Editing Women in Judaism (section)

== Middle Ages ==
Since Jews were seen as second-class citizens in Christian and Muslim societies (legally known in the Muslim world as [[dhimmi]]), it was harder for Jewish women to establish their own status. [[Avraham Grossman|Grossman]] claimed that three factors affected how Jewish women were perceived by society: "the biblical and Talmudic heritage; the situation in the non-Jewish society within which the Jews lived and functioned; and the economic status of the Jews, including the woman's role in supporting the family."{{sfn|Grossman|2004}} Grossman used these factors to argue that women's status overall during this period rose.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=3}}

During the Middle Ages, a conflict emerged between Judaism's expectations of women and the reality in which they lived; this was similar to the lives of Christian women of the period.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baskin |first=Judith Reesa |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=ASw5HwZrMNYC|page=94}} |date=1998 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=978-0-8143-2713-5 |language=en|author-link=Judith R. Baskin|chapter=Jewish Women in the Middle Ages|title=Jewish Women in Historical Perspective|page=94 }}</ref> This prompted the [[kabbalistic]] work ''Sefer Hakanah'' to demand that women fulfill the ''mitzvot'' in a way equal to men. In some communities of [[Ashkenaz]] in the fifteenth century, the wife of the rabbi wore ''[[tzitzit]]'' like her husband.<ref name="Ben-Sasson">{{Cite book |last=Ben-Sasson |first=Hayim |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=nPKfkgAACAAJ|page=612}}|title=A History of the Jewish People |date=2010-09-09 |publisher=Yokai Publishing |isbn=978-0-85792-468-1 |language=en|editor-last=Ben-Sasson |editor-first=H. H. |chapter=Spiritual and Social Creativity|pages=612–627}}</ref>

=== Religious life ===
Prohibitions against teaching women Torah eased, and women started to form prayer groups.{{sfn|Steinberg|2008 |pp=157–158}} Women participated in Jewish practices publicly at the [[synagogue]]. Women probably learned how to read the liturgy in Hebrew.<ref name="Baskin 1991 42">{{cite journal|last=Baskin|first=Judith R.|title=Some Parallels in the Education of Medieval Jewish and Christian Women|journal=Jewish History|date=Spring 1991|volume=5|issue=1|jstor=20101094|page=42|doi=10.1007/bf01679792|s2cid=143121150}}</ref>

[[John Bowker (theologian)|Bowker]] stated that traditionally, "[[Mechitza|men and women pray separately]]. This goes back to ancient times when women could go only as far as the second court of the Temple."<ref name=bowker/>{{rp|19}} In most synagogues, women were given an area [[Ezrat Nashim|named Ezrat Nashim]], most likely a balcony; some synagogues had a separate building.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=181}}

Separation from the men was created by the Rabbis in the ''[[Mishnah]]'' and the ''[[Talmud]]''. The reasoning was that a woman and her body would distract men and give them impure thoughts during prayer.<ref>[[Sukkah (Talmud)|Succah]] 51a–52b</ref> Due to this rabbinical interpretation, scholars viewed the women's role in the synagogue as limited and sometimes non-existent. Later research reported that women had a significant role in the synagogue and the community at large. Women usually attended synagogue, for example, on the [[Shabbat]] and the holidays.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Fine |editor-first=Lawrence |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=WOQ9DwAAQBAJ|page=52}} |title=Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period |date=2001-11-18 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-05787-3 |page=52|language=en|last=Adelman |first=Howard |chapter=Italian Jewish Women at Prayer}}</ref>

Depending on the location, women either attended the same service as the men or conducted their own. In larger synagogues, a designated woman who was able to follow the cantor would repeat the prayers for the women.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=181}} Women had always attended services on Shabbat and holidays, but beginning in the eleventh century, women became more involved in the synagogue and its rituals. Separate seating for women became a norm around the beginning of the thirteenth century.{{sfn|Steinberg|2008 |p=157}} Women, however, did much more than pray. One of their main jobs was to beautify the building. Women sewed [[Torah ark]] curtains and Torah covers; some survive.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taitz|first=Emily|title=The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.-1900 C.E.|url=https://archive.org/details/jpsguidetojewish00tait|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Jewish Publication Society|location=Philadelphia|page=[https://archive.org/details/jpsguidetojewish00tait/page/128 128] |author2=Sondra Henry |author3=Cheryl Tallan|isbn=9780827607521}}</ref> The synagogue was a communal place for both men and women where worship, learning and community activities occurred.

