Young, Jewish and Female: What’s changed?

VARIOUS

Age-old Judaism can accommodate the modern woman
Hannah Midzuk

I was born into an updated and updating society. As a female living in the 21st century, my life is overflowing with privileges that my grandmother and the women before her lacked.

I don’t know about illiteracy and fighting for my right to education. Nor have I had to struggle for the right to vote or earn a seat in parliament. I’m blessed with the opportunity to be an empowered woman who has rights, privileges, opinions, leadership skills, and an education.

Our world still has a long way to go to having an ideal attitude towards women, yet young women today are largely free to determine their careers, are mostly valued in the workplace and at home, and in many places, are viewed as equals.

How does a Jewish woman living in this modern, female-empowered world find her place within our age-old religion?

This is the question being contemplated by young South African Jewish women. These women might find that while secular society has finally established a place for them to be educated, powerful, and independent, their religion seems to be in the same place as it did when Am Yisrael got the Torah.

Judaism is the oldest extant religion. Our traditions stretch back to Moshe, and those established by chazal (a collective term referring to the Jewish sages responsible for development of the oral law).

A Jewish woman’s role seems to be described as upholding the household, being the mother and educator of her children. And while young females feel a sense of pride in being Jewish and upholding this important role, sometimes we feel bound by this status.

While women are empowered as strong and outspoken leaders in the secular world, religion seems to be steering us to remain hidden behind men. While women are thriving in the academic world, we are often told that we lack the ability – or are forbidden to engage in – in-depth Torah learning.

This tension can have dire consequences. While a young Jewess struggles over attuning to her role in the Jewish world, she might feel – due to lack of education, fitting teachers, and role models – that she has no place in Judaism. Unfortunately, this can lead to many rejecting or neglecting their religious identity.

Young Jewish women need to realise that our religion also offers a space for the modern Jewish woman.

Torah is an evolution. Our Torah has evolved from Hashem’s word to Moshe, to oral Torah, and numerous modern commentaries. While its lessons are timeless, we have taken the ancient teachings fitting for people living in the desert and about to enter eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), and found their application to our 21st century workplace, technology, medicine, modern Israel, and current moral dilemmas. We’ve now found the space for the modern woman too.

All of this has occurred while still remaining true to the initial commandments, and within the boundaries of halacha. Our Torah is alive. Its foundation of morals and values has grown, developed, and moulded to our world today. While our secular world has taken leaps in terms of women’s role within it, our religion has found a place within its eternal truth for the empowered, intellectual, and independent woman, while still remaining orthodox.

Being a Jew is beautiful, but I have found so much more beauty in it now that I have an empowered place within it. Only once I had studied at Midreshet Harova last year and was exposed to knowledgeable orthodox rabbis and female teachers did I fully understand the role of the Jewish woman. These educators taught me that the strong modern woman is a recurring character in the ancient world of the Tanach, for example, Devorah, Miriam, and Ester.

It is these female role models who have taught me that there has always been an empowered role for women within the Torah – one in which intellect, passion, and talent are endorsed and utilised in our daily lives.

I urge young South African Jewish women not to give up. One may be a powerful, educated, inspired woman both in the Jewish orthodox and secular world. Keep searching for answers, teachings, and educators who can direct you towards the updated and updating role of the Jewish woman.

• Hannah Midzuk matriculated from Yeshiva College in 2017, spent a year at Midreshet Harova in Israel last year, and is now studying at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Equal in terms of the law, but not on the street
Eden Plein

We’re told that in 2019, women are freer and more equal than ever before. While in the democratic world women are recognised as equal to men under the law, the reality is that women are still rightfully campaigning to be treated equally in spite of what’s written in our constitutional documents.

We face a dichotomy where gender-equity conversations are met with obvious acknowledgement, and condescending dismissal.

While women’s rights and issues have always been a somewhat controversial topic, it’s important to recognise that digital technology has given women a voice that cannot be ignored. Media empowerment or access has allowed us to open a dialogue which allows the more general “us” to recognise just how unequal society still is. The perfect example is the #MeToo campaign, which though at first caused an uproar of denial and relegation, ultimately forced engagement with issues of harassment and assault, wages and representation.

As a self-identifying feminist who is committed to the fight against gender inequality in the personal and political sphere, and having thankfully never experienced gender-based trauma, I’ve always been optimistic about the state of women in our community. However, last week, I read an article published in The South African titled “SA is the worst country for solo female travel according to the Women’s Danger Index 2019”.

As a student of the University of the Witwatersrand, who frequently walks the streets of Braamfontein, this article shocked me. The following quotes come to mind: “South Africa topped three of the eight factors as the worst country in women’s safety to walk alone at night”; “Intentional homicide of women”, and “Non-partner sexual violence”. These are clearly not just threats for tourists from abroad, but for every woman in the country.

Political processes still exclude women in certain parts of the developing world, and in the United States and European Union, women’s sexual and reproductive rights are under threat with the push for greater restriction on access to abortion.

