"New" Halachic Ruling by Rav Ovadia Yosef on Women Saying Kaddish

The grandson of Rav Ovadia Yosef, who was the Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983-1993, maintains a website where he records halachic rulings (psak) that he learns from him grandfather at the Yeshiva 'Yachveh De'ah' in Jerusalem. It was pointed out to me that there is a ruling involving a woman sitting shiva whose parent died and there is no son to say kaddish. Rav Ovadia rules (here in Hebrew) that she may say kaddish when ten men are assembled for prayer or learning (the times when a man would be saying kaddish in this situation).
(You can read about this psak - with a short excerpt translated at the Vos Is Neias site.)
Although the practice of women saying kaddish is referred to historically it still is not universally accepted practice. It is interesting that the custom is becoming accepted in many synagogues as well. (Rav Ovadia specifically does not allow the practice in synagogue - but only in a private home.) Rabbi Hershel Schachter of Yeshiva University in a very encompassing lecture available at the YU Torah Online site  "Halacha and Modern Family" states that the merit of saying kaddish in memory of a parent is specific to the children of that parent.Rabbi Schachter tells us that the deceased is judged not only by his own deeds but by the legacy s/he leaves behind in the world. The deceased direct descendants therefore show their devotion to mitzvot by saying kaddish and doing other mitzvot in their memory over the period of mourning. The yahrtzeit is considered a date when not only the judgement of soul of the deceased is reviewed in heaven but also the actions of their children and grandchildren are scrutinized. He brings up the practice of asking someone who is not a relative say kaddish in the case say where there are no sons to do so. He says that some women are not comfortable saying kaddish in shul so they might ask someone else to say kaddish for their parent. But the direction that he is taking is definitely that in terms of the effect on the parents soul in heaven it is well served if she herself says the kaddish. In the shul where I go, women do say kaddish (along with the men) and it is satisfying to see that this is becoming more widely accepted.
In poking around on Rav Ovadia's halacha site I found this psak in English this time relating to women saying the HaGomel blessing upon being saved from some catastrophe or recovering from an illness. He maintains that the women can and should recite this blessing in the synagogue with ten men answering amen.

Two Rabbis, A Rebbitizin, A Rabba and Rabbanit and one more Rabbanit

http://www.kesher.org/centennial/events/WomenFutureofJudaism.shtml

Orthodoxy at a Turning Point: A National Conversation

Panel #2: Women and the Future of Judaism

Moderated by Rebbetzin Sharon Freundel

Distinguished Guest Panel:

Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Frimer, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Rabbi Daniel Sperber

I'd like to recommend watching or listening to this discussion (and the two that proceeded it are definitely worth listening to as well here)
The discussion explores the how the expanding educational opportunities for women in the Orthodox world effect the role of women in the community and in the synagogue. I could have listened to these people for another few hours but the discussion was well planned and the moderator (the Rebbitizin) did a very good job of keeping it going. It also helps that the panelists are articulate and committed to their points of view as well as sincere. Although they do not agree this was not a debate and the general tone was that they are all trying their best to be loyal to the Orthodox traditions while acknowledging the changes that are taking place. Rabbi Aryeh Frimmer, as he himself points out "has been in this business since 1972" and has written major articles and given hundreds of lectures on the subject. He has seen himself go from the being among the only Rabbis seriously discussing change to the right-winger on this panel.
It's easy to loose track of what has happened in this area since the seventies. A discussion like this one was  impossible in those years because the questions just hadn't even been addressed. But many of the issues that Rabbi Frimmer addressed over those years have become in his words "non-issues". Take for example the fact that in many Orthodox synagogues women are saying kaddish.
Look at higher Torah studies for women. Rabbanit Henkin's program training Yoatzot Halacha would have been out of the question as recently as 50 years ago. Not only are these women learning Talmud on a high level but they are applying what they learn and women are listening to them. All this was accomplished by steady hard work and serious learning by dedicated students and teachers with a commitment to Torah and a constructive attitude.
Rabbi Sperber's position is more far-reaching and has not become as accepted yet. Although he advocates giving women a more active role in the ritual we have yet to see the Orthodox mainstream adopting this. Rebbi Frimmer is against it on halachic grounds and Rabbanit Henkin gives the impression that now is not the time for it although she is not outright against it. My feeling is it just won't happen, not for a while anyway.
Rabba Sara Hurwitz is the youngest member of the group and this actually put her at a bit of a disadvantage. Rabba Hurwitz is serving in a communal position in an Orthodox synagogue in New York City after being ordained by Rabbi Avi Weiss. There has been a lot of controversy over this step and I confess that I am not convinced. I do not understand what her role is meant to be or what theYeshivat Maharat of which she is the dean is actually intending to do. It seems the idea is to develop Orthodox feminine leadership. Now, that is a good thing, but I don't understand their model. Perhaps it is unfair to compare her with the other three panelists because this is just the beginning but her presentation here didn't convince me that this a constructive path to be following.
All in all, this is an important discussion and it is encouraging to see that we have such learned and talented women and men in our generation. Rabbanit Henkin hit the nail on the head when she pointed out that our goal should be to enhance the observance of Torah and take advantage of the talents of women. Amen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

