search
Israel Drazin

Women’s Role in Jewish Law

Under current Jewish Law, as understood by most Orthodox Jews, women have different obligations than men. With just a few exceptions, they do not have to observe positive commands limited to specific times. Wearing tefillin exemplifies this leniency because men do not wear tefillin at night, on Shabbat, and on holidays. So are Sukkah, lulav, shofar, tzitzit, Torah study, and tefillin.

Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash’s 2024 book, ‘Uncovered: Women’s Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law,’ published by Urim Publications in Israel, is a significant and comprehensive contribution to the understanding of women’s roles in Jewish Law. Rabbanit Barash presents a thorough and meticulous exploration of the role of women in Judaism, its history, and earliest to contemporary sources in nine engaging, easy-to-read chapters. The title Rabbanit is given to female Orthodox rabbis.

She labels her nine chapters as Does Gender Matter, Women and Torah Study, Ervah (a Hebrew word literally meaning “nakedness,” a subject raising many issues), Wearing Pants in the Community, The Voice of a Woman, Women’s Hair Covering, (another view on) Women’s Hair Covering, Sexual Intimacy, and Premarital Relationships. The nine chapters are divided into as many as seventeen fascinating and informative sections.

This book teaches us much. We discover what prompted the current laws affecting women, their evolution, their effects on Orthodox society, and modern attitudes toward rules concerning women’s attire, speaking, singing, sexual restrictions, dating, and hair covering.

As an Orthodox Jew, I commend Rabbanit Barash for her scholarship and her ability to communicate it effectively to her students and readers of this book. In just over a century, significant strides have been made in recognizing women’s and men’s equality in Orthodox Jewish Law. However, it is essential to remember that this is an ongoing journey, and there is still much work to be done. This acknowledgment should instill a sense of hope and optimism in the readers, knowing that progress is being made and will continue to be made. The journey towards complete gender equality is promising, and we must continue striving for it.

The Bais Yaakov movement, ‘House of Jacob’ in Hebrew, is a collection of Orthodox Jewish schools and youth programs for girls and young women that originated in 1917 in Kraków, Poland. Sarah Schenirer, a dressmaker with only an eighth-grade education, started it. Her courage and determination, in a time when girls were thought to be uneducable, led to the opening of the first school in a tailor’s workshop, offering lessons on the Torah and practical subjects. Today, there are hundreds of schools throughout the world. Until 1917, most women could not read the Hebrew in the Siddur, the prayer book, understand the synagogue service, or comprehend the Torah. The Bais Yaakov movement changed this, marking a significant leap in women’s education in Orthodox Judaism.

Two generations ago, no woman could study Talmud and certainly could not be as conversant in it as Rabbanit Barash. Nor could any woman hold the title she holds, Rabbanit. This is a huge step forward to the recognition of equality, but allowing women to be called Rabbi, like men, is a step that still needs to be taken. Rabbanit Barash shows by her learning and teaching that this step is timely and appropriate.

Readers of her book will learn much about the current law, its basis, and its logic. This is better than good, and we thank her for it. But we must move forward, as Sarah Schenirer and Rabbanit Barash did.

About the Author
Dr. Israel Drazin served for 31 years in the US military and attained the rank of brigadier general. He is an attorney and a rabbi, with master’s degrees in both psychology and Hebrew literature and a PhD in Judaic studies. As a lawyer, he developed the legal strategy that saved the military chaplaincy when its constitutionality was attacked in court, and he received the Legion of Merit for his service. Dr. Drazin is the author of more than 50 books on the Bible, philosophy, and other subjects.
Related Topics
Related Posts