The abovementioned issues are, of course, the major ones facing women today. Another threat comes from the fact that, to a certain extent, the digital platforms that empower us are a double-edged sword, empowering an international movement against “gender ideology” which not only disregards the injustice of the status quo against the feminist movement, but undermines the very concept of equality by positioning it as paradoxical to family and religious values.

In this Women’s Month, I encourage all readers to look inwards, and actively decide to work towards furthering gender equality in all spheres of life.

• Eden Plein is deputy secretary general of Habonim Dror Southern Africa 2019.

Today we have too much choice
Hannah Bloch

Being born in Johannesburg in the twenty-first century, I’m experiencing the redefinition of the modern-day-woman.

I’m fortunate to be able to look back at the suffragette’s fight for the right of women to vote, Angela Davis’s crucial part in the civil rights movement, and many other female activists who devoted their lives to equality and freedom for women. They have given me the gift of a future filled to the brim with choices.

As a young woman, I was born with a passion for adventure and a determination to achieve what I set out to do. I made the choice after school to travel alone to South-East Asia to do charity work, a decision that would have previously been looked down upon, but is now applauded.

However, it goes without saying that with choices, come challenges. Today, women have increasing opportunities to be whatever and whoever they want to be. However, many struggle to integrate their passions and aspirations into their identity.

While travelling, I worked with many women who had multiple definitions of what gave meaning to their lives. As women, we are no longer required or expected to be one-dimensional.

Growing up in the suburbs of Johannesburg, I’m not conditioned to seeing women working as part of a construction team. Therefore, when I walked along the streets of Cambodia, I was shocked to see women construction workers leaving the site in an orange vest and slip slops – evidence of broken stereotypes.

Similarly, I met a mother of two sons whose talent lies in construction, which led her to work in the Philippines as part of a construction team. She told me how often she had to make sacrifices in her career to be a devoted mother and fulfil her sons’ needs. But, at that stage, to feel fulfilled, she needed to follow her other passion in life.

This balancing act is a modern-day challenge for women, as they are torn between having a successful, time consuming career, and fulfilling a stereotypical – yet natural – maternal role.

How do you choose between devoting your time to that which gives meaning to your life, and to that which you gave life? The challenge lies in being able to reach your full potential in the workplace, and being present for the milestones of your child.

The irony is that the dilemma facing young women today is brought about by an abundance of choice, rather than the absence thereof. Gone are the days when women were expected to play a very specific, narrow role – predominantly that of “homemaker”.

Now that we have the freedom to dream unconstrained, live without boundaries, and strive for greatness, the challenge is to have the capacity and ability to juggle it all.

• Hannah Bloch was head student leader at King David Linksfield and is currently on a journey of self-exploration during her gap year, during which she has been doing volunteer work in Asia. She is registered to study actuarial science next year at Wits.

Breaking our silence on abuse 
Daniella Sack

As a 16-year-old woman still finding my way in the world, it’s hard to make my voice heard. Among the seasoned professionals and outspoken, influential people, my opinion is just one of many, wandering around aimlessly in the comments sections of social-media pages.

However, there is one person who never fails to hear my thoughts – my mother. In spite of her busy schedule, constantly running to interviews and meetings, she listens, no matter what. I put this down to the fact that there was a time that her voice was not heard when it should have been.

My mother, like so many other women, was a victim of sexual abuse. She was violated by a person in a position of authority and trust, a man my family had known for years. Fortunately, my mother was able to shape her horrific experience into something meaningful. She created Koleinu SA, a helpline for victims of abuse in South Africa, alongside Rebbetzin Wendy Hendler.

Nevertheless, many victims of abuse are unable to make their voices heard, and are forced to suffer in silence.

A 2018 report by Statistics South Africa, “Crime against Women in South Africa”, revealed that 250 out of every 100 000 women are victims of sexual abuse (excluding rape). A worrying finding was that 2.5% of women believe that men are justified in beating women.

As Jews, we are taught that our rabbis aren’t to be questioned, that it shows a lack of derech eretz (common decency) to disrespect your elders. In hasidic communities specifically, it’s seen as shameful to divorce or speak out against your husband.

This leaves Jewish women subject to abuse in a difficult position that, most of the time, results in them choosing to stay silent rather than confronting the issue.

When a doctor makes her uncomfortable, a rabbi touches her, or her husband deprives her of funds, the Jewish woman is generally left with little option but to keep it to herself. It’s done out of fear of being negated, made to feel silly, or melodramatic.

It leads to another issue. When a woman states her opinion, controversial or not, she is often called “dramatic” or “histrionic”. It begs the question: why would a woman speak up if she is going to be so quickly shut down?

It’s our job, as members of the current Jewish community, to make our society one of openness, inclusivity, and warmth. We can’t stand by if we are degraded and violated. We must welcome victims in with open arms and supportive words, ready to listen and help in any way possible.

Acknowledging, not denying, the existence of abuse, and creating a safe space for victims to come forward is a challenge. We can overcome it. I hope we will.

• Daniella Sack is a Grade 11 pupil at Yeshiva College.