Discrimination against Jewish Women in Halacha (Jewish Law) and in Israel

AbstractRabbinical courts in Israel serve as official courts of the state, and state law provides that a Jewish couple can obtain a divorce only in these courts, and only strictly according to Jewish law. By contrast, in the Western world, especially the United States, which has the largest concentration of Jews outside of Israel, the Jewish halakha is not a matter of state law, and rabbinical courts have no official status. This article examines critically the common argument that for a Jew committed to the halakha, and in particular for a Jewish woman who wants to divorce her husband, a state-sponsored halakhic system is preferable to a voluntary one. This argument is considered in light of the main tool that has been proven to help American Jewish women who wish to obtain a halakhic divorce from husbands refusing to grant it: the prenuptial agreement. Many Jewish couples in the United States sign such an agreement, but only a few couples in Israel do so, primarily because of the opposition of the rabbinical courts in Israel to these agreements. The article examines the causes of this resistance, and offers reasons for the distinction that exists between the United States and Israel. It turns out that social and legal reality affect halakhic considerations, to the point where rabbis claim that what the halakha allows in the United States it prohibits in Israel. The last part of the article uses examples from the past to examine the possibility that social change in Israel will affect the rulings of rabbinical courts on this issue.

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Ethical Issues Related To BRCA Gene Testing in Orthodox Jewish Women

Nursing Ethics ◽

10.1177/09697330080150041201 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 512-522 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Pnina Mor ◽

Kathleen Oberle

Keyword(s):

Ethical Issues ◽

Code Of Ethics ◽

Religious Tradition ◽

Orthodox Jewish ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Brca1 And Brca2 ◽

Brca Gene ◽

Gene Testing ◽

Increased Risk

Persons exhibiting mutations in two tumor suppressor genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, have a greatly increased risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. The incidence of BRCA gene mutation is very high in Ashkenazi Jewish women of European descent, and many issues can arise, particularly for observant Orthodox women, because of their genetic status. Their obligations under the Jewish code of ethics, referred to as Jewish law, with respect to the acceptability of various risk-reducing strategies, may be poorly understood. In this article the moral direction that Jewish law gives to women regarding testing, confidentiality, and other issues is explored. The intent is to broaden nurses' knowledge of how a particular religious tradition could impact on decision making around genetics testing, with the aim of enhancing their understanding of culturally sensitive ethical care.

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Kobiece micwot – rola i pozycja kobiety w świetle religijnego prawa żydowskiego

Studia Judaica ◽

10.4467/24500100stj.21.002.14604 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 17-39

Author(s):

Szoszana Keller

Keyword(s):

Jewish Life ◽

Jewish Tradition ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Traditional Society ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Religious Law ◽

The Family ◽

Family Purity

Women’s Mitzvot: The Role and Position of Women in the Light of the Jewish Religious Law It is not possible to understand the history and present day of Jewish women without placing them in the Jewish tradition, resulting mainly from religion which for centuries was the foundation of Jewish life, regulating its finest aspects. The article describes how the regulations of the religious Jewish law, halakha, determine the place of Jewish women in traditional society, and how the resulting adjustments relate to Jews according to gender. The analysis covers three so-called special women’s mitzvot, i.e. the lighting of the Sabbath lights, the separation of the challah, and the observance of the laws related to the family purity, as well as the resulting positioning of women within a clear apportionment into female−male, public−domestic, or culture−nature.

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The Litigious Gerusha: Jewish Women and Divorce in Imperial Russia*

Nationalities Papers ◽

10.1080/00905999708408491 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 89-101 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

ChaeRan Y. Freeze

Keyword(s):

Jewish Woman ◽

Civil Law ◽

State Court ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Imperial Russia ◽