historical footnote

As to the title "Rabba" I really can't see the point. There seems to be a lot of energy going to waste on this subject. I'd just like to make an aside here. Some of you may know that I have been helping to transcribe The Montefiore Censuses which are the best 19th century records of the Jews who lived in Eretz Israel. (The Turks didn't really keep records.) The list that I just finished working on is the Kollel Vohlyn listing for 1866. These are Hassidim from what is now the Ukraine who settled in Jerusalem. There are folks on this list from Bratislav  an Berditchev among other Hassidic towns. The census was done so that Sir Moses Montefiore could get an idea of how many people there were and how much financial help they needed. The lists are interesting in that besides names there is some information about age and vocations. Almost none of the men on my list were listed with a title. One was listed as Rabbi. There is a list of widows  and on that list is Hannah Rachel of Ludmir otherwise known as the "Maid of Ludmir" who functioned as a Hassidic Rebbe. She had her own synagogue where her Hassidic followers prayed and she prayed in a adjoining room. On Shabbat afternoon she would speak from her room giving them divrei Torah. What is amazing is that she is the only other person on the list to have a title listed and that title is Rabbanit!

Rabbanit Rachel Hannah, from Ludmhr, age 60, 3 years in Eretz Israel

What Women CAN do!

RivkA bat Yeshaya of Coffee and Chemo was a longtime member of the Shirat Sara a women's tefilla group which meets regularly in Jerusalem. This is a post on a subject I began writing a few times since Simchat Tora and now I dedicate it to her memory. 

It has been established that men and women should be separated during the rituals and worship.

Gender separation is a defining characteristic of the Orthodox synagogue, especially as this became a hotly contested issue in the US in the middle of the Twentieth Century. The Talmudic source is Sukkah 51b  which tells of the Simchat Beit Hasho’eva in Temple times. While men and women were in separate sections, this proved inadequate to maintain decorum during this festive occasion, and it was decided to build a balcony for the women. It is fairly remarkable that the authorities of the time changed the design of the Temple, since it was designed by the Architect of architects, but that shows how serious the issue was. In an open letter Rabbi Soloveitchik described the fundamental importance of gender separation in synagogue. He said that separation is biblically required, while the mechitza is rabbinic.(more discussion here)

(As a child I remember commercials for "the family that prays together, stays together" which it turns out was a commercial for Catholics - who knew?) Clearly this did not apply to Orthodox Jews. Even in shuls where there was mixed seating the women were just there, alongside but not participating.

In the 70's that began to change..In the Reform movement Hebrew Union College admitted a woman to its rabbinical ordinations program. Some Conservative synagogues began giving aliyot to couples (the woman accompanied the man when he blessed the Torah). In the Orthodox community we began examining the possibilities.

