Feminist Perspectives on Jewish Studies

✍ Scribed by Lynn Davidman, Shelly Tenenbaum (eds.)

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 286
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is the first to evaluate the development of feminist scholarship in various fields within Jewish studies. Eminent scholars in biblical studies, rabbinics, theology, history, literature, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and film studies assess the state of knowledge about women in each field, analyze how this knowledge has affected the mainstream of the discipline, and propose new questions and concepts to pursue. The authors-Joyce Antler, Lynn Davidman, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Judith Hauptman, Paula E. Hyman, Sonya Michel, Judith Plaskow, Susan Starr Sered, Naomi Sokoloff, Shelly Tenenbaum, and Hava Tirosh-Rothschild-consider a range of fascinating issues. Among them are: whether Jewish culture is as patriarchal as is typically assumed; how gender arrangements in Jewish life are shaped by the structures and culture of the larger societies in which Jews live; the different ways in which changes in Jewish families over time and place are experienced by women and by men; whether women or men have been more reluctant to assimilate; and how segregation of the sexes has affected women's autonomy in different periods and locations in Jewish history. Together, the articles present a strong argument for the inclusion of gender as a category of analysis in all fields of Jewish studies.

✦ Table of Contents

Feminist Perspectives on Jewish Studies......Page 1
Contents......Page 4
1— Introduction......Page 6
The Integration of Scholarship on Women......Page 8
Gender Hierarchies and Their Social Contexts......Page 10
The Question of Objectivity......Page 11
New Areas of Thematic Inquiry......Page 13
Public and Private in Jewish Life......Page 15
Differences between Women......Page 17
Notes......Page 18
2— The Bible and Women's Studies......Page 21
Recognizing Patriarchy......Page 22
The Women......Page 24
Her Story......Page 25
The Bible on Gender......Page 28
Reading with Nonpatriarchal Eyes......Page 29
The Texts of Terror......Page 31
Woman as Symbol......Page 36
Notes......Page 38
3— Feminist Perspectives on Rabbinic Texts......Page 45
Jacob Neusner......Page 48
Judith Wegner......Page 55
A Feminist Research Agenda: A Proposal......Page 59
Notes......Page 63
Theology and the Academy......Page 67
Theology and Judaism......Page 68
Feminist Theology......Page 69
Jewish Feminist Theology as Critique and Recovery......Page 71
Jewish Feminist Theology as Construction......Page 77
Notes......Page 86
Feminist Philosophy......Page 90
The Feminist Critique......Page 91
The Feminist Alternative......Page 95
Feminist Philosophy in Perspective......Page 99
Feminism and Jewish Philosophy......Page 101
Defining Jewish Philosophy......Page 102
Scholars of Jewish philosophy have not responded to feminism, because they have yet to respond to co.........Page 105
Scholars of Jewish philosophy do not perceive feminist scholarship in philosophy to be a serious phi.........Page 107
To date, no feminist scholar in Jewish studies has engaged the practitioners of Jewish philosophy on.........Page 108
The Liberating Power of Philosophy......Page 109
Notes......Page 116
6— Feminist Studies and Modern Jewish History......Page 125
The Public-Private Dichotomy......Page 128
The Family......Page 129
Assimilation......Page 131
Community and Political Activism......Page 134
Spirituality......Page 136
Future Research......Page 137
Notes......Page 140
7— Toward a Feminist Sociology of American Jews......Page 145
The Modernization Paradigm......Page 147
Women's Invisibility......Page 148
Family......Page 151
Economic Roles and Educational Attainment......Page 153
A Feminist Reconceptualization of Modernization......Page 155
Beyond Modernization......Page 157
Religion......Page 159
Family......Page 163
Notes......Page 167
8— "She Perceives Her Work to Be Rewarding": Jewish Women in a Cross-Cultural Perspective......Page 174
Literacy, Power, and Sexual Segregation......Page 176
The Female Perspective......Page 178
Women's Rituals......Page 180
Family Relations......Page 182
Modernization......Page 185
Gender Differences......Page 187
Directions for Future Research......Page 189
Conclusion......Page 190
Notes......Page 191
9— Sleeping with the Other: The Problem of Gender in American-Jewish Literature......Page 196
A Gendered Analysis of American Jewish Literature: Exploratory Themes......Page 200
The Immigrant Period......Page 201
American Jewish Literature: The 1930s and 1940s......Page 207
Jewish Writing in the Mainstream: The 1950s and 1960s......Page 210
Gender and the Holocaust......Page 215
Directions in American-Jewish Literature: 1970 to the Present......Page 216
Notes......Page 220
10— Modern Hebrew Literature: The Impact of Feminist Research......Page 229
Language and Gender......Page 231
Issues of Gender: Public and Private Realms......Page 232
Feminist Approaches to Modern Hebrew Literature: An Overview......Page 234
Stereotypes and Images of Women......Page 235
A Female Literary Tradition in Hebrew......Page 236
Gender Boundaries......Page 239
The Collective and the Personal in the Representation of Women......Page 242
Directions for Future Research......Page 243
Notes......Page 244
11— Jews, Gender, American Cinema......Page 249
Notes......Page 266
Contributors and Editors......Page 275
B......Page 276
D......Page 277
F......Page 278
G......Page 279
I......Page 280
K......Page 281
M......Page 282
P......Page 283
S......Page 284
T......Page 285
Z......Page 286