Women’s current position within Judaism is multi-determined, a synthesis between the views of women in the Hebrew Bible and its interpretations within the Oral Law and the influence of cultural and sociopolitical factors. Within every denomination of Judaism, the status of Jewish women represents a dialectic between the respect for tradition and the pull to adopt modern values. Even Jewish tradition is conflicted. Throughout much of Jewish history, women within Judaism suffered limited rights under the law, had fewer religious obligations than men, and were not counted as equal members of a religious or legal community. Yet, women were simultaneously glorified. Modern Jewish tradition has responded by creating countless creative solutions.
Women in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible includes representations of women as devout, pious, and God-fearing but also as seductive, wily, and deceitful. Eve, the archetype of woman and the starting point for a discussion of womanhood in the...
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Schwartz, H. (2020). Women in Judaism. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9316
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