Spiritual Authority ◽

Good Reputation ◽

Criminal Charges ◽

The Impact

When Ita Myshkind learned that her husband had remarried before delivering the official get (bill of divorcement), she filed criminal charges against him in state court. “My husband,” she claimed, “Wishing to use my capital and valuable possessions, married me with the premeditated intention of divorcing me.” She complained that a few months after their marriage, he deserted her and married a certain Dveira Rafaelovich; and it was only after this blatant violation of the law that her husband hastily drew up the get without any rabbinic supervision. Efroim Myshkind, however, sharply contested his wife's account, asserting that he had sent a messenger to deliver the writ of divorce in the presence of two witnesses. “It is not at all difficult for a Jew to divorce his wife,” he wrote, “especially if she does not have a good reputation like Ita Kreines [here he used her maiden name], who spent an entire year abroad with different acquaintances.” But at the trial, the husband failed to prove that the get had satisfied all the requirements of Jewish law, much less that his wife had actually received the document. More important in the state's view, he had violated Russian civil law, which required a “spiritual authority” (in this case, a state rabbi) to supervise the divorce procedure. In October 1884, the Minsk court convicted the husband of bigamy and sentenced him to five months and ten days in prison.Although Ita Myshkind did not achieve all her objectives (namely, forcing her husband to divorce his second wife), she did prevail on two important issues: securing material support and ensuring that her husband would not go unpunished for his crime. That a provincial Jewish woman could utilize the Russian legal system to obtain justice raises two important questions: first, when and why did some women begin to resort to the state; and second, how effective were their efforts and what was the impact on Jewish women and their society as a whole?

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Religious Identity, Challenge, and Clothing: Women’s Head and Hair Covering in Islam and Judaism

Journal of Empirical Theology ◽

10.1163/15709256-12341344 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 160-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kate Miriam Loewenthal ◽

Lamis S. Solaim

Keyword(s):

Identity Development ◽

Social Relations ◽

Religious Identity ◽

Spiritual Development ◽

Religious Practice ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Head Hair ◽

The Impact ◽

Head Covering

This qualitative research examined the issues of women’s head covering in Islam and Judaism. It focuses on the role played by head-covering decisions in the development of religious identity. Translated sources of Islamic and Jewish law on modest dress set the context of religious rulings in which women wrestle with decisions about head-covering. Ten practising Muslim and Jewish women were interviewed about their experiences of head/hair covering. Head/hair covering was seen as an expression of identity, and as a way of managing identity. It is a key topic for both Muslim and Jewish women, central in identity development and in decisions relating to identity development, identity threat, acculturation, spirituality, and social relations with men. The role of dress is one of many aspects of ritual deserving closer attention from psychologists of religion, along with the more general topic of the impact of religious practice on religious and spiritual development.

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Yidishe tates forming Jewish families

Nordisk Judaistik/Scandinavian Jewish Studies ◽

10.30752/nj.97558 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 21-40

Author(s):

Mercédesz Czimbalmos

Keyword(s):

Jewish Community ◽

Jewish Woman ◽

Orthodox Judaism ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Jewish Communities ◽

Patrilineal Descent ◽

Mother To Child ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Do So

Jewish communities often do not endorse the idea of intermarriage, and Orthodox Judaism opposes the idea of marrying out. Intermarriage is often perceived as a threat that may jeopardise Jewish continuity as children of such a relationship may not identify as Jews. When a Jewish woman marries out, her children will in any case become Jewish by halakhah – the Jewish law – by which Judaism is inherited from mother to child – and thus usually faces less difficulties over acceptance in Jewish communities. Even though the Torah speaks of patrilineal descent, in post-biblical times, the policy was reversed in favour of the matrilineal principle, and children of Jewish men and non-Jewish women must therefore go through the conversion process if they wish to join a Jewish congregation according to most Jewish denominational requirements. The aim of this article is to analyse what happens when Jewish men, who belong to Finland’s Orthodox communities, marry out. Do they ensure Jewish continuity, and raise their children Jewish, and how do they act as Yidishe tates – Jewish fathers? If yes, how do they do so, and what problems do they face? These questions are answered through an analysis of thirteen semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with male members of the Jewish Community of Helsinki and Turku in 2019–20.

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Factor that Influence on Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Mothers’ Service Satisfaction with Obstetric Care in Israeli Public Hospitals

10.21203/rs.3.rs-17799/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Iris gertner moryossef

Keyword(s):

Family Income ◽

Obstetric Care ◽

Family Values ◽

Complete Separation ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

Orthodox Jewish ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Full Time ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Specialized Institutions

