Women and Judaism...you knew it was coming

Hello friends! So I have voluntarily decided to enter the required abroad funk. Don’t be worried, this is a decision I have come to on my own. You see, as is proven by the chart handed to all adventurers at Brandeis’s pre-abroad orientation that maps the emotions of those within this category during their semester abroad, after, euphoria, panic, initial adjustment into your new culture, situation and population, a lull occurs in which each adventurer becomes bored of the not-so-new culture, situation and population and crave novelty once more, the novelty that welcomed them in the beginning of the experience. The chart sadly did not say how long this period would last, but that soon, you adjust once more and appreciate the new life you are living as just that without having the expectations appropriate for say, a tourist. Well I have taken the liberty to decide that this lull will last one and half weeks, from this past Monday until next Friday. Now is perfect timing to accept this lull in stride for a few reasons. First, last week’s safari was a wonderful experience that left me craving more animals and more traveling instead of returning to classes (though I love classes). Second, my phone was “stolen” (or lost, one or the other, but I choose to say stolen because then that counts as the one bad thing that is due to occur during my time in South Africa) which has forced me to get a new one and hunt the numbers of my friends down which has made it difficult to fully be in touch with everyone and has subsequently limited my activity opportunities. Third, the school system both in Khayalitcha and Kensington has a 3 week long Easter break and as a result, volunteering will not resume until April 14^th which leaves two afternoons a week with nothing scheduled. On top of that African dance class was canceled this week leaving me with additional free time. Fourth, by next Friday, I will have pesach to look forward to in a week from then which I am very excited for. Fifth, if the lull is inevitable, I want to be the one to define the terms by which it arrives so as to limit the amount of damage it does to my experience. I figure I am halfway through my semester abroad so it is perfect timing because once it passes, I will have so much more time to fully enjoy my circumstances without having to worry. So don’t worry about me, ok? I am in control.

Within my lull, I have spent a great deal of time in the UCT library getting a head start on reading for a paper that is due in two months. For my Liberation in Southern Africa class research paper, I have chosen to compare the religious ideologies of the leaders of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa to those of the leaders on America’s Black Power Movement and discuss how these ideas impacted the tactics used in each movement. So this week I have read Malcolm X’s autobiography and various articles about the BPM in preparation. I am so excited to write this paper I cannot even tell you. I feel like by the time I start writing it I will know so much about the topics. I am also really going to enjoy the opportunity to connect everything that I have been learning about South Africa and subsequently the connection I feel toward it, to America, the country I actually live in, the country whose racial issues and tensions I have never really bothered to analyze but were always right in front of me. I am really happy that this whole experience is offering me so many things that will make my experience when I get back to the states better and more meaningful.

Anyway I have a funny story to share. The first is that this week we have been learning in my Liberation in Southern Africa class about Angola’s liberation struggle because it is very much related to that of Namibia (which is in Southern Africa and Angola is not). Now I know you might be thinking, Rachie, you are so insensitive, liberation struggles are no laughing matter but rather complex realities experienced by many who suffered a great deal of hardship and revealed the worst qualities of mankind. Yes I know that and respect it, but just wait, there is some humor in this situation. Anyway there were three main freedom fighting groups within Angola, Unita, MPLA and..FMLA. Now for all you ardent feminists, you may know that FMLA is an acronym that stands for feminist majority leadership alliance (Brandeis’s feminist campus group). I was so excited to hear that the feminists were so involved in the liberation struggle. It seemed to have confirmed all the wonderful efforts I knew that women were truly capable of.. Sadly I found out the next day that I had heard wrong and the correct acronym for the group was the FNLA. So I hope you can see the humor in this and not think I am an insensitive, awful person.

