Women in Judaism

Published in the Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 21.4 (2014): 531-555.
This article explores the historical roles and experiences of women in the formative years of the developing Jewish community in Brisbane. In key areas of Jewish communal activity, the contribution of women to the effective development of the community has been significant. Through examination of archival and newspaper documents and oral history interviews with members of the local Jewish community, this article shows that women's experiences and efforts are an integral part of Brisbane's Jewish history

Forgotten and Revived: The Bruria Episode in Orthodox Discourse in the Modern Age

Iris Brown (Hoizman)

The “Bruria Episode” is a short narrative cited by Rashi in his commentary on Tractate Avoda Zara that describes how Bruria's husband, Rabbi Meir, brought about the seduction of his learned wife in an attempt to prove to her that women are, indeed, temperamentally light-headed —an event that ultimately led to her suicide. This article deals with how the story is reflected in the teachings of halakhists, scholars, and sages over the last few decades, from across the Orthodox spectrum. It discusses how this medieval account has been marshaled by the various parties to internal Orthodox debates over the character and place of women—specifically the question of Torah study for women. 
There is no doubt that Bruria is one of the few female characters referred to positively in the Talmud, and who is mentioned there on numerous occasions. As a consequence of this tragic story that presents her in a negative light, Bruria became a controversial figure. Beginning in the middle of the 20th century the question was raised: Is Bruria an empowering figure, a positive role model for Jewish women, or is she a dangerous figure whose path should be avoided, her story a cautionary tale about improper behavior? 
For hundreds of years – from the 11th century when Rashi wrote it, until the 19th century – the Bruria episode received little attention, relatively speaking, and it does not appear that the story engendered significant deliberation. In contrast, from the beginning of the 20th century, with the unprecedented development of religious education for girls, the Bruria episode began to take center stage. This development is most pronounced in the second half of the 20th century and in the beginning of the 21st century when the spectrum of opinions about this story became much broader: factually, in terms of the story’s credibility; morally, in terms of criticism applied to the characters in the story, and halakhically, in terms of the legitimacy of Torah study for women. It is as if the Bruria episode has been conjured up from the dead to serve the ideological goals of the different parties involved in the modern controversy surrounding the status of women in contemporary Orthodoxy.

This paper discusses two stories in which a bride saves her bridegroom, the first by appeal to God, and the second by offering her own life. While previous folklorists have understood the stories as exemplars of the motif of the bridegroom doomed to die, focusing on the role of the bride helps one analyze stories better, revealing that they appear to have originated in different genres. The first closely resembles oral folktales of Jewish women, and therefore modern women's folklore can shed light on its hero. The second tale, in contrast, has connections to medieval European romance, and a literary reading in light of this genre best explains the bride's sacrifice.

This paper investigates the origins of the description of the Tsenerene, the popular 17th century Yiddish Bible adaptation, as the “women’s Bible.” Tracing a genealogy of the term that locates its origins in the late 19th and early 20th century arguments for or against the importance of Yiddish in Eastern European society, I propose that the Tsenerene has become a convenient mythopoetic tool for crafting and navigating a range of Jewish identities and ideologies. Lack of scholarly critical assessment of the Tsenerene as women’s Bible has generated mistaken assumptions about the readership and audience. Further, examination of the contents of the work fails to produce a compelling case for an overwhelmingly female character or readership. I suggest a metastructure within the text indicating a distinctly rabbinic pedagogical dialogue between text and reader that has never been examined, demanding an investigation of the contents of the work itself.

The story of the adulterous woman whom Jesus saves, the so-called Pericope de Adultera, is one of the most famous and well beloved stories in the Bible. Its interpretation is more nuanced than is popularly understood however, as I hope to correct here.

הסמכת נשים לרבנות היא תופעה חדשה ביהדות. התופעה היא חלוצית בעולם וחדשה אף יותר בישראל. מסיפורי החיים של מספר נשים חלוצות שהוסמכו לרבנות, ניתן לנסות ללמוד על התופעה ולשפוך אור על מקומה של האישה הרבה בחברה הישראלית. בחינת סיפורי החיים בהקשר תרבותי והיסטורי קונקרטי עשויה לסייע בהבנת הבשלתה של התופעה רק במאה העשרים. נוסף על כך, המבט הפרשני בכלים מתחום חקר הפולקלור על תופעת האישה המוסמכת לרבנות, תוך כדי הניסיון לשקף את זהותה על פי מה שהמרואיינות בחרו לספר, מאפשר ניתוח הבוחן את מקום האישה הן במרחב הציבורי היהודי והן בחברה הישראלית.
לצורך המחקר ראיינתי נשים שהוסמכו לרבנות בישראל הן בתנועה הרפורמית והן בתנועה הקונסרבטיבית. התמות העולות מהמגבשים הסיפוריים לוקחות את הקורא לאורך מסלול חיי המרואיינת, מזיכרונות ילדותה כפי שהללו נקשרים בתודעתה, דרך פנייתה ללימודי הסמכה לרבנות וטקס הסמכתה, ועד לאינטראקציה של הרבה עם החברה הישראלית. המוּדעות לשבירת קטגוריות התרבות גבר־אישה על ידי נשים שהוסמכו לרבנות באה לידי ביטוי בהיבטים שונים מחיי הרבה באינטראקציה שלה עם מעגלים חברתיים שונים.
בחינת קורפוס סיפורי החיים מגלה כי עצם הסמכת אישה לרבנות בהקשר של המסורת היהודית, משמש מעין סיפור מעשייה. על כן, במרכז המאמר אבחן את מבנה סיפורֵי החיים של הנשים שהוסמכו לרבנות על פי תבנית סיפורי מעשיות הפלאים של החוקר הרוסי ולדימיר פרופּ. המשותף בסיפוריהן, והמציג דמיון עלילתי עם מבנה מעשיות הפלאים אליבא דפרופ, מאפשר בחינה ופירוק של הבניות תרבות במסורת היהודית, וכמו כן בחינה ופירוק של הבניות מגדר אוניברסליוֹת. מסיפורי החיים מצטיירת תמונה ולפיה הנשים שהוסמכו לרבנות מבקשות לעצב מחדש את מקום האישה ביהדות והן ממשיכות להיאבק בסטריאוטיפים בעלי שורשים עמוקים, הבאים לידי ביטוי בסוגות שונות בפולקלור. סיפורן אינו מובן מאליו, והוא מהווה תופעה נשית המקיימת הן דיאלוג דיאכרוני עם התרבות היהודית לתקופותיה, והן דיאלוג סינכרוני פנים־מגדרי, בין־מגדרי, בין־דתי ובין זרמים שונים ביהדות. כך אנו עדים להתהוותה של מסורת יהודית חדשה המבקשת להתמסד.

