Published: 9 September 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
SHARON BERGER: We shouldn’t act as a silent majority placidly accepting what men decide is in our best interest. We give our power away too easily, reluctant to ruffle feathers
JEWISH MOTHERS GET a bad rap in popular culture. They are portrayed as overbearing, complaining, loud, overprotective and guilt inducing. Often depicted with strong New York accents, they have been typecast, usually negatively, in countless movies and TV shows.
Yet underneath all the nagging they are strong, determined women who speak their minds. They call the shots and their often brow-beaten husbands are seen as weak, bumbling fools who do whatever they are told.
Yet the fiercely strong female control portrayed in the Jewish home struggles to cross over to communal and public borders. While women in general are making huge strides in breaking through the glass ceiling, the Jewish community remains resistant to true gender equality.
While women are making huge strides in breaking through the glass ceiling, the Jewish community remains resistant to true gender equality.
This is exacerbated by the rising extremist tendencies, most evident in Israel, where not only do ultra-Orthodox parties refuse to field female candidates but increasingly women are being deliberately erased from the public eye.
While more apparent in Israel, it’s also happening across the Jewish world more broadly. In June, a well-respected teacher at the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS) had her fellowship revoked because she received smicha (rabbinic ordination) and took on the title of Rabba after three years of study. UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who is also President of LSJS, said she had “stepped beyond the boundaries of mainstream Orthodoxy.”
Although she was subsequently reinstated after an outcry, it’s important to question why a woman learning Jewish law is so threatening to the male hierarchy. Knowledge is power and I hope more women and girls will be encouraged to embrace it.