Moving on, so last Shabbat I went back to Milnerton, the two house, garage-converted-into -a-shul community (also known as the JLC – Jewish Learning Center), which was wonderful as always. However, on Shabbat day, a women’s shir was held (the population was predominantly middle aged women and me and a few other girls my age). I must admit the whole experience was rather disappointing. The conversation confirmed every stereotype people attach to women especially with a Jewish context. Instead of discussing a text or concrete Jewish issue, the facilitator simply asked us to define freedom in the spirit of Pesach swiftly approaching. While a few interesting answers were given, the conversation very quickly turned into a therapy session in which we discussed marriage, failed marriages, professional troubles and our “emotions.” Uch. As a Jewish woman, I was a little insulted. I, and I would guess most of the women at this shir, am fully capable of discussing pressing Jewish topics. There is no need to go out of your way to create a forum for Jewish women to learn if you are simply going to engage in a conversation that would be quite common outside of that context. I felt like the whole situation simplified and offended the intellect of Jewish women. We, too, are members of a religious system that relies upon discussion and debate in order to continue to understand how the laws, ideas and theologies of Judaism continue to be relevant and necessary to our lives. While I am sure this is not what was intended, I regarded this as an affront to women’s involvement within this process.

While I have not discussed the issue of women in Judaism so much here, I have recently been forced to consider our status through the lens of the Cape Town Jewish community. Because of the limited options of movements, any traditional woman must adhere to an Orthodox system. So in going to Shul (which for many is one of their primary active Jewish experiences), they must sit behind a mechitza and not be active participants in the service. Because this is one of the main ritual experiences a lot of these women have, I have noticed that there are often a lot of women who do not focus so much on praying and as a result there is often a lot of talking. It also seems that women do not have too many opportunities to enrich themselves in Jewish learning or simply do not utilize the resources available to them. Ultimately, I feel as though women internally do not feel as though they matter so much within the community because it seems that intellectually and arguably spiritually they do not have much to offer. I do not know if people actually feel this way and I do see a great deal of social communal involvement that clearly implies that these women value their communities a great deal. However, I have been lucky enough to be part of traditional communities that do allow women to spread their intellectual wings within the confines of halacha. I have also decided to extend these boundaries on my own and take strides that I acknowledge are outside the realm of halacha in order to feel as empowered and spiritually inspired as possible. But regardless of my own decisions, I know that there is a way for women to feel as though they serve a greater purpose than stereotypes permit and I wish that this was available to traditional Jewish women in South Africa.

I experienced yet another “marginalization of women in traditional Judaism” situation in the past two weeks of the Religion, Sexuality and Gender class which were focused on Judaism. The lecturer for this section is a progressive (South Africa’s version of reform) Rabbi who has a congregation in a Cape Town suburb. Throughout his lecture I sensed a subtle disdain for traditional Judaism as a result of its sexist, prejudiced and inconsiderate nature. In my opinion, he did not fully communicate the significance of upholding tradition within Orthodox spheres and at times made it seem like the movement continues to oppress and victimize women who have no voice in the system. I personally have many issues with traditional Judaism in regard to the subjects of sexuality and gender, however I am very aware that there are many people who are completely devoted to this system and understand that each law must be held to in order to comply with what God commanded of them (though I also acknowledge that many people in this system do grapple with these issues while still functioning within a halachic framework). So, as this Rabbi continued to make remarks like “while orthodoxy does this to women, the progressive movement has disregarding it because it is offensive,” I felt as though he was not articulating the value of upholding tradition or acknowledging attempts that are being made to mend certain issues within Orthodoxy within the confines of halacha. He simply made it seem that while progressive Judaism makes progress and is enlightened to the ways of the modern world, traditional Judaism is stuck within a sexist system and refuses to change.

It is almost as if the realities of the women of the traditional Jewish communities are confirming the issues that the progressive movement (or maybe just this one Rabbi) has pinpointed within Orthodoxy. Remember these are all I statements and this also might seem biased since I have had moments where I have felt marginalized by traditional Judaism and have taken necessary steps to stop feeling this way. I really hope I do not sound patronizing, it is just that I know so many amazing women who operate within the halachic system and are so confident and competent within it. So when it seems like the system itself as well as perception of it prevent women from developing this strength, I wonder if the problems that I have with traditional Judaism extend beyond my personal preference. I wonder if the system actually does not do all that it can to empower women (and others) to gain all that they possibly can from the traditional system.

South African Ulpan:

Bru – noun – brew – slang for brother

When Jimmy saw Calvin at the joll, he said “howzit bru?” Calvin responded “great thanks, I just got here, but I was little late because my buckey broke down and I could not go home from the beach to change,” to which Jimmy responded “shame, man, that is why you are wearing your cozzie.”

Wow look at you guys, you just understood a whole paragraph of South African. Gold stars for all of you!