Q&A: Various Insights on the Status of Women
Various Insights on the Status of Women
Question
Hello to the Rabbi, may he live long and well.
It occurred to me to wonder why liberalism sees revealing clothing as part of women’s liberation, when it is exactly the opposite. Not only is short clothing the lowly aspiration of every man, it is also degrading; in the past only slaves went around half-dressed. Recently I came to understand that short clothing is part of the postmodern rebellion against the culture intertwined with religion in Europe in particular, and humanity in general. In the past, a cultured person wore long clothes and a hat, and all the more so women were ashamed to go around in short clothing. Today, as part of the rebellion against culture, people of this generation removed the formal clothing of previous centuries. Over time, short clothing became part of the feminist-liberal struggle, which sees the old culture as an enemy. Does the Rabbi agree with this explanation, or does he have a different view on the matter? By the way, I also don’t really understand how overly long clothing creates chauvinism. On the face of it, that sounds silly, but the more chauvinistic a society is, such as Islam, the longer the clothing is.
I happened to speak with the Rabbi about the surrogacy law. The Rabbi argued, rightly, that there is freedom of occupation, and true liberalism means that each person should do what his heart desires, not what the enlightened have decided is the right thing to do. But those who accepted the laws of Enlightenment values (in practice, most secular people) can no longer attack religion, which demands of a woman primarily to be a mother and raise children. Does the Rabbi agree?
The Jewish religion encourages a certain patriarchy; any honest person will admit that (aside from the crowd at Hidabroot). Of course not at the exaggerated levels claimed by enemies of religion, but still, I think there is a certain logic to patriarchy. It really does seem that men have an advantage in the desire and ability to be the ones in control. It sounds bad, but it seems that in a certain sense men have more traits of dominance, toughness, and the like, while women have more aesthetic traits. As the Rabbi once put it, these differences are not as great as the difference between a person and a cat, but they do exist. Perhaps that is why the Torah generally prefers the man as head of the family, in the priesthood, and in fulfillment of all the commandments. Feminism demands the abolition of male rule, but it never asks itself why it began in the first place. Does the Rabbi have an opinion on that?
Some time ago I corresponded with the Rabbi about the difference between a Reform Jew and someone who observes Jewish law. We agreed that as long as a community or individual makes innovations on the basis of a halakhic source, they can at most be mistaken. But what about communities that change things based on social norms, such as removing the partition, and the like, or based on reasoning—for example, that Sabbath observance was meant for an agricultural society and not a modern one; that the prohibition of male homosexual intercourse applied only when it was connected to idolatry, and so on. Is it possible to make changes on the basis of norms or reasoning as well? Even those who call themselves Orthodox sometimes act on such grounds. So where exactly is the boundary on this plane?
Answer
I don’t know whether this is intentional (probably an unconscious intuition), but your first three comments all assume the same mistaken premise, which I addressed in my article on leniency:
In my article I explained that the prohibition against reciting a blessing when there is doubt is not a leniency (“when in doubt about blessings, be lenient”) but a stringency, since one is forbidding the blessing. The leniency is that one is not obligated to recite it, and on top of that there is a stringency: if one is not obligated, then one is forbidden to recite it (because of invoking God’s name). My conclusion there is that a leniency is not the proposal of an easier solution but the opening up of more possibilities, whereas a stringency is the elimination of some of them. Even if one opens up additional difficult possibilities (like those who permit fasting two days on Yom Kippur), that is a leniency compared to those who forbid fasting two days, which is a stringency. Consider this carefully. Now to our matter.
1. Liberals do not demand that a woman dress in short clothing; they demand that she be left alone to dress in short clothing, meaning however she wants, including short clothing. The others demand that she dress specifically in long clothing, meaning not however she wants. The argument here is not whether to dress in clothing X or Y, but whether there is any specific mode of dress she is obligated to wear at all. Therefore, even if your assumption about short clothing is correct, the liberals are still being lenient and the conservatives stringent. Consider this carefully.
2. The same applies to surrogacy and to the demand that a woman raise children. The very same mistake. When you demand something of a woman, that is a stringency and a limitation. If the woman chooses to raise children—excellent. No liberal would oppose that (unless, in his view, she did not really have a genuine choice because of social pressure and so on).
3. The same answer applies to patriarchy. If a patriarchal structure is imposed, women are being restricted. Then even in a case where the woman in that household is actually more suited to be the patriarch, she will not be able to do so. That is what the liberal opposes, because it closes off options.
4. In your last question I do not see a connection to the definition of leniency. As for the matter itself, I do not see a boundary. There are thoroughly Orthodox arguments built this way as well. I think I once gave the example of “do not form factions,” the prohibition against having two religious courts in one city, which applied only when the world was local, and today is null and void like the dust of the earth in the eyes of all those knowledgeable in religion and law. A consideration of the type you mentioned is conservative midrash, as I defined it in my article here:
And see also here: