Orthodox Judaism

Contemporary Orthodox Jewish women practice traditions that have existed for thousands of years. Yet a small but vocal minority calling themselves Orthodox feminists are confronting issues of inequality within Judaism of the 21st century. Several prominent Jewish women such as Blu Greenberg, Rachel Adler, and Judith Plaskow are promoting dialogues that they hope will lead to transformations for women.

The Jewish bible consists of the Torah, which is the first five books of the Old Testament, sometimes known as the five books of Moses or the Pentateuch, and Prophets and Writings. The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussion that pertains to Jewish law, ethics, custom, and history. The Talmud includes the Mishnah, written around 200 C.E., and is considered to be the first written compilation of Jewish oral law and legal opinions and debates. Also part of the Talmud is the Gemara, written around 500 C.E., which includes a discussion of the Mishnah and the wisdom of rabbis and also expounds upon the Torah. Throughout these works, women are encouraged to be modest, submissive, and maintain forbearance in a world in which they must know their place.

The Halakah is a body of religious law that includes 613 Mitzvot, or commandments, as well as laws revealed in the Talmud and written by rabbis. Customs and traditions are included in Halakah that are considered to be divinely inspired. The Mitzvot, which are given in the Torah, include 365 prohibitions and 248 positive obligations.

In these religious commandments, a woman is exempted from any time-bound obligations because she must always be available to take care of her family's needs and responsibilities. Women are also excused from many Mitzvot because they do not face all the temptations that men face in their professional and personal lives. Women, by their nature, represent sensuality and seductiveness for men. Therefore, because of these distractions, men must be controlled by more rules than women are. Thus, it is believed that women complement their husbands but basically have fundamentally different roles. Consequently, women have traditionally been discouraged from study beyond the pragmatic aspects of the Torah that relate to how a woman should run her home.