Editing Women in Judaism (section)

===Education of women===
From certain contexts of the ''Mishnah'' and ''Talmud'', it can be derived that women should not study ''Mishnah''. Female Tannaitic Torah jurists included Rabbi Meir's wife,<ref>''Medrish'' on {{bibleverse|Proverbs|31}}</ref> Rabbi Meir's daughter, and the daughter of [[Haninah ben Teradion]].<ref>Talmud Babylonia Kelim ''Bava Kamma'' 4:17 separately in Sifre Deuteronomy 307 in both, she is personally left unnamed and referred to as just, 'and we have learned from the daughter of Haninah ben Terradyon,' a sign of the prevailing attitude towards women (as property of their fathers).</ref> Haninah's daughter is mentioned as a sage in the non-Talmudic third-century text ''Tractate Semahot'' 12:13.<ref>[[Tractate Semahot]] 12:13</ref> Rabbi Meir's wife is credited with teaching him how to understand some verses from [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]].<ref>Babylonian Talmud, ''Berachot'' 10a</ref> The ''Mishnah'' references certain women teaching men the Torah from behind a curtain so that no man would be offended.

However, a ''yeshiva'', or school for Talmudic studies, is an "exclusively masculine environment".<ref name=bowker/>{{rp|123}}

[[Maimonides]] tended to elevate the status of women above the then norm.<ref>Kraemer, 315.</ref> For example, he permitted women to study ''Torah'' even though other legal opinions did not.<ref>Kraemer, 335.</ref> Rabbi [[Chaim Joseph David Azulai]] wrote<ref>Tuv Ayin, no. 4</ref> that women should study the ''Mishnah'' only if they wanted to. According to the ''Hida'', the prohibition of teaching women does not apply to a motivated woman or girl. Maimonides' response to detractors was the prohibition against teaching Mishnah to any student—male or female—unless they were properly prepared and motivated.

One of the most important Ashkenazi rabbanim of the past century, [[Yisrael Meir Kagan]], known popularly as the "Chofetz Chaim", favored ''Torah'' education for girls to counteract the French "finishing schools" prevalent in his day for the daughters of the [[bourgeoisie]].  {{blockquote|
"It would appear that all [these sexist laws] were intended for earlier generations when everyone dwelt in the place of their familial ancestral home and ancestral tradition was very powerful among all to follow the path of their fathers... under such circumstances we could maintain that a woman not study Mishnayos and, for guidance, rely on her righteous parents, but presently, due to our myriad sins, ancestral tradition has become exceptionally weak and it is common that people do not dwell in proximity to the family home, and especially those women who devote themselves to mastering the vernacular, surely it is a now a great mitzvah to teach them Scripture and the ethical teachings of our sages such as Pirkei Avos, Menoras Ha-Ma'or and the like so that they will internalize our sacred faith because [if we do not do so] they are prone to abandon the path of God and violate all principles of [our] faith."<ref>Likkutei Halachos, Sotah p. 21</ref>}}

;Joseph Soloveitchik{{anchor|Joseph Soloveitchik}}
Rabbi [[Joseph B. Soloveitchik]] taught that all religious Ashkenazi Jews, except hardline [[Hasidim]], must teach their girls ''Gemarah'' like the boys: "The halakha prohibiting Torah study for women is not indiscriminate or all-encompassing. ... 'If ever circumstances dictate that study of [[Oral Torah|Torah sh-Ba'al Peh]] is necessary to provide a firm foundation for faith, such study becomes obligatory and obviously lies beyond the pale of any prohibition.' Undoubtedly, the Rav's prescription was more far-reaching than that of the [[Hafetz Haim|Hafets Hayim]] and others. But the difference in magnitude should not obscure their fundamental agreement [on changing the attitudes Halachically]."<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Genaḳ |editor-first=Menaḥem Dov ben Ḥayim Yitsḥaḳ |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=a_MRAQAAIAAJ|page=113}} |title=Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik: Man of Halacha, Man of Faith |date=1998 |publisher=Ktav |isbn=978-0-88125-612-3 |language=en|first=Mayor |last=Twersky |chapter=A Glimpse of the Rav|page=113}}</ref>