Q&A: Feminism
Feminism
Question
Hi Rabbi, do you think that the feminist movement is right?
After all, they proved to the world that women can be doctors, lawyers, surgeons, and anything else.
And if so, does it make sense to say
“who has not made me a woman”?
Can we begin to accept testimony from a woman?
If they showed the world that our assumptions about women’s abilities were mistaken, then why not?
Answer
Greetings,
First of all, women have not yet really proven all of this. At this point it is not at all certain that they are equal to men. Clearly, among many women there are also many who can do various things (including doctorates and the like), but the generalizations have not yet been proven false. Especially regarding Torah study, I commented on this in my controversial article in Makor Rishon: https://musaf-shabbat.com/2017/02/26/%D7%94%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%94-%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%A8%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%90%D7%9C-%D7%90%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%94%D7%9D/
Beyond all that, generalizations are indeed a problematic thing. But it is not certain that the Jewish laws you mentioned are connected to those generalizations. The blessing “who has not made me a woman” is recited because we have more commandments incumbent upon us than women do, and not because they are stupid. At least, there is no necessity to interpret it that way.
In my opinion, the feminist movement (as a generalization; it has different shades) is very justified, not because women are necessarily equal to men, but because they deserve the same rights and the same treatment. Each one according to her standing and dignity. Just as not all men have the same abilities, yet we still give everyone the same basic treatment. In other words, a woman deserves the right to study Torah even if she is utterly foolish. And certainly she deserves that we judge her abilities according to who she is, and not according to generalizations based solely on her being a woman.