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| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu |
Jerusalem Post, 2k.05.30, p. 8; posted 2k.06.01 – “Jewish women do not pray like Jewish men, though the archetype for Jewish men at prayer is the Biblical çÇðÌÈä.
“… Normative Jewish law is based on the fact that there are differences between men and women. This may be politically incorrect but quite fair given that the úÌåÉøÈä postulates an axiom of dissimilar equality of the two genders…
Several factors led Khayâh, a former ‘Women of the Wall’ (WOW) activist, to recant the feminist activism in the Orthodox community.
“Ta•litꞋ envy: The petition [to the High Court, discussed in the next article, which follows] demands the right of women to pray according to their customs. But in reality they demand the right for women to pray the way men pray. This stance has been influenced by modern feminism, which minimizes differences between genders by encouraging women to emulate [and emasculate; ybd] men. This masculo-feminism is not surprising, given our modern unisex milieu and the focus on rights as opposed to obligations.
”Letter vs spirit: One can find a precedent in the corpus of Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ to justify almost anything… was this the halakhically preferable [emphasis added; ybd] way for a woman to pray? …
”Prioritization: The Hebrew letters of the name çÇðÌÈä… are known as an acronym for the three areas of primary obligation for a Jewess [and geir•âhꞋ ; ybd]:
Khayâh concluded that before she would join the efforts of WOW to pray at the [KoꞋtël], she should first become more exacting in her observance of the laws connected with these three areas, as well as with other areas clearly obligatory on women.
"To pray in the WOW tᵊphil•âhꞋ group at the KoꞋtël at the beginning of the Hebrew month was presumptuous if she hadn’t been privately punctilious about the main Rōsh KhōꞋdësh passages: Ha•leilꞋ, Mu•sâphꞋ and additions to food blessings for bread and cakes. The passport for undertaking such a venture at the KōꞋtël, she reasoned, was to first become particular about many other areas of higher priority: e.g. ethical precepts, philanthropy, ka•shᵊr•utꞋ, etc.
”Sport: A modern role model for Khayâh was the late Biblical scholar Nᵊkhâm•âhꞋ Leibowitz. Khayâh was hurt when Nᵊkhâm•âhꞋ Leibowitz unsympathetically labeled as ‘sport’ the untraditional demonstrative prayer by women at the KoꞋtël. ‘At first the rebuke stung. But I gradually realized it was Nᵊkhâm•âhꞋ’s pithy shorthand for the halakhic concept that “greater is one who does a mi•tzᵊwâhꞋ he is obligated to do, than one who does an optional mi•tzᵊwâhꞋ.” If a woman has a desire for greater spirituality, the black box of tᵊphil•inꞋ was not needed; better she should practice mi•tzᵊw•otꞋ such as visiting the sick…"
Khayâh said it well: “Women’s prayer need not ape men’s.”
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