The choice of a non-observant woman, Ayelet Shaked, to head the main Religious Zionist political party is yet another indication of the hegemonic status Religious Zionism is achieving in Israeli society. In order to forge an "historic bloc" Religious Zionism is willing to compromise on secondary issues -- such as placing a woman in a position of authority over men -- in order to promote its core interest and value -- incorporating the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty.

This article examines a sugya in BT Berakhot about the interactions between the living and the dead and argues that attention to gender is crucial to discerning the theological themes that animate it.  Bodies in this sugya are vividly gendered and pointedly juxtaposed.  The sugya's editors construct a striking contrast between living (male) rabbis, who adorn themselves with distinctively male ritual objects (phylacteries and fringes), and a dead (female) innkeeper, who yearns for objects needed for female adornment (comb and makeup).  I argue that the sugya's editors communicate the urgency of using the (male) living body to respond to divine command while still living by juxtaposing it to a female body in the realm of the dead.

My thesis investigates the roles and experiences of women in Modern Orthodox Jewish communal life in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Using Modern Orthodox religious literature and research from the field of congregational studies, I establish a framework of the nature of typical activities and behaviours for Modern Orthodox Jewish women within their faith communities. For each branch, I explore the activities of Brisbane’s Modern Orthodox Jewish women and the contributions they made to their congregations and the wider community, and examine how their behaviour fits within halakhic guidelines for women’s conduct. My findings demonstrate that, across many different facets of life, Brisbane’s Modern Orthodox Jewish women have performed a wide variety of roles crucial to the operation of their congregations and community, and have done so with full acceptance of halakhic limitations on their activities.

Religious feminists of many faiths are politically and socially active. While religious feminism has begun to attract scholarly attention, the political interaction of religious feminism with the state has largely gone unnoticed. Consequently, there is a lack of scholarly tools with which to understand this relationship. In this context, the paper asks: What do religious feminists expect from the state? Do they expect it to interevene on their behalf or rather prefer it remove itself from the equation? Are there strategies they are more likely to employ? While current scholarship does not supply concepts and terms, it is possible to borrow terms from other disciplines in order to classify strategies used by religious feminists in their interactions with the state. Using the Israeli case, this paper proposes a typology of strategies used by religious feminists vis-à-vis the religious establishment and where expectations from the state fit into this dynamic.

Lecture entitled “‘I will devour them like a lion’ says God: The Many Faces of God in the Hebrew Bible”, given at Mount Zion Temple, University of Minnesota, March 5, 2014.

The Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition strongly argue that God should not be depicted in any form. At the same time, the Hebrew Bible is full of images for God. God is father, mother and leopard, among others. The Hebrew Bible also draws on many diverse and challenging metaphors for God. Hanne Løland Levinson explores the diverse “god-language” of the Hebrew Bible and reflects on the connection between language for God and concepts of God.

This year, Midreshet Lindenbaum issued a book of Halachic responsa written by two women (Rabbanit Idit Bartov and Rabbanit Anat Novoselsky) who were ordained by the institution with heter hora'ah (license to render Halachic decisions). This is a brief review of the work.

My thesis investigates the roles and experiences of women in Modern Orthodox Jewish communal life in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Using Modern Orthodox religious literature and research from the field of congregational studies, I establish a framework of the nature of typical activities and behaviours for Modern Orthodox Jewish women within their faith communities. For each branch, I explore the activities of Brisbane’s Modern Orthodox Jewish women and the contributions they made to their congregations and the wider community, and examine how their behaviour fits within halakhic guidelines for women’s conduct. My findings demonstrate that, across many different facets of life, Brisbane’s Modern Orthodox Jewish women have performed a wide variety of roles crucial to the operation of their congregations and community, and have done so with full acceptance of halakhic limitations on their activities.