War II, who was killed after being captured in Hungary- and brutally tortured - during an effort to save Allied prisoners of war and organize Jewish resistance against the Nazi and Fascist Amalek.  This was later put to music.

Eli, Eli,
Shelo yigamer leolam,
Ha-hol v'ha-yam,
Rishrush shel ha-mayim,
Barak bashamayim,
Tfilat ha-adam.

(Translation)

My God , my God,

I pray that these things never end,

The sand and the sea,

The rush of the water,

The crash of the heavens,

The prayer of the heart.

Our story did not end, despite the  murderous slaughter  & genocide of the Shoah . Our people are free. We have our homeland back. We still live. 

Am Yisrael Chai !

Purim: Anti-Women?

The straightforward answer is a laughable "no".

Via a comment on this blog , the blog call 'BBC watch' and from the BBC itself, it seems that The BBC education on Purim wants to tell the world that  :

"There are a number of negative messages for women in the Book of Esther:

1. Women are property: King Xerxes believes he has the right to parade his wife before the diners at an all-male feast that he has organised.
2. Male authority must be preserved: when Queen Vashti disobeys the King, who wants her to display her beauty before his male guests, this is seen as an attack on male authority in every sphere.
3. The Queen is deposed (and probably done away with) to ensure that the tradition of male superiority is not damaged, and that wives are reminded that they must obey their husbands.
4. Women are no more than animals: the search for a new queen to replace Vashti is conducted with as much humanity as might have gone into selecting a new mare for the King's stables. Character, intellect and wisdom count for nothing, only the physical matters.
5. What the King wants is a beautiful virgin. The whole search is conducted like a beauty contest; even down to the contestants having to spend a year in a beauty parlour first.
6. The chosen women then each have to spend a night with the King, to see if he enjoys them.
7. Women's wishes are secondary: nor are the wishes of the women given any respect - taking part in the selection process is compulsory for the women concerned.
8. Women are unimportant: even as Queen it's clear that Esther lives entirely on the King's terms.
9. She goes to him when he calls her - but if she goes uninvited, he can have her put to death.
10. The King ignores her needs: he doesn't want her all that often, perhaps once a month; her own needs are unconsidered.
11. On a political level women are downgraded since at the end of the Book of Esther, the author ignores the Queen's achievements, and concentrates on praising Xerxes and Mordecai."

6 thoughts here : 

1 OK it is sexist and awful ....Except the story of Esther is set within the Persian Empire and Royal Court. some 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, should any really be surprised that there are such 'negative' views toward women???!  

2. The book itself isn't reflecting Judaism's attitude toward women, the context is the Persian Empire's attitude toward women. The story is merely being historically accurate, the author here could have providing clarification on that point, noting that Judaism has always given women 3 minimum (not a maximum) 'basic rights', such as owning property in her own right, the right to demand of her husband frequent and quality sex (oh don't I know!) and the right to provision of  food & shelter .

3. Points 8 & 9. If you look again at my earlier note, when Esther confronts the King, we will note that Esther approached the King, not the other way around, ergo, it was Esther who showed the courage to defy the culture and customs of ancient Persia , in order to save her people, so quite why this makes the book of Esther 'negative' toward women is beyond me.

.

3. Should therefore the Book of Esther be redacted to appease modern day feminism ? No is the simple answer here. 

4. Today Esther is held as one of the Biblical role models for Jewish women (along with Rachel, Hannah, Rebbecca, Leah, Deborah), so to use the book as a way of weaving feminism into the dialogue, is frankly laughable , but typical of the BBC. 

5. If  Purim is so anti-women,  I do wonder why my 10 daughters, 4 sisters and numerous nieces, to name but a few, actually enjoy the festival and use it as an example of what they call 'Jewish girl power'.

6. The BBC article concludes :

"Women - the positives    
                                                                                                                          

Women are brave: both Vashti and Esther display considerable courage in difficult and oppressive situations         
                                                                                                                                          

Women can exercise power: in Chapter 9 of the Book of Esther, the Queen is referred to as 'writing with full authority' to confirm a decree, and it also says 'Esther's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim', thus indicating that she had considerable authority."

Yes Purim certainly shows Esther as a woman of courage and a woman of power. But that contrasts the important place of women in Jewish society- which has always existed- as opposed to pagan setups like the Persian Empire. It is a pity that this isn't drawn out of these points & in any case these 'positives' clearly contradiction the author's point 11 about the downgrading of Esther as a political force (you can't have it both ways, even in BBC land).

So to conclude don't always rely on the BBC for the 'full facts' and a non biased interpretation of religion.

Purim reflections

At present we are celebrating Purim and a few non- Jewish people have asked me (in basics) what Purim is and what we do. So this is my little potted version : 

1. What is Purim?

Purim comes from what we call Megillah ('Scroll') Esther or as it is called by others  'The book of Esther' and remembers the story contained therein (and of course shows us, so the female members of my family Biblical 'Jewish girl power' ).

2. What was the story?

"On the day that the enemies of the Jews were expected to prevail over them, it was turned about: the Jews prevailed over their adversaries." Esther Chapter 9 vs 1

The story in brief : This was a time when Jews were ruled by the mighty Persian Empire, the super power of the ancient world. Esther, an orphaned Jew, but raised up by her relative Mordecai was chosen to be the new Queen of Persia (she was as my under brother says 'a hot babe') . However the Emperor did not know that Esther was a Jew and his Prime Minister, Haman hated the Jews and planned to exterminate them throughout the empire. Thankfully, after fasting, Esther plucked up the courage to see the King (she was only allowed to approach him if he had summoned her) and revealed her identity as a Jew and spoke on behalf of her people. And the King reversed Haman's orders for the extermination and Haman was executed instead.

Hence why we celebrate Purim, to recall a time when G-d was faithful to Jews, even though G-d is not mentioned directly in the text, it is clear that he is directly involved in the situation, even in one cannot see it as the time, as it says in Isaiah 'They have devised schemes but they have been foiled, they have made declarations , but they will not be fulfilled, because God is with us!'

3. What do we do?

"Observe them as days of feasting and gladness, and sending delicacies to one another, and gifts to the poor". - Esther 9:22.

So Purim is also a time when we deliver food parcels to others and to give to charity.In the Synagogue we listen to the book of Esther and have to 'blot out' the name of Haman every time his name is mentioned. We do this by using our voice or a ratchet (see picture). It is also a festival which is lots of fun; outside of the Shul , we also have plays performed based upon Purim as well as a family meal in which wine and alcohol flows and we sing various traditional folk songs about this event. There is an old adage about drinking heavily at Purim, but of course this isn't a license to based oneself into a mindlessly drunken state (well in theory,anyway).

So I hope everyone has a flavour of what Purim is about; a Happy Purim, a Chag Purim to everyone!