One avenue was to separate and set up a minyan  (quorum of 10 required for public prayer) for women. On closer examination we found that ten women (or 100 or 1,000) don't make a minyan. But still maybe there were ways we could remain within Orthodoxy and still have more participation.

Reading Megillat Esther (Book of Esther) turns out to be something that women have an equal obligation and according to most can read the megilla and recite its blessings. (See "Women's Megilla Reading" by Rabbi Aryeh A. Frimmer here.) These readings are especially delightful for me and I attend them whenever I can. Here in Rehovot we have one in the morning at our synagogue and I know of several other places  where women read the Megilla. This has become a very widespread practice in certain circles in Israel. RivkA organized , participated in and taught her daughter to read Megillat Esther.

Sara Friedlander Ben-Arza, a poet, editor and lecuter in the field of  chasidut, midrash, piyut and music wrote an eloquent article in the Succot edition of Hebrew newspaper 'Makor Rishon' about the Shirat Sara women's prayer group of which she is a member. (Unfortunately the article is not online.) The group was organized to celebrate the Shabbat Kallah (Shabbat before the wedding) of a woman around 16 years ago and later was named in memory Sara Rachel Duker one of the participants who was later killed in a Jerusalem bus bombing. The group meets at intervals of five to six weeks. The women sit in a semi-circle and sing the prayers together. They sing the parts they would be saying if they were praying individually but not the parts that require a minyan which would turn the service into t'fila b'tzibur (public prayer). The Torah portion is read from the Torah scroll. As each woman is called up they recite a verse in lieu of the Torah blessing and another one at the conclusion of the section. The service includes lessons in Torah and Jewish law as well. Sara Ben-Arza points out that the young girls who attend these services are growing up with the expectation that they to will take their place next to their mothers and make this a tradition. See RivkA's proud post about her daughter's Bat Mitzvah here.

I participated in a service at Shirat Sara and it was a wonderful experience. It is not a mimicking of a 'real' service but something else. It is uniquely feminine and you can feel the effort, preparation and love that goes into making this so special.  Ben-Arza's article describes how the group deals with the halachic issues. This search for alternatives then brings the women a deeper study and understanding of the prayers and the solutions are just that much more meaningful because of this confrontation.

I like the Shirat Sara model. If I lived in Jerusalem I would be there often. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the Torah readings and it will be a long time before we have enough women who can deal with that kind of preparation on a wide basis. Here in Rehovot there have been a few Bat Mitzvah celebrations where the young lady prepared the Torah reading and her friends and family came and a service was held. It is, of course exciting and uplifting to participate in these services as well. But it does not come close to a group that meets at regular intervals.

But there is a tension between the two worlds that the women live in. The group doesn't meet every week because they want to stay connected to their community and family. This way most of the time they are part of the general community and on these special weeks they are part of their own special women's community. One of the wormen put it this way:: "On the other Shabatot I pray in a regular synagogue. There I am not an integral part of the community prayer experience. In that setting which halahically is tefilla b'tzibur (public prayer) I feel as if I am praying as an individual. But at the women's prayer service  which is not technically deemed t'fila b'tzibur  I feel the experience of participating. In the women's service I am the community. My absence would be noticed."

With the passing of RivkA these remarks take on another meaning. RivkA personified the modern Orthodox Jewess taking the tradition building on it to include our womanly connection. Her absence will most certainly be noticed.

RivkA bat Yeshaya
רבקה בת ישעיה
יהי זכרה ברוך

Women, Rabbis, History - 5771 is going to be an interesting year!

Reform Rabbi Frume Sarah has done a lovely job of Havail Havalim #285 called Back to the Beginning.
And yes, this has been a week of so many beginnings that I had to pick a few to begin this week and few will have to wait till next week. Oh well, happy 'after the chagim' to everyone!

