Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Maharat, Women of the Wall , Orthodox Jewish Feminists, Charedi Men

     There are a lot of Orthodox Jewish women who are trying to change the system. There are the women who want to be a maharat, the women of the wall and Orthodox Jewish feminists. Then we have the charedi men who eliminate women from photos, want women to sit at the back of the bus , have separate sides of the road for women , etc . The fervor of these men and women is remarkable no matter who one agrees with. How can these feelings , attitudes and beliefs be channeled to create an undisputed  kiddush Hashem ?

6 comments:

FrumGeek said...

If these feelings, attitudes and beliefs are ignored? And maybe everyone just takes a middle of the road path?

Mighty Garnel Ironheart said...

Here's the thing. A Rav once told me that there's no glory in bein adam l'chaveiro, only in bein adam l'Makom.
Tell a person you want 3 hours extra before making havdallah or that you wait 6 1/2 hours after meat and they go "Wow, that's frum!"
Tell a person you avoid gossip, try to smile and be polite to everyone you meet and do a product, honest day's work every day and they go "So?"
Everyone is crazy about ritual. If you look at the LWMO and the UO fixation on women's roles in Jewish society it's all focused around that. Tznius, ritual, religious clothing. Nothing about morals, ethics.
Because that would be hard. That would mean taking one's righteous indignation and channelling into efforts to be kind which is a lot more difficult that screaming and shouting.

frum single female said...

MGH- so true. but such a shame.
FG= I myself am more interested in the middle of the road.

Mr. Cohen said...

In my humble opinion, my fellow Jews are going to extremes because they are over-reacting to situations, instead of merely reacting.

Mr. Cohen said...

Since Avi Weiss approves of Rabbis who are not male, would he also approve Rabbis who are not Jewish?

If a Chinese Gentile mastered all of Talmud and Shulchan Aruch, plus their classic commentaries, would he be called "Rabbi," and permitted to make Halachic decisions, even though he is not Jewish?

I invite comments from Frum Female and others.

Mighty Garnel Ironheart said...

I think you're taking it too far there, Reb Cohen. Rabbi Weiss would surely concede that it is a sina qua non for a rabbi to be Jewish. What he is stating that is that he doesn't understand the halachic sources referring to only men being rabbis as really being about that.
A better question is: would he allow such a Chinese gentile to deliver the Shabbos morning sermon in his shul?