Monday, July 2, 2007

Jewish Feminism

Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious, legal, and social status of women within Judaism and to open up new opportunities for religious experience and leadership for Jewish women. The main issues for Jewish feminists were the exclusion from all male prayer groups, exemption from positive time bound, women's inability to function as witnesses, and to initiate divorce. I believe this is different from other feminism groups because they focus everything within their religion. The Jewish feminist want to be more recognized and accepted within their religion and Jewish law.

I can see where these women were coming from. They wanted to be able to join into group prayer. Men should not be the only people aloud to gather in order to prayer it should not matter what sex you are. I also believe it is a women's right as well to initiated a divorce. Men should not have all the control or be aloud to decide he does not like his marriage so he can get a divorce. Especially, where if a women is unhappy she has to put up with it until the man is willing to divorce her. This give the men too much control and allows them to treat their wives however they please. I would not consider myself a Jewish feminist because I do not know anything about their culture. Therefore it is hard to take a stand when you do not completely understand it.

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