I am so going to hell. When our department admin told me the boss is gone to a doctor's appointment, my very first thought was, "Good. Maybe he'll take a sick day tomorrow.
Bad Dichroic.
Outside work, I'm reading Women and Judaism by Blu Greenberg. It's fascinating: a discussion of the conflicts between feminism and traditional halakha (Jewish Law) with the ways in which they need to influence one another discussed, thoughts on what would be gained thereby, and concrete suggestions made on how to do it without doing violence to traditional Orthodox customs and family life.
Most of the books I read I couldn't write for one reason or another, lack of talent or lack of knowledge being preeminent among them. This one I couldn't write just because of who I am. No one but an Orthodox woman could have: one who was raised in a traditional home, runs one herself, loves the traditions she follows, and is a wife and mother as well as a scholar. A Conservative or Reform Jewish woman could write another book, of course, and maybe an important one, but not this particular book. It might have love, it might have knowledge, it might even have Yiddishkeit, but it wouldn't have had the insight and credibility Blu Greenberg has.
It's a little dated, since it was written in the 80s. It's using some feminist terms that have been changed or softened with time. On the other hand, the issues she discusses, such as when or whether women should be included in the minyan or should have the same prayer obligations as men, are still in flux. Also, there are still far too many people who see feminism as not a voice for equality, but as the shrill man-hating rhetoric of those who want superior privileges with no added responsibilities. Greenberg, on the other hand, wants rights but also the concomitant responsibilities. She says that Orhtodox women, not required to pray in public, have too often drifted away from prayer in private (something I wouldn't have known), and suggest that increased responsibilites might also lead to increased joy in those responsibilities. She speaks of the love and warmth of Jewish famly life and the need to preserve it in the face of any changes made, suggesting that, for example, women with young children would still be exempted from certain responsibilities, but not those without such ties to the house. (And she recognizes that over time, this would also need to apply to men who were primary child-caregivers.)
She also talks of growing up in a time when "a Jewish girl didn't really need to worry about supporting herself", which interests me because it's so far from my own experience and yet as close as my mother's girlhood.
I bought the book after encountering her as a character in The Jew in the Lotus, also recommended. This seems to be my year for Jewish education. I don't have the feeling that it's leading anywhere in particular, other than to more knowledge of course, but that's enough for me.
Posted by dichroic at September 28, 2005 05:43 PMThe Jew in the Lotus was my introduction to the Greenbergs, too, and to Reb Zalman, for that matter.
Sometimes I feel I should send Rodger Kamenetz a thank-you note. "Dear Rodger, You don't know me from Eve but your book about going to India changed my life. Oh, and your poetry's excellent, too."
*g*
Posted by: Rachel at September 28, 2005 08:31 PMRemind me at JC to discuss Judaic history and folkways vs faith. And of my friend Dianne who was a pious but not a cultural Jew. Torah vs Lox to be continued in San Diego. ~LA
Posted by: LA at September 29, 2005 02:10 AMI always had a problem reading (or listening to) Blu Greenberg because she was speaking from such a different point of view. Remember, I too was a Jewish girl brought up in an Orthodox home. Nevertheless, I never thought I would spend my whole life as a housewife or being supported by someone else. Like so many traditional women, Blu has more of a career than she is willing to let other women have.
Posted by: l-empress at September 29, 2005 07:10 AM