"Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits, but
this seems to be primarily because women who engage in such pursuits might
neglect their primary duties as wives and mothers. The rabbis are not concerned
that women are not spiritual enough; rather, they are concerned that women might
become too spiritually devoted....
"There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the primary role of a woman
is as wife and mother, keeper of the household. However, Judaism has great
respect for the importance of that role and the spiritual influence that the
woman has over her family. The
Talmud says that when
a pious man marries a wicked woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked
man marries a pious woman, the man becomes pious. The child of a Jewish woman
and a gentile man is Jewish because of the mother's spiritual influence; the
child of a Jewish man and a gentile woman is not. See
Who Is a Jew? Women are exempted from all positive
mitzvot ("thou shalts" as opposed to "thou shalt
nots") that are time-related (that is, mitzvot that must be performed at a
specific time of the day or year), because the woman's duties as wife and mother
are so important that they cannot be postponed to fulfill a mitzvah. After all,
a woman cannot be expected to just drop a crying baby when the time comes to
perform a mitzvah. She cannot leave dinner unattended on the stove while she
davens ma'ariv (evening
prayer services).
"It is this exemption from certain mitzvot that has led to the greatest
misunderstanding of the role of women in Judaism. First, many people make the
mistake of thinking that this exemption is a prohibition. On the contrary,
although women are not required to perform time-based positive mitzvot, they are
generally permitted to observe such mitzvot if they choose (though some are
frustrated with women who insist on performing visible, prestigious optional
mitzvot while they ignore mundane mandatory ones). Second, because this
exemption diminishes the role of women in the
synagogue, many
people perceive that women have no role in Jewish religious life. This
misconception derives from the mistaken assumption that Jewish religious life
revolves around the synagogue. It does not; it revolves around the home, where
the woman's role is every bit as important as the man's.
- Let's (according to Tracy R. Rich) blame the women for the man. "[W]hen a pious man marries a wicked woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked man marries a pious woman, the man becomes pious." Tracey R. Rich, raised Reform, has become Orthodox in Yahadut shel HaP'rushim. So she believes that a man isn't personally responsible for how he is ultimately affected.
- Women can apparently be too spiritual. "Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits, but this seems to be primarily because women who engage in such pursuits might neglect their primary duties as wives and mothers. The rabbis are not concerned that women are not spiritual enough; rather, they are concerned that women might become too spiritually devoted." A truly-spiritual woman would perform the duties of her calling or vocation with a sound spiritual foundation in mind, for anything and everything that she does should glorify G-d. After all, D'vorah was a shofetah.
- "There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the primary role of a woman is as wife and mother, keeper of the household." Do we need to go over D'vorah again?
- " However, Judaism has great respect for the importance of that role and the spiritual influence that the woman has over her family." This statement contradicts that "women might become too spiritually devoted." If the woman is supposed to be such an influence, how can she be too spiritual? Can one be too truly-- not legalistically, not ritually, but spiritually-- pious?
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