Jewish Women in Time and Torah

By Eliezer Berkovits

RABBI DR. ELIEZER BERKOVITS' FINAL BOOK, Jewish Women in Time and Torah, is a critical examination of the status of women in Halakhah. It offers a coherent theological approach by which the eternal Divine nature of Torah must be upheld, and yet also recognize that the ever-changing status of women, reflected in our sacred texts, is linked to historical and social movements of humanity in the world at large. Berkovits makes several suggestions, based on a thorough examination of halakhic sources, to improve that status. The author's basic thesis is that the inferior status of women is a vestige of ancient culture. In the course of time, women have gained certain rights. But, Berkovits emphasizes, more remains to be done, especially in the spheres of ritual participation and marital rights, areas in which he makes a number of concrete halakhic suggestions. For example, he suggests that adequate halakhic justification exists for women to take upon themselves the mitzvah of donning tefillin or establishing their own prayer groups, as well as women reciting Shabbat kiddush for men or participating in a mixed-gender zimmun for Grace After Meals.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9655243656
• ISBN13: 9789655243659
• Release Date: December 2022
• Publisher: Urim Publications
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A comprehensive view of the issues from a coherent framework

R. Berkovits provides a coherent historical framework from which to view women's current status in Judaism: his thesis is that women have evolved from an "impersonal" role where their primary importance was for the pragmatic purpose they served to today's more "personal" view: where women are valued as individuals, beyond their practical roles in their homes. He shows in which ways halacha has yet to catch up with the individual/personal view of women, and draws a number of impressive conclusions. I have read nearly every book written in English about women's status in halacha, and this is, by far, the best of any of them. No other book offers such a coherent historical framework for his or her ideas. This book is compelling and insightful, and is, I think, the first book coming from Halachic Judaism to fully address the full range of feminist concerns.

Hear Women Roar

A great book by a great scholar, gives most of the dirt on the jewish bent against women and shows that the newest thing in Judaism is it's staticness. There is hope and it can start today, and he begins to show how. It is a simplification of a great Tshuvah of his on the Agunah