My 5771 beginnings: 
Monday evening we returned to our regular women's gemara class at my synagogue led by our amazing teacher Nahum who demystifies (did I just invent that word?) the world of the Talmud and helps us as we slowly but hopefully steadily improve our Aramaic and learn to analyze the gemara's logic.We are learning Brachot. (This dvar Torah is from the siyyum of the first chapter.)

Tuesday morning I went to the first class of the year at the new women's beit midrash (literally: study house) appropriately named Bina Yetaira (literally: greater wisdom*). The class is given by Rabbanit Malka Piotrkovsky is entitled "The wisdom of the sages - selected studies of educational philosophical halachic issues taken from oral Torah sources". The first topic was women and Rosh Chodesh (the new month). Rosh Chodesh is considered a special day for women and we followed the discussion about how the women marked this day and why. We read from the Talmud, midrash and halachic sources. Her teaching style is very interactive and there was never a dull moment.  There were about 50 women there from many different cultural backgrounds and some of them shared the special Rosh Chodesh customs of their mothers and grandmothers. There are many women in Rehovot who are interested in expanding their knowledge of Jewish sources and it is gratifying to see that the demand is being taken seriously. Kudos to the Amit women's organization and the Rehovot municipality  for sponsoring this program.  It was an amazing learning experience and I look forward to participating in this class.

Tuesday evening (in between I did go to work) I went to see the first play in this year's series subscription that I share with my friend Yael (6 plays that are fixed and 1 which you get to chose out of 4 possibilities). I like the subscription idea for several reasons. One is that it's cheaper than buying individual tickets. The second is that it exposes you to plays you might not choose yourself either because they are by new or obscure writers or because you just are not familiar with them and besides I would never be organized enough to find out about and buy tickets to seven plays in one year. The play was Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge. I will write more about that soon.
Wednesday morning found me at orientation for the transcription and digitization of Sir Moses Montifiore's censuses of Jewish communities in the land of Israel and Egypt and Sidon. I already participated in this project for the censuses of 1855 and 1849 and we are now doing 1866 and 1875. I find it exciting to deal with these real life lists of people who returned to Zion and see where they came from and what they were doing. On Sunday night I missed a celebration of the launch of the online census searchable database in which we volunteers were given certificates honoring our part in the project. I was given my certificate this morning. And here is my name in the credits on the site (my 15 minutes of fame?).

*The Torah says (Braishis 2:22) that G-d created Eve from the body of Adam. The term used is "vayiven", from the verb bonoh, "and He built". The rabbis had an oral tradition that this verb "vayiven" has an additional level of interpretation, from the root "binah". "Binah yeseirah" was given to women more so than to men. Women mature intellectually at an earlier age than men; therefore girls should become bat mitzvah at age twelve, while boys only attain their intellectual maturity at age thirteen (Talmud Niddah 45b) (from here).

Yishai Begins his Jewish Journey

To the  strains of a Sephardic piyut (religious poem) the new baby was passed from his mother to her brother's wife to her brother and around to uncles grandfathers and even a great-grandfather. Then he was placed on the knees of his father's rabbi (Rav Tzvi Kostiner of Yeshivat Midbara KaEden, Mitzpe Ramon)  who held him as the mohel performed the rite first performed by our father Abraham thousands of years ago. Abraham's life was a journey from his idolatrous upbringing to his discovery of one god, following that God's commandment to move to a new land and in that land to enter into a new covenant.  Little Yishai was welcomed by a loving family and by words of Torah from his father, grandfathers and rabbis. There is much to teach Yishai and each other and I hope that over the years our family will continue in the path of unity and Torah that I was privileged to witness yesterday.

Saturday Closed

 . This is a photo of my grandfather David taken in front of his store in Brooklyn in 1938.There are many reasons that I love this picture and have it hanging on my wall. First of all, I have very fond memories of my Zaydee Dovid who I remember well. I remember the adventure of going with my mother by subway to Brooklyn to visit him in his grocery store. I have a memory of coming into the store and he was sitting behind his counter with a book open propped against the counter. As we entered he put the book on a shelf under the counter and rose to greet us. He was a very tall man and in the shop he wore a large white apron and I remember looking way up at him as he handed me a red box of animal crackers. My mother told me that he once asked her, "do you think she'll remember that I gave her cookies in my store?" I do, Zaydee,  I do! 

