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| Images from the Jewish Life Photo Bank (RNS) |
But that has not deterred me from considering myself a feminist. Which to me has always meant equal pay for equal work and treating women with the same dignity as men. What separates me from today’s feminists is the absurd extremes to which one must go to be worthy of that title. If being a feminist means one must violate religious principles then I cannot be a part of this club. For example the idea of supporting separate sections for men and women in the synagogue - as required in Orthodoxy - disqualifies one from being an actual feminist.
Which makes Jewish Orthodox feminist Alliance (JOFA) fall short of deserving the word ‘Feminist’ as part of their title too - since the word ‘Orthodox’ includes supporting separate sections for men and women in a Shul. A standard which of course JOFA actually adheres to as the word Orthodox in their title indicates.
What I’m trying to say is that just because one does not adopt the full equality of men and woman in all cases - that should not disqualify them from supporting women’s rights in other areas. This is as true of me as it is of JOFA. The only question is where to draw the line.
This has come into play in areas like the ordination of women. While JOFA heartily endorses that as a function of equally of the sexes, I do not. Without getting into details, the reason I do not is that centuries old traditions and practices should not be changed except for existential reasons. Maintaining the tradition of not ordaining women is not an existential threat to Judaism by any reasonable definition.
(While I have been ridiculed for considering myself a feminist because I do not subscribe fully to the notion of full equality in all areas the fact is that neither does JOFA.)
It is because of the above mentioned significant differences that I am not on board with JOFA’s full agenda. There is one area, however, that I think that JOFA and I can agree upon. Which is the way the Charedi world has gone overboard on issues of modesty. In a misguided attempt to enhance modesty laws, pictures of women have increasingly become the ‘forbidden fruit’ of publications of all sorts. Whereas in the not too distant past (and dating back to 100 years ago or more) the extremes of male female separation was never part of even the (non Chasidic) Charedi culture.
It has increasingly become part of their non Chasidic culture too. In fact separating the sexes has becomes such a strong and widespread function of the mainstream Charedi world that it has crept into the non Orthodox world. From an article in Religion News Service:
Eventually, the guidelines on modesty spread to some segments of the non-Orthodox world, especially businesses and organizations with Orthodox clients.
From 2004 to 2012, Israel’s largest transportation company, Egged, stopped running advertisements with women’s photos in Jerusalem after the ads were repeatedly defaced. In 2017, the furniture manufacturer Ikea created an alternative Israeli catalog without a single photo of a woman. Both Egged and Ikea backtracked after public pressure.
But against the urging of women’s rights and human rights organizations, many non-Orthodox businesses, banks, cellphone companies, health maintenance organizations and even government agencies continue to show only men in their advertising, at least in some locations.
It’s not that men and women should never be separated. There is a time and place for that, Mainly in a synagogue during prayer with a Minyan (10 men). Or obviously in places like a bathroom and a locker room. But in cases where women are dressed modestly by communal standards, there is no reason to separate them. Not even at banquets and wedding feasts. And certainly on public streets as some of the extremist Chasidim have attempted to do. Nor is it warranted on any form of public transportation.
The most egregious and unnecessary form of discrimination is the refusal to publish any picture of a woman no matter how modestly she is dressed. Not only is it unnecessary - it dishonors them. Taking modesty to this absurd level ends up treating all women as sex objects.
I am not here to change the modesty customs of the more extreme Chasidim. They can live their lives as they choose. I have no quarrel with them. My quarrel is with the mainstream right wing that seeks to emulate the more extreme Chasidic standards. That is what is happening in our world today.
I am therefore pleased that a group of women led by Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, an Orthodox Jewish feminist, is trying to do something about it:
Determined to return women’s images to the public sphere, Jaskoll has created a unique photo bank of religious Jewish women and their families. Launched by the religious women’s advocacy organization Chochmat Nashim, the Jewish Life Photo Bank has become a resource for positive images of religious Jewish women…
To jump-start the project, Jaskoll put out an online call to Orthodox women to ask if they would agree to be photographed performing their day-to-day activities.
“The response was incredible,” Jaskoll said. Within 48 hours more than 250 women in several countries had volunteered to model or photograph others, or offered a space for a photo shoot. Photo shoots have taken place in Israel, the U.S., England and France.
Although Shoshana and I do not agree on what being an Orthodox Jewish feminist entails, I absolutely support what she is doing here. I hope this project helps to curb the current ‘Frumkeit chase‘ under the guise of raising modesty standards.
But I have to admit that it is long shot at best to reverse a trend that has been going in the opposite direction for many years. And getting ‘Frumer’ by the day. But at least she is trying. And who knows... maybe she will win over the hearts nd minds of enough Charedim in the process to begin a reversal of that trend. One can hope.