Setting the Scene: The Jewish Landscape

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-68
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Community ◽  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Religious Geography ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Basic Parameters ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter examines the historical and sociological context of Orthodox Jewish women in London, and applies concepts of community to analyse the religious geography of Orthodox Jews in Britain. The term 'community' is used by British Jews, generally in one of two distinct senses: the first, refers to all Jews who identify as Jews and participate in Jewish activities, the second, indicates a particular subgroup, the members of a particular synagogue. Most Jews who identify as belonging to the Jewish community also belong to several of these 'subcommunities,' all of which overlap with family and social circles within the Jewish and wider communities, and most of which are not mutually exclusive. Community affiliation thus exists at several levels and in several modes, with an individual's particular combination of networks and community memberships providing basic parameters of his or her individual Jewish identity. This complex, layered character of modern Jewish identity complicates the definition of the term 'Orthodox'. Current denominations include Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism; Masorti Judaism; and Orthodox Judaism. Earlier tensions between traditional expectations for women and new ideas about their role in the wider society were reflected in developments within the British Jewish community: the foundation of Liberal Judaism. Orthodoxy has been slow to respond. The very word 'feminist' carries negative connotations in most Orthodox communities, even among women who profess strongly feminist views in economic and political matters.

Studying Jewish Women

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-36
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Torah Study ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Religious Lives ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the problems of studying Orthodox Jewish women, in particular the 'double invisibility' they experience, first from the perspective of male Orthodox Jews, and, second, in the lack of knowledge about them in the non-Jewish world. Orthodox women engage in a wide range of communal and domestic religious activities, in spite of their exclusion from an active role in worship in synagogue and from some areas of Torah study. Activities defined by Orthodoxy as the supreme religious privileges of women, such as keeping a kosher kitchen, preparing food for sabbath and festivals, and nurturing and educating children, remain largely invisible to Orthodox men. Standard descriptions of women's practices in the domestic and individual spheres omit many widespread customs and practices, often characterized as 'superstitions' although they form an integral and meaningful part of many women's religious lives. A major problem in studying women's religious lives and the ways in which they differ from and intersect with those of men is imagining how women fit into one's overall picture of Jewish religious activity. Neither the 'separate but equal' apologetic nor the simplistic identification of 'oppressed and oppressors' made by some feminists provides an adequate way of thinking about the relationship between male and female lived experience of Judaism. Given that Orthodox Judaism is undeniably patriarchal, it may reasonably be asked whether women have any access to power or agency within the religious life of the community, particularly in matters of ritual and correct practice.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Chaim I. Waxman
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Religious Law

This chapter introduces Orthodox Judaism, which is viewed phenomenologically, defined broadly, and recognized in the systems of beliefs and practices maintained by Orthodox Jews. It mentions the halakhah or Orthodox religious law that conceives the ‘practices’ part of the Orthodox Jewish system. It also reveals Orthodox Jewish practices that are not pursued to accord with halakhah but can be characterized as minhag or custom. The chapter looks at Orthodox Judaism in America since the nineteenth century and examines a series of halakhic changes or changes in what is deemed to be proper Orthodox conduct. It explains the various directions in which ‘acceptable’ Orthodox behaviour is developing from a social and psychological perspective.

Maxine Jacobson, Modern Orthodoxy in American Judaism: The Era of Rabbi Leo Jung. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2016. 250 pp.

2020 ◽  
pp. 294-296
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Jewish Immigrant ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
American Judaism ◽  
German Jewish ◽  
The Many ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Modern Orthodox

The premise of this book, actually based on an article I published in 1982, is that rabbis can serve as indicators of the Orthodoxy they serve. In her examination of a once-dominant group within Orthodox Judaism, the so-called “Modern Orthodox,” Maxine Jacobson focuses on Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung, a German Jewish immigrant to America who became a prominent spokesman and exemplar of these Jews. Admitting that a precise definition of Modern Orthodoxy is elusive and that even many of those who came to be associated with this worldview and its allied behaviors were uncomfortable with the term (nor did they all agree on its parameters), Jacobson falls back on metaphor: “The Modern Orthodox Jew has been pulled in two directions” (p. 10). Those two directions are defined by Jacobson as either “not religious enough” or “not modern enough” (p. 10). Effectively, Modern Orthodoxy hoped to harmonize these two opposites, having relationships of respect with non-Jews and embracing the larger surrounding open culture, while remaining conscientiously observant. In contrast, Jacobson notes, “the Ultra-Orthodox group seeks to exclude” all that is different from it (p. 11). Nothing new here. The many faces of Orthodoxy have been more or less defined, from almost the first days that Orthodox Jews were subject to critical analysis, by a variety of observers, including myself....

Staying and Critiquing

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-130
Author(s):  
Valeria Seigelsheifer ◽  
Tova Hartman
Keyword(s):  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Women Filmmakers ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Voice ◽  
Do So

Over the past two decades, Israeli Orthodox Jewish women filmmakers have used film to speak in a public voice about various subjects that were previously taboo. Although there are aspects of Orthodoxy to which these filmmakers object, they do so as ‘devoted resisters’. Rather than expressing heretical opposition, the women stay committed to Orthodoxy precisely because they are able to use filmmaking to resist. In their negotiations of voice used to ‘justify’ their decision to become filmmakers, the women position themselves as ‘accidental’ filmmakers, thereby remaining within Orthodoxy while critiquing it through their films. Cultural resistance in this case is not carried out as defiance to Orthodox Judaism but rather out of a relationship with it, featuring a form of resistance that insists upon devotion to multiple commitments.