I guess it was around the time that I started school my grandfather suffered a stroke. Early one day the regular customers came to get their fresh rolls and when he didn't come down to open the shop they called an ambulance (he was always there early in the morning). I was not allowed to visit him in the hospital but I remember my mother telling someone that there was a note on his bed saying 'kosher food only'. Eventually he was released from the hospital but it was clear that he could not live on his own any more nor keep the store. The doctors thought he would probably no be able to even walk much again. He came to live with us. But my Zaydee Dovid was a very determined man. He was determined not to be an invalid. He had been independent too long for that. At first it was difficult but he would walk with my mother and hold on to my brother's carriage. (Baby carriages in those days offered a lot more support than the folding contraptions we used to nowadays.)  My father made him a cane and he slowly started walking by himself. He had soon surprised everyone and was taking long walks in the neighborhood.  

It wasn't until I was much older that I realized the real strengths of my grandfather's character. Now when I look at this picture I can read the "Saturday Closed" (and in Yiddish on either side שבת געשלאסען shabbes geshlossen). In New York there were laws that forbade opening stores on Sunday so in order to keep Shabbat  an orthodox Jew had the choice of keeping his store closed two days every week or to open on Sunday and if a policeman passed by pay a fine. My grandfather did a little of both. So what was only a marginally profitable business in the dark days of the Great Depression became even more marginal. That book he kept under the counter, it was a Talmud. His father had been a Talmud scholar but my grandfather was the youngest of his children born from a second marriage when his father was already a grandfather himself. My Zaydee Dovid was jealous of his older brothers who had studied with their father longer. But he kept the study of Torah part of his life. Even in America, even where it was hard to keep you store closed on Shabbat.He could have given up on the Shabbat, rationalized like so many others did that family obligations took precedence. But he didn't. He had his priorities and he stood proudly by them. 

And that's why I love this photo.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hat tip to Leora who mentioned that her grandfather sold eggs in Brooklyn in a post about watching a movie with her 7 year old daughter about the Great Depression of the 1930's (here). I have been meaning to write about my grandfather for a long time. 

Not just about women

Mimi (probably with some help from Alice)  has given us an amazing Kosher Cooking Carnival post. Check it out!

Now it's official!
It's not  legal to force women to sit in the back of the bus!


Now it remains to be seen if this brings change. 

More Rejoicing With Torah!

Guest post by David (of gartel etrog fame) in response to my Simchat Torah post. 

We learn in the Mishna

(Pirke Avot - Ethics of the Fathers 5:21) "Any dispute which is for the sake of heaven will have enduring value but any dispute that is not for the sake of heaven will not have an enduring value."

 How can a disagreement on interpretation of Torah be construed as a positive manifestation of God's word? What is an example of a dispute which is for the sake of heaven? The Mishna goes on to answer that it is the dispute between Hillel and Shamai. And what is an example of a dispute that is not for the sake of heaven? The dispute between Korach all his followers."
What does 'for the sake of heaven mean'? Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explains that if those on both sides of the dispute have pure motives and their purpose is to understand the truth then their dispute is 'for the sake of heaven' and will endure. Even through there is only one truth and the halacha is decided according to only one of the conflicting opinions, the dissenting opinion is also Torah and we must learn it. Therefore even though the opinions of the School of Shamai were by and large rejected, we learn their opinions in order to better understand the inner truth of the Law. On the other hand the motives of Korach and his followers were not pure, rather they challenged Moses' authority saying to him "Isn't it enough that you brought us into the wilderness to die, you would also reign over us!?!" (see Numbers - Bamidbar 16:13) We see that Korach and his followers were not interested in the truth and service of God but in power and the honor that comes with leadership.
There is a great controversy in Orthodox Judaism on the subject of women learning Gemarra. It can not be denied that most of the great authorities and decisors of Torah law in our generation are against the idea of women learning Gemarra. However, there are many Orthodox rabbis who see women's learning in a positive light. The question is: Is this dispute 'for the sake of Heaven'? If women come to learn in order to challenge the authority of men and say 'why should men have authority over us if we are as good as you?' it is not for the sake of heaven. But if they come to learn in order to better understand the commandments of the Torah, especially those that women are obligated to perform like the blessings, laws of ritual purity, Passover, the Sabbath etc., then it is certainly for the sake of heaven. As I once heard my rabbi and teacher Rav Shlomo Aviner SheLY'Ta say (to the best of my recollection)in the name of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Hacohen Kook ZaTz'al- Women are certainly obligated by the commandment 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart" and the learning of all the disciplines of Torah, when the purpose is to better serve the Lord it is not only permitted but is to encouraged".

