Origins and Roots of Judaism

Background History of Judaism

The origin of the Judaism religion dates back nearly four thousand years ago and is deeply rooted in Canaan`s near eastern region. This religion traces its heritage to the covenant that was made by God and Abraham (Goodman, 2018). In the ancient agreement, God had promised Abraham and his people that he would give them a holy land to settle in and would also make them a sacred people. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses are the primary figures in the culture of the Israelites. Judaism is a religion which is founded in the social, ethical and religious laws as they were articulated in the Hebrew first five books (Hart and Michels, 2017). These books are together known as the Torah. The Bible is referred to as Tanakh in Jewish. Tanakh is an acronym for different religious texts of the Torah, Writings, and Prophets. Other prominent books that are also sacred in Judaism include Midrash, Talmud, the legal, narrative and rabbinic interpretations of the Torah (Karp, and Sutcliffe, 2017).

With time, there emerged contemporary branches within Judaism all of which have different interpretations of the sacred texts. There are four main movements within Judaism today, and these are Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. Among these divisions, there are those that stuck to the traditional Judaism ways, and there are those whose stands are liberal in the application of the Torah, while there are also those who religiously progressive (Davies, 2016).

The different movements in Judaism have different views on some issues. Among these issues are the methodology adopted in interpreting and gaining an understanding of the various Jewish laws, levels of observance, textual criticism, biblical authorship and the general nature of the Messiah and his works. There are also marked differences in these movements in the liturgy, and this is primarily in the language used in conducting services, with Hebrew being emphasized in the traditional movements.

However, even though diverse in their views, the Jews are continually unified on the basis that they share a standard connection to a set of narratives that sacred and that expresses their relationship with God as a people who are holy. The emphasis of Judaism is observed to be more on practice when compared to belief. Synagogues are at the centre of worship in Judaism, and they replaced the second temple following its destruction in 7- C.E. Rabbi is the name used for religious leaders in Judaism and these individuals normally oversee the different rituals and ceremonies that are essential to Jewish spiritual practice.

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism teaches strict adherence to rabbinical interpretations of the Jewish law and its observations traditionally (Finkleman, 2016). In Orthodox Judaism, the Jewish mother and wife plays a primary role that is second to none. Other than belonging to a particular movement, Orthodox Jews see themselves as practicing Judaism of a normative form. The Jewish mother and wife are known as the Akeret Habayit. It is the exclusive role of women to give their homes the right Jewish atmosphere. Women usually are entrusted with the kashrut of the different beverages and foods that enter their kitchens and eventually appear on the dining table. It is also the privilege of the mothers and wife's to usher in the holy Shabbat. They do this by lighting candles on Fridays, in ample time before sunset approaches. This role is symbolic of the role played by women in Orthodox Judaism of brightening up their homes with peace and harmony and with the light of mitzvoth and Torah. It is mainly in the Merits of the Jewish woman that God bestows the true blessings of happiness to the entire family (Dashefsky and Sheskin, 2017).

In addition to mitzvoth roles as separating "challah" from the dough, the lighting of candles and others that are entrusted to Jewish women by Torah, there are also other roles that lie within the domain of women, according to the natural order of things. The reason why these roles lie within the natural law is that they stem from Holinesses’ supra-natural order (Greenberg, 18981). This is considered to be the source and origin of every good thing in the physical world. These roles are related to the observance of Taharat Hamishpachah which lies in the hands of Jewish women by its very nature. The purpose of the husband here usually is to encourage and further facilitate this observance that is mutual. Husbands are forbidden from hindering this observance in any way (Danzger, 1989). The primary privilege and responsibility of practice lie in with the wife. God gave the noble task of observing and further disseminating the observance of Taharat Hamishpachah to women together with observing and disseminating the commemoration of other institutions that are deemed to be vital within Jewish families.

Something that with no doubt stamps the significance of the roles played by women in Orthodox Judaism is that a person`s Jewishness usually is determined by their mother. According to these laws if someone`s mother is a Jew, then the person automatically becomes Jewish. If only one`s father is Jewish and their mother is not a Jew, then that person is not Jewish. Additionally, in Orthodox Judaism, there is a higher degree of "Binah” endowed on women (Rich, 2011). That implies that they have higher intelligence, understanding, and intuition when compared to men. That is inferred from the belief among the Jews that women were not formed but built. It is said that the matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah were superior when compared to the patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some traditional sources within Orthodox Judaism posit that when compared to men, women are closer to God`s ideal.

However, in Orthodox Judaism, there are lesser obligations on women as compared to men regarding the number of commandments they follow, and this leads to them being considered as being less privileged (Gurrock, 2009). It is in this light that it is necessary to have a good understanding of the man`s blessing in which men thank God for not making them women. While this prayer does not in any way indicate that being a woman is wrong, it suggests that men feel fortunate and privileged because of the more obligations they have.

Separation of men from women is another thing that needs to be understood. In line with Jewish law, it is a must to separate men and women whenever prayers are being conducted. Separation could either be by a curtain or a wall or even by placing women on a separate floor in a building when prayers are being done (Dovid Dubov, n.d.). The reasoning behind this is that the human mind should always to be focused on prayer and not any pretty girls who may be praying next to them. Another reason for this separation is that most of the pagan religious ceremonies at the times when the Torah was offered on Mt. Sinai involved orgies and different sexual activities. This separation at its best reduces the chances of such things ever happening again.

