Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T14:11:55.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Theology and Halakhah in Jewish Feminisms

from Part IV - Contemporary Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

Steven Kepnes
Affiliation:
Colgate University, New York
Get access

Summary

This article seeks to make sense of the theological debates within Jewish feminism which were focused on identifying the core theological problem for achieving gender justice, and on inquiring about the importance of halakhah for Jewish feminist life. The article claims that quite interestingly, and although the Orthodox tendency was and remains to emphasize halakhah and minimize theology, Orthodox feminists dealt mainly with theology while a Reform feminist dealt with halakhah. All in all, fifty years into the process it can be said that all currents of Jewish feminism accept the primacy of theology over halakhah. Even those who believe that halakhah has a place in Jewish feminism understand that halakhic change that stands alone and is not anchored in a complete theological doctrine is impossible.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Selected Further Reading

Adler, Rachel. Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1998.Google Scholar
Adler, Rachel. “I’ve Had Nothing Yet, So I Can’t Take More.Moment 8 (1983): 2226.Google Scholar
Adler, Rachel. “The Jew Who Wasn’t There: Halakhah and the Jewish Woman.” Davka (Summer 1971.): 611. Reprinted in Heschel, Susanna, On Being a Jewish Feminist, 1218.Google Scholar
Benjamin, Mara. “Tracing the Contours of a Half Century of Jewish Feminist Theology.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 36.1 (2020): 1131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biala, Tamar, ed. Dirshuni: Israeli Women Writing Midrash, vol. 2. Tel Aviv: Yedioth Ahronoth [Hebrew], 2018.Google Scholar
Cover, M. Robert.The Supreme Court, 1982 Term—Foreword: Nomos and Narrative,” Harvard Law Review 97.4(1983): 468.Google Scholar
Fonrobert, Charlotte Elisheva.The Handmaid, the Trickster and the Birth of the Messiah: A Critical Appraisal of the Feminist Valorization of Midrash Aggada.” In Current Trends in the Study of Midrash, 245–75. Edited by Bakhos., Carol Leiden: Brill, 2006.Google Scholar
Graetz, Naomi. Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash, and God. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2005.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Blu. On Women and Judaism: A View From Tradition. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1981.Google Scholar
Hartman, Tova. Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2007.Google Scholar
Heschel, Susanna, ed. On Being a Jewish Feminist: A Reader. New York: Schocken, 1983.Google Scholar
Irshai, Ronit. “‘And I Find a Wife More Bitter Than Death’ (Ecclesiastes 7:26): Feminist Hermeneutics, Women’s Midrashim, and the Boundaries of Acceptance in Modern Orthodox Judaism.Feminist Studies in Religion 33.1(2017b): 6986.Google Scholar
Irshai, Ronit. Fertility and Jewish Law: Feminist Perspectives on Orthodox Responsa Literature. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Irshai, Ronit. “Religion and Morality: Akedah Theology and Cumulative Revelation as Contradictory Theologies in Jewish Modern-Orthodox Feminism.Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 16.2(2017a): 219–35.Google Scholar
Irshai, Ronit. “Tamar Ross: An Intellectual Portrait”, Library of Contemporary Jewish Philosophers: Tamar Ross – Constructing Faith, 140. Edited by Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava and Hughes, Aaron W.. Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill Academic Publishers, 2016.Google Scholar
Irshai, Ronit. “Toward A Gender Critical Approach to the Philosophy of Jewish Law (Halakhah).” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 26.2(2010): 5577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leibowitz, Yeshayahu. Faith, History, and Values. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 1981/1982.Google Scholar
Leibowitz, Yeshayahu. Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Myers, Jody. “The Midrashic Enterprise of Contemporary Jewish Women. In Jews and Gender—The Challenge to Hierarchy, Studies in Contemporary Jewry, Volume 16, 119–41. Edited by Frankel., Jonathan Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Ozick, Cynthia. “Notes Toward Finding the Right Question.” In On Being a Jewish Feminist, 120–51. Edited by Heschel, Susanna. New York: Schocken, 1983.Google Scholar
Plaskow, Judith. “Jewish Theology in Feminist Perspective.” In Feminist Perspectives on Jewish Studies, 6281. Edited by Davidman, Lynn and Tenenbaum, Shelly. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Plaskow, Judith. “The Right Question is Theological.” In On Being a Jewish Feminist, 223–34. Edited by Heschel, Susanna. New York: Schocken. 1983.Google Scholar
Plaskow, Judith. Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990.Google Scholar
Ross, Tamar. Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Ross, Tamar. “Modern Orthodoxy and the Challenge of Feminism.” In Jewish Orthodoxy: New Perspectives, 255–94. Edited by Salmon, Joseph, Ravitzky, Aviezer, and Ferziger, Adam. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2007 [Hebrew].Google Scholar
Ross, Tamar and Gellman, Yehuda. “The Implications of Feminism for Orthodox Jewish Theology.” In Multi-Culturalism in a Democratic Jewish State: Prof. Ariel Rosen-Zvi Memorial Volume, 443–74. Edited by Mautner, Menachem, Sagi, Avi, and Shamir, Ronen. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press [Hebrew], 1998.Google Scholar
Soloveitchik, Joseph Dov. Halakhic Man. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1983.Google Scholar
Soloveitchik, Joseph Dov. The Secret of the Individual and the Collective: A Selection of Hebrew Writings. Jerusalem: Orot [Hebrew], 1975.Google Scholar
Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava. “Feminism and Gender.” In The Cambridge History of Jewish Philosophy, Vol. 2: The Modern Age, 154–89. Edited by Kavka, Martin, Braiterman, Zachary, and Novak, David. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Umansky, Ellen, M.“Creating a Jewish Feminist Theology: Problems and Possibilities.” In Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality, 187–98. Edited by Plaskow, Judith and Christ, Carol. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989.Google Scholar
Umansky Ellen, M. and Ashton, Dianne, eds. Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality—A Sourcebook (revised edition). Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Weingarten-Mintz, Nehama and Biala, Tamar, eds. Dirshuni: Israeli Women Writing Midrash. Tel Aviv: Yedioth Ahronoth [Hebrew, 2009]Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×