Looking forward to Simchat Torah!

I am looking forward to Simchat Torah this year. Once again I will be at my favorite Rehovot synagogue The Rabbi Jacob Berman Community Center for Torah and Tefila known to locals as Berman's. I mentioned our Simchat Torah celebrations here last year.
At Berman's, for the fourth year now, the women will be leaving the main shul after the first reading of Vezot Habracha (during the time when the men repeat reading Vezot Habracha multiple times so every man can have an 'aliya') to hear divrei Torah given by women for women. We take this opportunity to show our respect and love for Torah by learning it together.  I'd like to share part of a d'var Torah that I gave when our weekly women's Gemarra class finished the first chapter of the Brachot. I also drew on resources from a lecture  series given by Rabbi Aryeh Frimmer at Berman's about women and halakha ( Women and  Birkat Hatorah audio here and source sheet here)

I chose the subject of women and the blessing on the Torah.  This is the blessing recited by those called up to the Torah when it is read publicly (on Mondays, Thursdays, Shabat and holidays) and possibly because of this it is associated mainly with men. But it is also one of the very first blessings every Jew says in the morning prayers.
We learned in our chapter (Gemarra Brachot 11:2)

Which blessing do we say? Rav Yehudah answers in the name of Shmuel

בא"י אמ"ה] אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו לעסוק בדברי תורה].

[Blessed are you lord our G-d, king of the universe] who has made us holy through his commandments, and has commanded us to practice what is written in the Torah.
And Rabbi Yohanan ends the blessing this way:

הערב נא ה' אלהינו את דברי תורתך בפינו ובפיפיות עמך בית ישראל ונהיה אנחנו וצאצאינו וצאצאי עמך בית ישראל כלנו יודעי שמך ועוסקי תורתך ברוך אתה ה' המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל

Please, Lord our God, make the words of Your Torah sweet in our mouths and in the mouths of Your people, the house of Israel, so that we, our descendants and the descendants of Your people, the house of Israel, may all know Your name and study Your Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, who teaches Torah to His people Israel.
And Rav Hamnuna said:

אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים ונתן לנו את תורתו ברוך אתה ה' נותן התורה

(Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Univese who has chosen us from all the peoples and given us His Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.)
Rav Humnuna said: This is the most exalted of blessings - therefore we say all of the blessings. (In other words, this blessing is so important that we don't choose one of the formulations but recite all of them.)

Can women say the blessings on the Torah even though they are not obligated in the study of Torah? In Rabbi Yochanan's version we have no problem. Women are included as descendants of the house of Israel and the ending 'teaches His people' we can certainly say that includes women. Rav Hamnuna's wording is also inclusive since it refers to those who were chosen and that is the whole nation.
The question arises in Shmuel's formula and is focused on the word וצוונו 'who commanded us' and the question is are women in fact 'commanded' in the sense of being obligated and if so what is the nature of that obligation?
The Shulchan Aruch (47,14) says "women say the blessings on the Torah" and the Bet Yosef explains that this is because prayers take the place of the sacrifices made in the temple and women are required to pray and if so they are required to read the passages pertaining to the sacrifices (in the morning prayers and these are quoted from the written Torah and therefore require the blessing) and he adds that according to the Sefer Hamitzvot Hagadol 'women are required to learn the laws that apply to them' (and so for learning the Torah laws they also must say this blessing).

