6. Reasons For The Reality Gap
1. The Legacy Of Jewish Tradition
There are those who point rightly to the enlightened nature of Biblical and
Rabbinic law. As law that was made within a patriarchal society, it is indeed,
surprisingly enlightened in many aspects of its treatment of the rights of
women. Nevertheless, it bears repeating that the law was essentially made
by men, and as such, even if it was relatively enlightened for its time and
place, there are plenty of places where the law and its interpretation by
conservative practitioners has worked against any possibility of real equality
for women. In addition, as mentioned, a certain conception of women’s
place has been built into the traditional Jewish viewpoint. That role, as
we have suggested, was fundamentally domestic, even if there was built in
the possibility of women being involved in economic activity and having recourse
to a court of law.
The very choice of the three mitzvot (commandments) that devolve chiefly
on women, namely lighting Shabbat candles, putting aside a portion of dough
to symbolise the Temple sacrifice and ensuring niddah – ritual separation
between man and woman during and after menstruation - all serve to make perfectly
clear that a woman’s place is first and foremost in the home. And it
is not just a question of what women have to do vis-a-vis the mitzvot.
It is understood by tradition, and many of its interpreters, that for women
to be involved in many other spheres of Judaism, is unacceptable. Study is
not for women. Public life is not for women. Public ritual office is not for
women. These traditions, some of which have become enshrined in Halachah (law)
and others of which have remained in the realm of custom (minhag), have created
a wall around the woman which circumscribes her every attempt to break through
into realms which are not traditionally hers. For women who accept these limitations
willingly, this might be fair enough, but for women who have broken away from
these ideas (or have never subscribed to them), these limitations can be cruel
and arbitrary. All of these things might not matter, if Israel was truly a
secular state, where individuals could choose their own level of observance
to Halachah, but here we have another factor that must be addressed