Gender Roles in Traditional Judaism
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Gender roles in traditional Judaism
In different communities, the overall roles are divided between the two genders; male and female. Similarly, in traditional Judaism as an ethnical identification, the same norm applied to the different functions. However, due to the difference in beliefs and ways of life, each role assigned to a specific gender is different in various communities. Additionally, in traditional Judaism, both genders were viewed as essential members of society. Judaism, as a religion, is mainly known for the faith and beliefs in the existence of one supreme being, that is God who manifested himself through his prophets (Baskin, 2016). Therefore, religion played a vital role in the understanding and allocation of different functions. Due to the belief that women were created from man, in traditional Judaism, affected the female perception in the community. As a result, the gender roles in traditional Judaism were different between males and females due to their perceived position in society.
The teachings mostly guided t
he perception of any gender in traditional Judaism; they learned from their religious books (Greenberg, 1994). Additionally, these beliefs were more rampant during that period. Since Judaism believes in the story of creation, it was believed that man was created self-sufficient, but God felt the need to add another human being. This led to the creation of woman from man. As a result, the female gender in traditional Judaism was perceived to be subordinate, while the male gender took up the masculinity. This masculinity was directed to the masculine spiritual intensity, social networks, learnedness intellectually, and ritual piety (Fishman & Parmer, 2008). As a result, the male gender in traditional Judaism was allocated the leadership roles such as church leaders, prophets, and also underwent appropriate training and education to become better leaders. These roles put them in charge of reading their religious books in the synagogue services, lead services, and also preach sermons during services.
On the other hand, the female gender was not allowed to participate in any public related activity, including publicly held prayers. These male-dominated roles were taken up by the female gender under unique circumstances, which will be discussed later in the paper. Additionally, the female gender was perceived to be associated with the reproductive roles in traditional Judaism. As a result, most of the functions assigned to women were domestic-based in the sense that they were expected to give birth, raise children, and take care of the homestead. This was based on Jewish traditions, which indicated that one of the ways for a woman to develop and grow was through marriage and motherhood (Baskin, 2013). This was such a vital role since it was known that once the homesteads ran smoothly, then the whole community would run smoothly. These roles also molded the type of training and education that women received, which was home-based. Therefore, everything there was to learn for the female gender was taught at home to mainstream their functions.
In addition to the reproduction-related roles of the women in traditional Judaism, the Judaism religion mandated the women to play various essential roles related to their faith. Women were expected to help maintain their family and household purity throughout. In this context, women were to ensure that their respective households celebrated all the religious celebrations. This includes the abiding by the dietary laws that had been laid out during these festivals. Additionally, the men were also allowed to attend to these social welfare tasks; however, women were in charge of the overall coordination (Fishman & Parmer, 2008). Therefore, women would ensure the proper meals were prepared, the customs were observed, and the required rituals were carried out. Despite all these religious roles in the homesteads, women were not allowed to be inside the worship places. Instead, they would worship from the balconies while the men took over the service. However, it is essential to understand that the religion of Judaism had various branches of worship that were practiced in traditional Judaism. And each branch implemented similar practices and gender roles but differed slightly.
Regarding a union such as marriage, the man was given more roles in deciding the fate of his marriage. This is because, based on the Judaism faith, the husband would decide on whether to divorce their wives. Various scholars, including R. Gershom, later opposed this role. Gershom was against the divorcing of women without their consent during this time. Once the issue of marriage divorce was resolved, the believers of the Judaism faith now involve women in matters related to marriage and divorce (Baskin, 2016). However, that was one of the roles assigned to men based on their perception of the community to be intellectually learned. Additionally, the readings from their religious books also confirmed the mandate bestowed to the male gender. Therefore, both genders received their education in line with building them to understand and implement their respective roles.
In traditional Judaism, the male gender was associated with implementing related public roles. On the contrary, the female gender was associated with performing functions related to privacy. This also contributed to the different educations and training that each gender went through while growing up. Young men went through in-depth and detailed training while young girls underwent shallow training due to the nature of their roles. As a result, women ended up depending on the husbands for various things, including divine connection (Greenberg, 1994). This type of growing up was available to ordinary individuals; however, for those who had financial abilities, they paid for their daughters to be exposed to a little bit more education. This was all an outcome of the perception of the different genders. However, over time, things changed, and there was the rise of educated women in Judaism who changed the whole perception adopted in traditional Judaism.
Economically successful women slightly altered gender roles in traditional Judaism. Since they supported their households also improved the quality of education provided to their daughters, these women also could use their financial capabilities to enhance their roles in the community (Fishman & Parmer, 2008). This includes the acquisition of religious and political functions. Therefore, despite all the perceptions witnessed in traditional Judaism, there was the chance of altering them through economic power. For example, during this period, one woman defied the odds since she was considered to be so learned and would also take up her husband’s roles in making some of the decisions that were required at the time.
In conclusion, it is essential to consider the fact that in rare cases, the roles assigned to men would be taken up by women. Additionally, in traditional Judaism, both genders were identified as part and parcel of the general community, who contributed significantly to perform their specific roles. However, based on the information collected and analyzed by scholars over the years and actual recording of actual events during this period of traditional Judaism, it is evident that the perception of the two genders had a considerable influence on the roles assigned to each gender. One of the contributing factors being the Judaism religion, since women are considered to be created from men and therefore subordinate to their husbands. Additionally, since based on the traditional beliefs in Judaism about women being nurtured through marriage and motherhood, they were assigned roles around their homes and taking care of their families.
References
Baskin, J. R. (2013). Jewish traditions about women and gender roles: from rabbinic teachings to medieval practice. In The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (p. 36). Oxford University Press.
Baskin, J. R. (2016). Judaism and Gender. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies, 1-5.
Fishman, S. B., & Parmer, D. (2008). Matrilineal ascent/patrilineal descent: The gender imbalance in American Jewish life.
Greenberg, B. (1994). On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition. The Jewish Publication Society.