On the other had we hear the sages in  Gemarra Kidushin (29:2) say

  וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם אֶת-בְּנֵיכֶם, לְדַבֵּר בָּם דברים י"א, י"ט

And you shall teach them to your sons Deuteronomy 11:19

and the Rabbis tell us 'your sons and not your daughters'

In light of this how can we justify including women in Shmuel's formula? If we look closely at his words we see that they can be understood beyond a narrow meaning of 'and you shall teach' ולמדתם (such as the formal acts of repetition, memorization and review). He uses the verb לעסוק which I have translated as 'practice' (but it can also be translated as to be involved with or to be occupied by) Torah.

Here I quoted Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (my very rough translation, see Rabbi Frimmers source sheet for the real thing)

"Birkat Hatorah applies not only to keeping the mitzvot and the commandment of studying Torah by the specific act of learning Torah, but also deep inner bond of a person to Torah and an obligation to be bound and connected to Torah. Support for this is found in the formula for the blessing לעסוק בדברי תורה instead of ללמוד דברי תורה and that is because the blessing is formulated on the bond with the Torah and the sanctification of Man by the Torah and not only on technical learning."

Rabbi Soloveitchi's words resonate. When we recite Birkat Hatorah our intentions are far greater than the formal learning of laws or biblical exegesis. That blessing reminds us that  we must internalize the words Torah and reflect them in our practices.

In the second chapter of the Gemarra Brachot (17:1) we find the sages celebrating the importance of women's faith and practice of Torah.

 גדולה הבטחה שהבטיחן הקדוש ברוך הוא לנשים יותר מן האנשים שנאמר

God makes a greater promise of reward in the world to come to women than to men citing the verse in Isaiah (32,9) where women are mentioned twice.

ישעיהו לב ט נשים שאננות קומנה שמענה קולי בנות בוטחות האזנה אמרתי

Rise up, complacent women , and hear my voice; confident daughters, listen to my speech.

אמר ליה רב לרבי חייא: נשים במאי זכיין? באקרויי בנייהו לבי כנישתא  ובאתנויי גברייהו בי רבנן, ונטרין לגברייהו עד דאתו מבי רבנן

Rav said to Rabbi Hiyya: Women, what are they rewarded for? For making sure that their sons go to the synagogue to pray and for encouraging their husbands to learn from their Rabbis and patiently awaiting their husband's return from the study hall.

In other words the women were thought to be rewarded for encouraging their menfolk in Torah. Today we can say that this double reward comes to include engaging in practical Torah and studying Torah ourselves. 

!חג שמח   Happy Simchat Torah!

The translations of the brachot are based on Rabbi J. Sacks' translation of the Koren Siddur

Parallel Worlds

This is #1 grandson and this video was made because he was so proud of having learned to dive into the pool head first. Well, how can Savta share in this achievement if she can't come to the pool to witness it? I suggested perhaps coming and looking in from the entrance. No good. Woman just aren't allowed. OK, I said, you'll take my camera and someone will photograph you diving into the pool. And so it was...

At his age (almost 7) I could take his dad down to the Kinneret (we lived in Ramat Hagolan at the time) and find a spot for the whole family to sit under a tree and play in the water. Sometimes we organized a bus and mothers and their kids all went down to swim in the Kinneret.

I am sad because my grandson is growing up in an environment where girls and boys (and of course men and women) live in increasingly separate environments. Two years ago his kindergarten and (also his sister's kindergarten) marked Friday by having a 'kabalat shabbat' with an 'abba' and 'ima'. The abba made kiddush and the ima lit candles. No more. The kindergartens are now single gendered.