The rise of [[Kabbalah]], which emphasized the ''[[shechinah]]'' and female aspects of the divine presence and human-divine relationship, and which saw marriage as a holy covenant between partners rather than just a civil contract, had great influence. Kabbalists explained the phenomenon of menstruation as expressions of the demonic or sinful character of the menstruant.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Koren |first=Sharon Faye |date=2009 |title=The Menstruant as "Other" in Medieval Judaism and Christianity |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/article/265959 |journal=Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=33–59 |doi=10.2979/nas.2009.-.17.33 |s2cid=162270360 |issn=1565-5288}}</ref> These changes were accompanied by increased pietistic strictures, including greater requirements for [[Tzeniut|modest dress]], and greater strictures while [[Niddah|menstruating]]. Philosophical and ''[[midrashic]]'' interpretations depicted women in a negative light, emphasizing a duality between matter and spirit in which femininity was associated, with negative connotations, with earth and matter.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=277–278}} Gentile society was seen as a negative influence on the Jewish community. For example, it seems that Jews would analyze the modesty of their Gentile neighbors before officially moving into a new community, because they knew that their children would be influenced by their surroundings.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=2}}
After the [[Alhambra Decree|expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492]], women became virtually the only source of Jewish ritual and tradition in the Catholic world in a phenomenon known as [[crypto-Judaism]]. Crypto-Jewish women slaughtered their own animals,{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} and followed as many of the [[Kosher|Jewish dietary laws (''Kashrut'' or ''kosher'')]] and life cycle rituals as possible without raising suspicion. Occasionally, these women were prosecuted by [[Inquisition]] officials for suspicious behavior such as lighting candles to honor the Sabbath or refusing to eat pork. The Inquisition targeted crypto-Jewish women at least as much as it targeted crypto-Jewish men, because women were accused of perpetuating Jewish tradition while men were merely permitting their wives and daughters to organize the household.{{sfn|Melammed|2009|pp=105-111}}

=== Domestic life ===
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Jewish Marriage Certificate - overall.jpg|thumb|Jewish marriage certificate, dated 1740 ([[Brooklyn Museum]])]]
[[File:Maroc juif - Meknès 1920.jpg|thumb|Moroccan Jewish women]]

Marriage, domestic violence and divorce were discussed by [[Rishonim|Jewish sages of the Medieval world]]. [[Marriage in Judaism|Marriage is an important institution in Judaism]]. The wife/mother is called "''akeret habayit''" in Hebrew, which in English means "mainstay of the house". In traditional and [[Orthodox Judaism]] the ''akeret habayit'' tends to the family and household duties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1802936/jewish/Woman-in-Judaism.htm|title=What is the Role of the Woman in Judaism?|website=www.chabad.org|access-date=2016-10-20}}</ref>

[[Rabbeinu Gershom]] instituted a rabbinic decree ([[Takkanah|t''akkanah'']]) prohibiting [[polygyny]] among [[Ashkenazic]] Jews.{{sfn|Biale|1984|p=81}} At the time, [[Sephardic]] and [[Mizrahi Jews]] did not accept this ban.

The rabbis instituted legal methods to enable women to petition a [[Beit Din|rabbinical court]] to compel a divorce. [[Maimonides]] ruled that a woman who found her husband "repugnant" could ask a court to compel a divorce by flogging the recalcitrant husband "because she is not like a captive, to be subjected to intercourse with one who is hateful to her".<ref>[[Hilkhot Ishut]] 14:8</ref>{{sfn|Biale|1984|p= 91}}<ref>Kraemer, 345.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=January 2024}} Furthermore, Maimonides ruled that a woman may "consider herself as divorced and remarry" if her husband remained absent for three years.<ref>Kraemer, 289.</ref> This was to prevent women married to traveling merchants from becoming an ''[[agunah]]'' if the husband never returned.

The rabbis instituted and tightened prohibitions on domestic violence. [[Peretz ben Elijah|Rabbi Peretz ben Elijah]] ruled, "The cry of the daughters of our people has been heard concerning the sons of Israel who raise their hands to strike their wives. Yet who has given a husband the authority to beat his wife?"{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=224}} [[Meir of Rothenburg|Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg]] ruled that, "For it is the way of the Gentiles to behave thus, but Heaven forbid that any Jew should do so. And one who beats his wife is to be excommunicated and banned and beaten."{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=226}} He also ruled that a battered wife could petition a [[Beit Din|rabbinical court]] to compel a husband to grant a divorce, with a monetary fine owed to her on top of the regular ''[[ketubah]]'' money.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=222}} These rulings occurred in the midst of societies where wife-beating was legally sanctioned and routine.{{sfn|Grossman|2004|p=230}}

=== Education ===
Jewish women had a limited education. They were taught to read, write, run a household. They were given some education in religious law that was essential to their daily lives, such as keeping [[kosher]]. Both Christian and Jewish girls were educated in the home. Although Christian girls might have either a male or female tutor, most Jewish girls had a female tutor.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Baskin|first=Judith R.|title=Some Parallels in the Education of Medieval Jewish and Christian Women|journal=Jewish History|date=Spring 1991|volume=5|issue=1|jstor=20101094|page=43|doi=10.1007/bf01679792|s2cid=143121150}}</ref> [[Female education#Medieval period|Higher learning was uncommon for women]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Baskin|first=Judith R.|title=Some Parallels in the Education of Medieval Jewish and Christian Women|journal=Jewish History|date=Spring 1991|volume=5|issue=1|jstor=20101094|page=46|doi=10.1007/bf01679792|s2cid=143121150}}</ref> More sources of education were available for Jewish women in Muslim-controlled lands. Middle Eastern Jewry had an abundance of female literates.{{sfn|Melammed|1991|pp= 91–100}}

Many women had enough education to help their husbands in business or even run their own. Jewish women seem to have lent money to Christian women throughout Europe.{{sfn|Marcus|1986|p= 38}} Women also worked as copyists, [[Midwifery#Early historical perspective|midwives]], spinners, and weavers.{{sfn|Steinberg|2008 |p=160}}{{sfn|Marcus|1986|p= 39}}

[[File:Jewish women strike.png|thumb|The Montreal Star 07 Mar 1921, Mon · Page 11]]