Judaism Spurns the Nature of Woman

moreover, the jewish laws and rules pertaining to the jewish menstruating woman are too restrictive. the old testament indicates that the menstruating woman is neither clean nor pure.  in addition, this non purity is contagious and anything she touches becomes unclean for a day: "and if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. and everything that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: everything also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean. and whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. and whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. and if it be on her bed, or on anything whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even."(leviticus 15: 19-23).

because of her 'polluted/polluting' nature sometimes the menstruating woman must be separated to avoid any possibility of contact. she is then sent to special place called "the house of uncleanness" throughout the period of non-purity. ^[25] talmud considers the menstruating woman 'fatal' even if she is not physically contacted: "our rabbis teach us: if the menstruating woman passes between two men at beginning of menstruation, they will kill one of them and if at the end, she would cause conflict between them."^[26] moreover, the husband of the menstruating woman is barred from entering the synagogue if he is defiled by her even if by the dust upon which she walks. the priest whose wife, daughter or mother is menstruating could not recite the priesthood blessing at the temple. ^[27] no wonder then that many jewish women call menstruation "curse". ^[28]

to this day in israel, if a married man has an extramarital affair with an unmarried woman, the resulting children are treated as legitimate children. however, if a married woman has an extramarital affair with a man, not only the resulting children are treated as illegitimate but they are considered bastards and are deprived from marrying any jewish woman unless the raped and other daughters of adultery of others. this prohibition extends for ten generations when it is supposed at the time that the stigma of adultery has been weakened. ^[29]

the role of the husband towards his wife in the jewish tradition is based on the concept that the husband owns his wife just as he owns his slave. ^[30] this concept is responsible for the double-standard laws of adultery and the husband's ability to cancel his wife's vows. this is also responsible for the abolition of women's authority on her property and profits. once she marries, she completely loses any authority over her property and profits and the absolute authority become that of the husband. jewish rabbis emphasize that the right of the husband in his wife's property is a natural consequence of owning her: "since the man owns, does not that result in owning her property, too?"^[31] this means that rich women, once married, will become broke. the talmud describes the financial position of women as follows: "how can woman have anything, no matter what she has it to her husband? what he has is his and what she has is his too... any profit or pay she takes and what she finds in the way is his too; home items and even bread crumbs on the table are his. should she invite guests to her home and feed him? she thus steals from her husband ..."^[32]  

in fact, the property of jewish woman is used to attract prospective husbands.  therefore, jewish families allocate part of father's property as dowry for his daughters. this is what makes the jewish girls unwelcome burden upon parents. the father must raise her for years and then provide for her marriage by giving her a large dowry. therefore, the girl is a hindrance and not a help to the family.^[33] this hindrance may explain the lack of celebration for the birth of the female in ancient jewish communities. in this way, the dowry is the gift of marriage provided by the groom under the terms of ownership. the husband becomes actually the owner of the dowry but he cannot sell it and the bride loses any authority over the dowry from the moment of marriage. moreover, woman is supposed to work after marriage and give all salary to the husband to fulfill sustenance which he is obliged to provide. woman can recover her property only in the cases of a divorce or death of husband. if she dies first he inherits her property. in the case of death of husband his wife inherits what she had owned before marriage but she is entitled to inherit any of the late husband's property. it is also noteworthy that the groom must provide a gift to the bride but he remains the actual owner thereof during marriage. ^[34]

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[25] leonard j. swidler, women in judaism: the status of women in formative judaism (metuchen, n.j: scarecrow press, 1976), p. 137.

[26] bpes.111a. ("bpes" refers to the talmudic tractate pesahim, located in the order mo'ed of the babylonian talmud. pesahim deals mostly with traditions and laws concerning the passover holiday)

[27] leonard j. swidler, women in judaism: the status of women in formative judaism (metuchen, n.j: scarecrow press, 1976), p. 138

[28] sally priesand, judaism and the new woman (new york: behrman house, inc., 1975) p. 24.

[29] lesley hazleton, israeli women the reality behind the myths (new york: simon and schuster, 1977), pp. 41-42

[30] louis m. epstein, the jewish marriage contract (new york: arno press, 1973) p. 149.

[31] leonard j. swidler, women in judaism: the status of women in formative judaism (metuchen, n.j: scarecrow press, 1976), p. 142

[32] san. 71a, git. 62a

[33] louis m. epstein, the jewish marriage contract (new york: arno press, 1973), pp. 164-165.

[34] louis m. epstein, the jewish marriage contract (new york: arno press, 1973), pp112-113. see also sally priesand, judaism and the new woman (new york: behrman house, inc., 1975), p. 15.