So, although there is a nice shady picnic area adjacent to the pool in Mitzpe Ramon, I can not come, fully clothed, and watch my grandson dive into the pool. If his dad is away doing reserve duty (as he was for most of July) he can't go swimming. Dads can't teach their little girls to swim. How do they play 'house' in these kindergartens?

It isn't that I question the need for modest dress and behavior. I know that these are important concepts. But all of us, old and young, men and women should be developing tools and patterns for living and working together when we can. Cutting ourselves off from each other cuts off possibilities for growth and development.

Sisterhood

Binyan Shalem is an institute devoted to strengthening the Jewish family. They are connected to Midreshet HaRova in Jerusalem giving guidance and training for maintaining and nurturing marriage and family. Besides their year-round programs, there has been an amazing two day gathering each summer of literally thousands of women who come to hear shiurim and lectures on topics related to maintaining a Jewish home and marital relationship. (Sorry, the Hebrew word zugiut זוגיות -couplehood?- just doesn't have an English equivalent - too bad!)

I took this picture on Tuesday morning in at the ICC in Jerusalem at the break after the first round of lectures let out. There were almost 100 shiurim to choose from over the two day conference which was attended by around 4,000 women! There is tremendous energy in this experience and I find these encounters invigorating.

I attended the first Binyan Shalem conference (I think it was 9 or 10 years ago) and have participated in several since then. I always enjoy encounters with women especially when they are focused on serious issues and espcially on Jewish issues. That's just how I am. Binyan Shalem and I are not a perfect match though. There is an idealization of the family and the woman's place which draws heavily on Rav Kook. This wasn't easy for me to accept because it seemed to ignore all the difficulties that develop over the years both between spouses and in the family. In the last few years they have devoted more attention to real issues like single parent families (widows and divorcees), coping with with disease and death, child development, fertility, pregnancy and couple counseling. I was pleased to see that they had set up an area where individual women could come for consultations and referrals. This is good for our community and good for religious women.

I was also very pleased to see that they are finally trying to reach the men of the national religious community (I believe this is the third year they have organized a parallel men's conference.) It's about time they realized that men are part of the family. The men's conference was much smaller and they have a long way to go, but it is a beginning. I am waiting for the session on how to balance a career in torah study and raise a family. Then I'll know they're really serious.

Something else I found disturbing was the status of the unmarried women. The discussions were about choosing a mate, how, when etc. What was missing was a sense of self-definition outside of being part of a couple or potentially part of a couple.

All in all it was a very nice two days and I enjoyed it even more because I was there with my daughter, daughter-in-law and one of my sons also participated in the men's conference. I'm happy I went.

Tell me it ain't so!

Zvulun Orlev, chairman of the National Union-National Religious Party (Ichud Leumi-Mafdal) is also the head of the Knesset choir. I didn't know any of this until I heard on the radio today that the choir sang Hatikvah at special session of the Knesset in honor of Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister. No big deal. Ha, nothing in Israel is 'no big deal'. The choir sang without its three female MKs. Why? So the haredi MKs wouldn't be offended.

In the interview I heard with MK Orlev he told Galatz that he himself sings with the women in the choir but in this instance deferred to the sensitivity of the haredi MKs who are 'makpidim al kol b'isha erva'*. I can't believe he said that. For one thing, as an accomplished politician he should have just gotten someone or some other group to sing. What's the big deal? Does anybody think Gordon Brown or anyone else cares who sings Hatikva?
More substantively though, I would have expected him to cite support for women participating in a choir in public. I know it can be done.

Is all that we have left to Religious Zionism is a pale compromise of the real thing (represented by the haredim but which can be ignored sometimes if they're not around)????

Tell me it ain't so!

*Erva, which doesn't have an English translation, is a negative term which means something repulsive,defiling something you want to keep away from. When applied in this situation to women in this case it means that hearing their voices in this situation will have a repulsive or defiling effect.