Susan Cohen
2024-10-28 16:57:57 UTC
https://www.haaretz.com/2011-12-30/ty-article/orthodox-judaism-treats-women-like-filthy-little-things/0000017f-f0c8-dc28-a17f-fcfff69b0000?v=1730134067124
If a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save the
man, 'who is obligated to perform more commandments,' whereas a
woman's 'wisdom is only in the spindle.' In fact, 'words of Torah
should be burned rather than being given to women.'
If you would like to know the source from which your brothers derive
their brazen behavior, go over to the study hall and open a page of
Talmud. It's true that the Torah has 70 faces, but the trend of these
faces is clear: The source of the pollution is in halakha (Jewish law
) itself. What is happening in Beit Shemesh and its satellites is not
"contrary to halakha," it is mandated by halakha. And the rest will be
told to the grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters.
Anyone ignoramus knows that the Torah's "ways are ways of
pleasantness," that "the honor of a king's daughter is within," and
that "proper behavior comes before the Torah," but it's worth knowing
more. It's worth knowing that a woman is unfit to be a judge, and is
also unfit to give testimony. She is unfit for any public position
with authority. "Thou shalt appoint a king over thee" - a king and not
a queen.
A daughter, commanded the sages, must not be taught Torah, because
"the mind of woman is not suited to be taught, but [only] to words of
nonsense." Women are light-minded and have little knowledge.
And if a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save
the man, "who is obligated to perform more commandments," whereas a
woman's "wisdom is only in the spindle." In fact, "words of Torah
should be burned rather than being given to women."
A man must say three blessings every day during morning prayers: He
thanks God "that He didn't make me a gentile, that He didn't make me a
woman, that He didn't make me an ignoramus." And it's not proper to
speak to a woman too much, since "all her conversation is nothing but
words of adultery," and whoever talks to her too much "causes evil to
himself and will end up inheriting hell." And let's not even talk
about the fate of someone "who looks even at a woman's little finger."
The extremists who spit at women, who call themselves Sikarikim,
learned their lesson 101 times and learned it well: A husband would do
well not to let his wife go outside, into the street, and should
restrict her outings "to once or twice a month, as necessary, since a
woman has no beauty except by sitting in the corner of her house."
Because inside the house - very deep inside - her glorious honor
awaits her: "Every woman washes her husband's face and feet and pours
him a cup and prepares his bed and stands and serves her husband. And
any woman who refrains from doing any of these tasks that she is
obligated to perform - is forced to do them." Some recommend forcing
her with a whip or by starvation "until she gives in."
And needless to say, she is at her husband's disposal whenever he is
overcome by a desire "to satisfy his urges with her." And if she
continues to rebel, he always has the right "to divorce her without
her consent."
And there are many similar halakhot, only a few of which we have
collected here. Nor have we cited everything in the name of the ones
who said them, for lack of space. The readers are invited to find the
references on Shabbat - and to browse around - on their own; this is a
good opportunity for study. We will direct your attention to Tractate
Shabbat, which does a good job of summing up halakha's attitude toward
women: "a sack full of excrement" with a bleeding hole.
Some people will seek to console themselves: It's true that this is
the halakha both m'doraita (from the Torah ) and m'drabanan (from the
rabbis ), but that is not what is taught nowadays. But it suffices to
listen to the sermon the sage Rabbi Ovadia Yosef delivered five years
ago, based on the well-known halakhic work "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch": "A
man must take care not to walk between two women or between two dogs
or two pigs, and men should also not allow a woman or a dog or a pig
to walk between them."
Treating women as impure and filthy begins with halakha and continues
with actions. As long as the religious and ultra-Orthodox parties -
Shas, United Torah Judaism, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, none
of which have any women in the Knesset - are not disqualified, their
nakedness will continue to sing out and the nakedness of the land will
be revealed.
If a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save the
man, 'who is obligated to perform more commandments,' whereas a
woman's 'wisdom is only in the spindle.' In fact, 'words of Torah
should be burned rather than being given to women.'
If you would like to know the source from which your brothers derive
their brazen behavior, go over to the study hall and open a page of
Talmud. It's true that the Torah has 70 faces, but the trend of these
faces is clear: The source of the pollution is in halakha (Jewish law
) itself. What is happening in Beit Shemesh and its satellites is not
"contrary to halakha," it is mandated by halakha. And the rest will be
told to the grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters.
Anyone ignoramus knows that the Torah's "ways are ways of
pleasantness," that "the honor of a king's daughter is within," and
that "proper behavior comes before the Torah," but it's worth knowing
more. It's worth knowing that a woman is unfit to be a judge, and is
also unfit to give testimony. She is unfit for any public position
with authority. "Thou shalt appoint a king over thee" - a king and not
a queen.
A daughter, commanded the sages, must not be taught Torah, because
"the mind of woman is not suited to be taught, but [only] to words of
nonsense." Women are light-minded and have little knowledge.
And if a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save
the man, "who is obligated to perform more commandments," whereas a
woman's "wisdom is only in the spindle." In fact, "words of Torah
should be burned rather than being given to women."
A man must say three blessings every day during morning prayers: He
thanks God "that He didn't make me a gentile, that He didn't make me a
woman, that He didn't make me an ignoramus." And it's not proper to
speak to a woman too much, since "all her conversation is nothing but
words of adultery," and whoever talks to her too much "causes evil to
himself and will end up inheriting hell." And let's not even talk
about the fate of someone "who looks even at a woman's little finger."
The extremists who spit at women, who call themselves Sikarikim,
learned their lesson 101 times and learned it well: A husband would do
well not to let his wife go outside, into the street, and should
restrict her outings "to once or twice a month, as necessary, since a
woman has no beauty except by sitting in the corner of her house."
Because inside the house - very deep inside - her glorious honor
awaits her: "Every woman washes her husband's face and feet and pours
him a cup and prepares his bed and stands and serves her husband. And
any woman who refrains from doing any of these tasks that she is
obligated to perform - is forced to do them." Some recommend forcing
her with a whip or by starvation "until she gives in."
And needless to say, she is at her husband's disposal whenever he is
overcome by a desire "to satisfy his urges with her." And if she
continues to rebel, he always has the right "to divorce her without
her consent."
And there are many similar halakhot, only a few of which we have
collected here. Nor have we cited everything in the name of the ones
who said them, for lack of space. The readers are invited to find the
references on Shabbat - and to browse around - on their own; this is a
good opportunity for study. We will direct your attention to Tractate
Shabbat, which does a good job of summing up halakha's attitude toward
women: "a sack full of excrement" with a bleeding hole.
Some people will seek to console themselves: It's true that this is
the halakha both m'doraita (from the Torah ) and m'drabanan (from the
rabbis ), but that is not what is taught nowadays. But it suffices to
listen to the sermon the sage Rabbi Ovadia Yosef delivered five years
ago, based on the well-known halakhic work "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch": "A
man must take care not to walk between two women or between two dogs
or two pigs, and men should also not allow a woman or a dog or a pig
to walk between them."
Treating women as impure and filthy begins with halakha and continues
with actions. As long as the religious and ultra-Orthodox parties -
Shas, United Torah Judaism, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, none
of which have any women in the Knesset - are not disqualified, their
nakedness will continue to sing out and the nakedness of the land will
be revealed.