More Conference Highlights: Gender Roles

The second day of the conference consisted of 4 sessions on the following topics:

1. Is Jewish Orthodox Life Threatened by Changing Gender Roles?
2. Educated for Change - or Changelessness?
3. Fundamentally Faithful
4. Agunot and the Powers That Be

The full sessions will be available through the JOFA website soon, but I thought I would share a few highlights with you.

In the first session Dr. Tamar Ross talked about the growing involvement of women in many facets of Jewish life. She pointed out the changing of traditional gender roles which has been happening so far – the creation of women’s batei midrash, the growing number of female teachers and authors, and women filling rabbinic roles “in function if not in name.” With regard to women’s involvement in shul participation she said that Rav Yoel Bin-Nun, the Rosh Yeshiva of Kibbutz Hadati recently argued that women in theory should be able to take on equal roles to men in the observance of mitzvot. Rav Bin-Nun suggests that women should now be classified as “bnot chorin,” free women, since they are not subject to the authority of their husbands and fathers in a way they once were. However, Dr. Ross pointed out, that Rav Bin-Nun does not think women should qualify to participate in the leadership of mixed prayer groups since this would violate the Jewish notion of modesty.

Blu Greenberg presented in the first session as well. (Full disclosure: I have known Blu Greenberg for a number of years and I am a great admirer of hers). Her words struck a somewhat different note. As opposed to some of the other speakers who were ready to completely embrace full equality for women in mitzvot, Blu Greenberg expressed her feelings of ambivalence about women just taking on everything the men do. While she has participated in the partnership minyanim, she is still unsure about whether she wants to advocate taking on the mitzvot of tefillin and tallit for herself and other girls and women. She feels men and women should be “different but equal.”

 

I noticed that these two perspectives seemed to recur throughout the conference. Some of the speakers took the position that women should strive for full equality in almost every way, with or without the help of male rabbinic authority, while others are seeking to make strides, “different but equal,” and in partnership with the rabbinic establishment. This is actually a very fundamental difference, since the first position is prepared to reject the structure of the traditional Orthodox community, and ultimately move out of that structure, while advocates of the second position seem to be committed to improving the status of women while working within the community framework.

Comments

[shanna]

the first position is prepared to reject the structure of the traditional Orthodox community, and ultimately move out of that structure

How does this differ from the Conservative movement (in theory, I mean, not in the level of observance of adherents)?

[Zman Biur]

How does this differ from the Conservative movement?

The Conservative movement is defined by a set of ideological positions incompatible with Orthodoxy, on matters such as Torah miSinai, the binding nature of Jewish law, and the power of modern rabbis compared with their ancient counterparts. If an Orthodox rabbi reaches a halachic conclusion which agrees with Conservative rabbis, that doesn't make him Conservative; any more than the reverse would make someone Orthodox.

Aside: I'm wondering whether the changes in the Conservative movement since it adopted full egalitarianism, driving the traditionalists out of the movement, have partly fuelled the recent "Orthodox egalitarian" movement. The same type of people trying to achieve within Orthodoxy what they couldn't within Conservative?