Dear Editor,
While it is an interesting and informative article (May 16th on Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s 101, Page 15), I can’t help but comment on one of the text’s possible ramifications.
One quote of the article that examined the females role in the Jewish congregation, is as follows: “…some Orthodox feminists want[ed] rabbis to explore the legal texts and develop a consensus on expectations for a girl’s bat mitzvah…”
I guess the Torah’s text had never been analyzed before regarding a female’s participation in Jewish orthodoxy.
Now I don’t know if any Orthodox feminist in the Jewish community actually said this, but the article (from MyJewishLearning) says they did.
This makes it appear that the feminists in the Orthodox sect of the Jewish religion insisted: “Either do it our way or — Torah analysts of the world — take the highway!”
It is scary that, apparently, the analysis and interpretation of the Torah today is dependent on the political context and political climate of the times.
Now while it may not seem like it, I do acknowledge that it was both outrageous and terrible that females weren’t recognized and not allowed to go up to the Torah. I recall my female cousin at 12 being quite vexed at the discrimination practiced against females at a certain synagogue (for instance, not allowing females to read from the Torah or to be counted in the minyan).
Rabbi Wise, when he came to Adath Israel, nixed those practices. And I recall it took him a while to ease into it — not because he agreed with the patriarchy practiced by the congregation, but because our tradition said that we must continue to discriminate in this way. The changes he made, however, were both wise (no pun intended) and necessary.
However, according to this article, the feminists of Orthodoxy saw the conclusion they wanted and seemingly demanded that the Torah be analyzed and interpreted in that regard. This ends-justify-the-means roundabout, makes one wonder as to the accuracy (and legitimacy) of the analysis.
My conclusion can best be summed up by a friend of mine-when I queried him on a particular part of Jewish theology. He pondered, and after a minute, responded. “I don’t know, Bryan. I just don’t know,” he sighed.
And so I guess “I don’t know either.” But I do wonder.
Bryan Taplits
Blue Ash, OH