In Orthodox Judaism, it is evident that in Jewish life, the separate roles taken up by women and men are a valued aspect. However, in this movement where transformation is least expected, Women in modern Orthodoxy have been increasingly venturing into studying Torah, something that was previously reserved for men (Hyman, 2017).

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism is also known as Liberal or Progressive Judaism and has a strong emphasis on faith, the ever-evolving nature of the ethical aspects of ceremonial aspects and the belief in a continuous revelation that is not in any way centred to Mt. Sinai`s theophany (Plaut, 2015). This movement that was initially formed in Germany acts as a reaction to modernity as it stresses personal interpretation of the Torah and continued integration with the society. And just like in Orthodox Judaism there is a superior role played by women who act like mothers and wives of taking care of their families and leading their families in worship. Lighting of Shabbat and festival candles is still the role of women here. There is some aspect of equality between men and women however in their place inside and outside synagogues. The Women of Reform Judaism which is an affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism has been seen to be increasingly vocal. Across Reform Judaism where people do not see themselves as being bound by Jewish laws, the principle of gender neutrality is prominent.

The role of women in the synagogue in Reform Judaism is very different. Women take up the positions of senior rabbis in pulpits in Reform Judaism. Additionally, there are a lot of women wardens in most of the synagogues and there also women serving in different leadership capacities in synagogues. In this form of Judaism, every “mitzvah” that is available is performed by women in most of the synagogues. In Reform Judaism, one area where women continue to expand their involvement in the synagogue life is in the congregational religious schools, whereby, they serve as supporters and teachers (Hyman, 2017). The contribution, presence, activities, and energies that women have brought to the Reform Movement both locally and nationally have in a big way contributed to the growing expectation that women should be recognized in the work of Reform Judaism as full participants. The sisterhood has given women a say in the governance of local synagogues.

It is however, worth noting that there are still reform synagogues that would never consider engaging a female rabbi, and there are also lay leaders and rabbis, both female and male who continue to use language that is gendered, at times even going to the extent of change language to its original orientation that was previously male (Summers, 2017). As such, even with the increasing inclusivity of women in Reform Judaism, there still exists feelings that are deeply held about the roles played within Judaism, a perception which in no small extent is strengthened by the observation that most of the women in Reform Judaism do not wear a "tallit." In some communities, a woman must still fill the traditional honorary position of being the secretary. Some of the older women here also refuse some of the "mitzvoth." And with a backlash on ideas that are feminist generally, some female rabbis are dismissive of perspectives that take a feminist nature and tend to shun any further discussions on complete inclusivity (Goldman, 2009).

Comparison of the Roles of Women in Orthodox and Reform Judaism

There are several similarities in the characters played by both Orthodox Judaism women and also Reform Judaism women. In both religions, women play the traditional roles of lighting candles on the eve of Shabbat and religious ceremonies.

Differences are observed in the religious roles of these women. While in Reform Judaism, women have been seen to take up leadership roles in the synagogues, in Orthodox Judaism, women play a rather silent role. It appears they are only there to be seen and not to be heard. In Orthodox Judaism, women are not even allowed to intermingle with men when in the synagogue as it is thought they could easily lead men astray. As such, women must always be separated from men either by a curtain or by a wall whenever they are in the synagogue. On the other hand, in Reform Judaism, women are vicious and have even taken up the roles of being "rabbis" who traditionally are teachers of the word. It is, however, worth noting that even with the increasing crusade for inclusivity of women in Reform Judaism, there is still a group of members in the group who are against such pushes.

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Conclusion

While there are quite a number of similarities taken up by women in Orthodox and Reform Judaism, there are also differences in the roles they take up. These differences are observed in the tasks they take up in the synagogues.

References

Danzger, M.H., 1989. Returning to tradition: The contemporary revival of Orthodox Judaism. Yale University Press.

Dashefsky, A. and Sheskin, I.M., 2017. Orthodox Judaism in the US: Retrospect and Prospect. In American Jewish Year Book 2016 (pp. 3-8). Springer, Cham.

Davies, P.R., 2016. On the Origins of Judaism. Routledge.

Goodman, M., 2018. A History of Judaism: From Its Origins to the Present. Princeton University Press.

Greenberg, B., 1981. On women & Judaism: a view from tradition (p. 44). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America.

Gurrock, J. (2009). Orthodox Judaism in the United States. In: Jewish Women`s Archive.

Hart, M.B. and Michels, T. eds., 2017. The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 8, The Modern World, 1815–2000. Cambridge University Press.

Hyman, P.E., 2017. Gender and assimilation in modern Jewish history: The roles and representation of women. University of Washington Press.

Hyman, P.E., 2017. Gender and assimilation in modern Jewish history: The roles and representation of women. University of Washington Press.

Karp, J. and Sutcliffe, A. eds., 2017. The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 7, The Early Modern World, 1500–1815. Cambridge University Press.

Summers, A., 2017. Women and Men in a Religious Landscape: Britain in the Late Nineteenth Century. In Christian and Jewish Women in Britain, 1880-1940 (pp. 23-32). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.