Conference Review: Women's Status and Religious Life

This past weekend Hadassah Brandeis Institute and JOFA co-sponsored an interesting conference called "Choosing Limits, Limiting Choices: Women's Status and Religious Life." Following is a review of some of the sessions and speakers, as well as some commentary, for those who were there and especially for those who weren’t. Even attending a conference makes a statement about one's ideology. Hence, I hope that the anonymity and privacy of this blog allows anyone who may not have felt comfortable enough to come to the conference to mull these ideas over on their own. At the same time, I hope this review helps serve as a springboard for discussion, on this blog or elsewhere, about what was said. There were many interesting and relevant issues touched on during the conference, so I plan to post a few more follow-up pieces.

The conference opened on Sunday night with an interfaith discussion between Dr. Riffat Hassan, a Muslim woman originally from Pakistan who is a professor at U. of Louisville, Dr. Sister Mary C. Boys, a nun and a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York and Dr. Tova Hartman of Hebrew U. and founder of Shira Hadasha in Jerusalem. As an observant Jewish woman, there is obviously so much that is different about Hassan’s and Boys’ lifestyle from my own. However, I was surprised to find both inspiration and familiarity in their words. The session’s moderator, Bernadette Brooten, a Christian scholar and professor at Brandeis U., described how when she was young she chose to do a doctorate since the ordained ministry was closed to women. I know many women in the Orthodox community who have chosen to get a doctorate partly because of the title and higher pay status it would give them, while their male counterparts can reach that level of respect and financial stability through rabbinic ordination. Moreover, Boys spoke of “holy perseverance,” her determination to stay committed to her faith while also trying to implement change. She struck an amazing balance between her desire to find more fulfilling roles for women while at the same time treasuring her religion.

Hassan spoke of her journey as a deeply religious Muslim girl into the world of feminism. Her work however, relates more to improving the basic sustaining needs of Muslim women, such as basic education, feeding the poor and helping girls who are being forced into arranged marriages at an early age. Her approach is to strengthen the middle of Muslim societies so that they can overcome the extremes and extremists in their own world. Her issues are clearly different than the ones women are struggling with both in Judaism and Christianity, but in many ways are more pressing.

Finally, Tova Hartman spoke. I was even more surprised to find that I did not find such inspiration and familiarity of viewpoint in her words. Hartman’s major point was that while women have attained full equality in the world of Jewish learning, this has not given them any power to effect change. Girls were told that the way that changes can occur is through interpretation, to look for legal precedents. However, she argued, the ability to make changes still resides solely with male rabbis. She struggles with a love for her tradition and a need to incorporate equal roles for women into that tradition, but in the end concludes that we should not wait around for the men to implement change.

Why did her comments resonate less for me?  First, I don’t feel that women have attained equal access in the world of Jewish learning. So few girls learn Talmud, and so few women who dolearn Talmud and halakha learn it as well as the men. Second, we have seen some power yielded to women. Just look at the female rabbinic court advocates (toanot) and halakhic advisors (yoatzot halakha). Women around the world now turn to women with their questions about taharat hamishpacha observance. These are positions of power and they have come about as a result in high-quality halakhic education for women! Finally, I still subscribe to the Orthodox feminist camp that believes in working together with rabbinic leadership. Call me young and naïve (as many have!) but there are many older feminists who feel the same way. I was surprised at my reaction to Hartman's speech as I still regard Hartman as a “gdola” of Orthodox feminism and I have always found her writings and presentations inspiring.

Finally, as a disclaimer, I want to emphasize that these are my own summaries of these talks and I apologize in advance if I misunderstood or misrepresented anyone.

Comments

[shanna]

::Finally, I still subscribe to the Orthodox feminist camp that believes in working together with rabbinic leadership. Call me young and naïve (as many have!) but there are many older feminists who feel the same way. ::

You are not alone in this belief. It's important to strike a balance between progress on the one hand and unity on the other.