The Performative Landscape of Going-To-Work: On the Edge of a Jewish Ultraorthodox Neighborhood

10.1068/d76j ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 803-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orna Blumen
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Spatial Performance ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Modern Population

Following recent insights into performativity and space, I explore the widespread routine of going-to-work as a capitalist ritual. Going-to-work produces a powerful yet ordinary, unspectacular landscape, whose performativity is fourfold: the compatibility of the material form and human use of it; the movements of people and the clothes they wear; the variety of individual practices of going-to-work; and the timing and spacing of this collective ritual. Generally, going-to-work is performative, because it transforms people into employees, defining productivity in terms of paid work. Hence, the prime quality of this landscape is to enhance economically productive bodies. In the second part of this paper, I examine this productive—nonproductive distinction in a unique setting on the edge of an Israeli neighborhood of ultraorthodox Jews, whose definition of men's work—unpaid religious studies—contrasts with that of the majority of the modern population. The distinctive ultraorthodox appearance, originally designed to mark a particular Jewish identity, signifies their nonproductivity as a spatial performance of Otherness. This provides an opportunity to probe going-to-work in this specific place as an arena where the ultraorthodox identity as Other intersects with their capitalist identity as Other. Short street interviews with modern and ultra-orthodox Jews show that they recognize work as the main theme of this landscape. They are also aware that work is socially defined and can be criticized on both capitalist and ultraorthodox—religious grounds, and they illustrate how the controversy over the definition of work lies within the struggle over Jewish identity. I conclude by illuminating the performative role of space in displaying identity and social ideas.

scholarly journals Yidishe tates forming Jewish families

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.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Keyword(s):  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Study Participation ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Default Position ◽  
Unique Context

This introductory chapter gives a brief background of the differences between Jewish communities in Israel, America, and Britain. Jewish denominational affiliation differs sharply in the two countries: in Britain, Orthodoxy — even if of a nominal kind — is still the default position of the majority of synagogue-affiliated Jews (69 percent), while in America Orthodox Jews are very much in the minority (10 percent). The chapter notes that trends in Israel typically take many years to filter into the Anglo-Jewish world. While women play a relatively larger role in Jewish practices in Jerusalem, Orthodox Jewish women are not only uninterested in greater ritual and study participation but are actively hostile to the idea. Though there have been some outstanding anthropological studies of Jewish women in both America and Israel, little research of this sort has yet been undertaken in Britain. The chapter elaborates that the book attempts to make a contribution to the understanding of current trends among Orthodox Jewish women worldwide by focusing on women in the unique context of British Jewry.

The Meaning of Choosing a Spouse Among Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Who Found Themselves in a Violent Relationship

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 727-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tova Band-Winterstein ◽  
Ilanit Tuito
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Violent Relationship ◽  
Spouse Selection ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological

This research note addresses how ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in Israel coping with intimate partner violence experienced the spouse selection process. In-depth semistructured qualitative–phenomenological interviews were conducted with 17 women. Four major themes emerged: (a) “The matchmaker seemingly fell asleep on her watch”; (b) The parents’ mistakes; (c) “The rabbi told me to jump into the water. Now he should hand me the paddles to get out!” The rabbi’s role; and (d) “That’s it . . . I follow it blindly”: The system. The findings add to the professional knowledge about violent partnerships in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel.

scholarly journals Intersections of gender and minority status: perspectives from Finnish Jewish women

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Elina Vuola
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Community ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
The Other ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
Religion And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The One

In this article, I examine how contemporary Finnish Jewish women understand their roles and identities as women in a small Orthodox Jewish community, on the one hand, and as members of a tiny minority in largely secular and predominantly Lutheran/Christian Finland, on the other. How do Finnish Jewish women negotiate their identities in relation to their community, strongly organised along gender lines, and in relation to Finnish society and especially its equality ideals and norms? I divide my article into four sections. First, I give a short overview of the theory of intersectionality, concentrating on its possibilities and limitations for the study of religion and gender in general, and for the study of Judaism, specifically. Second, I focus on my informants’ views of the gendered practices of their Orthodox Jewish community, which, by many standards, is a very specific form of Orthodoxy, which could be called ‘Finnish Orthodoxy’. Third, I analyse my informants’ views on how they perceive being Jewish women in contemporary Finland. The intersection of the last two broad themes will highlight the realities of Finnish Jewish women in contemporary Finland. Fourth, I discuss possibilities and limitations of intersectional theorising in the light of my data.

scholarly journals Marital Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-30
Author(s):  
D. Ribner ◽  
◽  
L. Rubin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Sex Abuse ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Marital Sex ◽  
The Impact

Objective: The recent past has seen a sharp increase in our awareness of the pervasiveness and devastating impact of child sexual abuse. In contrast, the topic of sexual abuse within marriage continues to receive relatively little notice, clinically, legislatively or academically. Aim – The aim of this presentation is to review current legal and clinical perceptions of marital sex abuse and to examine this phenomenon and its manifestations in the Orthodox Jewish community, as an example of the impact of social norms and values on this critical area. Design and Method: Method – We will initially summarize and present the current literature on this topic with an emphasis on the role of cultural norms and values in defining marital sex abuse across a tolerable/illegal spectrum. We will then examine 1) one ethnic group, Orthodox Jews, to locate potential points of this abuse and 2) that communities understanding and coping with this phenomenon. Illustrative case material will be presented. Results: Results/Conclusions – This traditional community may be representative of other similar ethnic groups and the challenges presented in dealing with marital sexual abuse where norms and values may not always reflect contemporary standards. We expect this presentation to shed light on this phenomenon, expanding our knowledge and sensitivity to the victims and their social contexts. Conclusions: We will conclude with suggested points and techniques of intervention, which take into consideration the needs of the victims and community acknowledgement of a problem.

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