Abstract The Ultra-Orthodox sector is a uniquely conservative and closed community within Israeli society, which makes up 8-11% of the population of Israel. The Ultra-Orthodox live in separate neighborhoods that constitute closed cultural quarters with little interaction with the non-orthodox society. Within these neighborhoods, they maintain their traditional lifestyle, which adheres to strict, Torah-based Jewish law. Observance of Jewish laws and customs is closely monitored and access to the internet and the general media is limited, keeping the exposure to undesired contents at the minimum. Religious law observance includes modest dress codes, complete separation between male and female that begins in early childhood, and strong family values, including marrying young and aspiring to form a big, close-knit family unified around the traditions of the community. The men in the Ultra-Orthodox society dedicate themselves to full-time religious studies in specialized institutions (the Kollel ), while the women oversee the family income, children's education and all domestic matters. Whereas 61% of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women are employed, only 52% of the men have a job, while the other men dedicate their time to studying the Tora. On average, an Ultra-Orthodox woman gives birth for the first time at the age of 19, and the overall fertility rate among this population is three times that of the secular population (8.5 children versus 2.9

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Menstruation in sacred spaces. Medieval and early-modern Jewish women in the synagogue

Nordisk Judaistik/Scandinavian Jewish Studies ◽

10.30752/nj.69606 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 7-16

Author(s):

Evyatar Marienberg

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Early Modern Period ◽

The State ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Christian Women ◽

Sacred Spaces ◽

Viable Solution ◽

Visible Part ◽

The Mind

How sacred is the Synagogue? Can a woman enter this holy place while menstruating? What is more sacred: the space, or the Holy objects within it? In the classic sources of the Halakhah, the Jewish Law, one can find no restrictions on women from entering a synagogue while being in the state of Niddah, the state of menstrual impurity. Nevertheless, in the medieval period, more and more sources indicate that many women avoided going to the synagogue when at this state. Why? Was this custom created by women, or by men? Where did it originate? The article suggests it was the same religious mentality that pushed Jewish and Christian women to avoid going to their respective Houses of Worship while menstruating. The custom was socially problematic, as it prevented women from participating, at least passively, in the service, and from being a visible part of the community in its weekly reunion. It is suggested that in order to solve this issue, the notion of the sacrality of the synagogue was reduced to some extent in the mind of many Jewish women in the early-modern period. The Sacred was the Torah Scroll, the holiest object in the synagogue, and not so much the Synagogue itself. By doing that, women created a new viable solution: they could enter the synagogue without feeling to be transgressing its sacrality. Their respect to the Holy was shown by them avoiding looking at the Torah Scroll when it was presented to the worshippers.

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Mägde, Migration und Mutterschaft

Aschkenas ◽

10.1515/asch-2018-0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 39-69

Author(s):

Monika Richarz

Keyword(s):

Middle Class ◽

Early Modern ◽

18Th Century ◽

Social Situation ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Legal Systems ◽

Jewish Women ◽

General Law ◽

Early Modern Era ◽

Modern Era

Abstract This article casts light on the situation of the 18th century Jewish underclass by using the example of maid servants. Serving as a maid was the most widespread occupation for Jewish women in the early modern era. Forced to migrate and to live unmarried in the house of a Schutzjude (Jew living under the protection of the authorities), maids were subjected to two rigid legal systems: the local Jewish law and the general law for menials that also applied to Christian servants. Because their families were often too poor to give them a dowry or to acquire authority protection, their chances of marriage were limited. And yet, Jewish maids had the highest number of illegitimate children, often fathered by middle-class Jews. Maids who became pregnant out of wedlock were branded as whores and dismissed. The councils of Jewish parishes were constantly involved in conflicts between parish members and migrant servants. Many maid servants tried to improve their difficult social situation by leaving Judaism.

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The Lamp, Qasim Amin, Jewish Women and Baghdadi Men: A Reading in the Jewish Iraqi Journal al-Misbah

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474430616.003.0012 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Orit Bashkin

Keyword(s):

Jewish Identity ◽

Democratic Citizenship ◽

Jewish Women ◽

Apparent Contradiction ◽

British Mandate ◽

Arab Nationalism ◽

State Institutions

This chapter provides a detailed reading of al-Misbah, a Jewish Iraqi publication which appeared in Baghdad between the years 1924 and 1929 and has been characterised both as a Zionist mouthpiece and a testimony to the success of Arab nationalism. In addressing this apparent contradiction, the chapter examines the issues which dominated its pages in order to highlight the identity of the paper and to enrich our understanding of the Iraqi press under the British Mandate. The chapter addresses two discursive circles – the Iraqi and the Jewish – and proposes that al-Misbah conveyed an unmistakable Iraqi and Arab identity. Despite the editor’s Zionist inclinations, the conversations between readers and writers acquired a life of their own and the paper, in fact, promoted a new Arab Jewish identity and illustrated how Jews sought to use state institutions as venues for the cultivation of non-sectarian and democratic citizenship.

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