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Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for 1998.
How can women's full participation transform Jewish law, prayer, sexuality, and marriage? What does it mean to "engender" Jewish tradition? Pioneering theologian Rachel Adler gives this timely and powerful question its first thorough study in a book that bristles with humor, passion, intelligence, and deep knowledge of traditional biblical and rabbinic texts.
How can women's full participation transform Jewish law, prayer, sexuality, and marriage? What does it mean to "engender" Jewish tradition? Pioneering theologian Rachel Adler gives this timely and powerful question its first thorough study in a book that bristles with humor, passion, intelligence, and deep knowledge of traditional biblical and rabbinic texts.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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281 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Adler
13 books6 followersRachel Adler is the David Ellenson Professor of Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Los Angeles Campus. She pioneered in integrating feminist perspectives into interpreting Jewish texts and law. Her book "Engendering Judaism" (1998) is the first by a female theologian to win a National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought. Rabbi Adler has a PhD in Religion and Social Ethics from University of Southern California, rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College in 2012, an M.A. in English Literature from Northwestern University, and an MSW from University of Minnesota.
She has published over 55 articles, many of them reprinted in collections. Recent articles include "The Torah, Our Chavruta," in These Truths We Hold: Judaism in an Age of Truthiness edited by Joshua Garroway and Wendy Zierler (CCAR Press, 2020), "Social and Political Rights Irrespective of Sex" in Deepening the Dialogue: Jewish-Americans and Israelis Envisioning the Jewish Democratic State edited by Rabbis Stanley M. Davids and John L. Rosove (CCAR Press,2019), "For These I Weep: A Theology of Lament," (CCAR Journal 2014) and "Guardianship of Women in Jewish and Islamic Legal Texts" with Ayesha Chaudhry in Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning: Encountering our Legal Other edited by Anver Emon (OneWorld Press 2017). Books in progress include Pour Out Your Heart Like Water: Jewish Perspectives on Suffering (Oxford) and Gender and Jewish Thought: Theology and Ethics, with Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi.
She has published over 55 articles, many of them reprinted in collections. Recent articles include "The Torah, Our Chavruta," in These Truths We Hold: Judaism in an Age of Truthiness edited by Joshua Garroway and Wendy Zierler (CCAR Press, 2020), "Social and Political Rights Irrespective of Sex" in Deepening the Dialogue: Jewish-Americans and Israelis Envisioning the Jewish Democratic State edited by Rabbis Stanley M. Davids and John L. Rosove (CCAR Press,2019), "For These I Weep: A Theology of Lament," (CCAR Journal 2014) and "Guardianship of Women in Jewish and Islamic Legal Texts" with Ayesha Chaudhry in Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning: Encountering our Legal Other edited by Anver Emon (OneWorld Press 2017). Books in progress include Pour Out Your Heart Like Water: Jewish Perspectives on Suffering (Oxford) and Gender and Jewish Thought: Theology and Ethics, with Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 25, 2019
Before reading this, I had heard it described as "radical." I think that adjective is too leading. While Adler is radical, she is not necessarily so in the ways you might expect. The book is 20 years old, and though some of its ideas have percolated downwards, they have not done so evenly.
What distinguishes Adler's work is the depth of her analysis. Many Jewish feminists focus on inequality in ritual life: the ability to learn Torah, to lead a service, to count in the minyan. Adler is interested in what lies beyond that--the fundamental sexism in our texts and traditions. What stories do they tell? Whose voices are heard? Who has constructed the halakha that governs the life we lead every day? The answer is men. And that leads to the second question: How are we to incorporate the voices and desires of women?
Adler focuses in depth on several areas: the construction of halakha, the liturgy, and sexuality. The work of engendering Judaism requires us to balance the needs of feminism and equality with respect for the power of tradition. This is particularly important in the discussion of liturgy. The power of performance, of ritual, of stating centuries old formulae are real. Some attempts to rewrite tradition have failed because people have refused to accept them. At the same time, we need to consider the language and imagery we use. How does it shape our view of the Divine to pray in ways that are so essentially masculine? What feminine language should we use, and when should it be gender neutral? Adler doesn't answer all these questions, but she pushes the reader to think about them.
The analysis of sexuality may be the most daring in the book, for here, she directly confronts Torah and Tanakh's view of women: alternately property or temptresses. Only in Song of Songs do women have equality or sexual agency. The sexuality codes of Leviticus, which seek to regulate the expression of sexuality, are primarily concerned with sexual ownership of women and their permitted relationships. Further, we are more willing to reinterpret some laws of sexuality than others--today, we treat rape as a violation of the person, not merely a taking of property to which one is not entitled, but there has been resistance to rewriting the rules surrounding homosexuality. (It's worth noting that since the writing of the book, Reform and Conservative Judaism have changed the way they approach homosexuality, but the core of the prohibition, and what it signifies, is often ducked.)
In her final chapter, she uses marriage as a test case of composing a new, egalitarian tradition for marriage--that of "brit ahuvim", the covenant of the beloved: a coalition of equals, to replace the acquisition based ritual of traditional Jewish marriage. While this will not appeal to all people for various reasons, it's a good way to illustrate her points.
The book isn't long, but it's densely packed, and took me some time to read through. Highly recommended for Jews across the religious spectrum.
What distinguishes Adler's work is the depth of her analysis. Many Jewish feminists focus on inequality in ritual life: the ability to learn Torah, to lead a service, to count in the minyan. Adler is interested in what lies beyond that--the fundamental sexism in our texts and traditions. What stories do they tell? Whose voices are heard? Who has constructed the halakha that governs the life we lead every day? The answer is men. And that leads to the second question: How are we to incorporate the voices and desires of women?
Adler focuses in depth on several areas: the construction of halakha, the liturgy, and sexuality. The work of engendering Judaism requires us to balance the needs of feminism and equality with respect for the power of tradition. This is particularly important in the discussion of liturgy. The power of performance, of ritual, of stating centuries old formulae are real. Some attempts to rewrite tradition have failed because people have refused to accept them. At the same time, we need to consider the language and imagery we use. How does it shape our view of the Divine to pray in ways that are so essentially masculine? What feminine language should we use, and when should it be gender neutral? Adler doesn't answer all these questions, but she pushes the reader to think about them.
The analysis of sexuality may be the most daring in the book, for here, she directly confronts Torah and Tanakh's view of women: alternately property or temptresses. Only in Song of Songs do women have equality or sexual agency. The sexuality codes of Leviticus, which seek to regulate the expression of sexuality, are primarily concerned with sexual ownership of women and their permitted relationships. Further, we are more willing to reinterpret some laws of sexuality than others--today, we treat rape as a violation of the person, not merely a taking of property to which one is not entitled, but there has been resistance to rewriting the rules surrounding homosexuality. (It's worth noting that since the writing of the book, Reform and Conservative Judaism have changed the way they approach homosexuality, but the core of the prohibition, and what it signifies, is often ducked.)
In her final chapter, she uses marriage as a test case of composing a new, egalitarian tradition for marriage--that of "brit ahuvim", the covenant of the beloved: a coalition of equals, to replace the acquisition based ritual of traditional Jewish marriage. While this will not appeal to all people for various reasons, it's a good way to illustrate her points.
The book isn't long, but it's densely packed, and took me some time to read through. Highly recommended for Jews across the religious spectrum.
July 21, 2008
One of the seminal books of Jewish feminism (first published in the 1990s, I believe). Lots of fascinating stuff in here, including a new approach to kiddushin, & a text to use instead of a ketubah, for both straight & gay couples.
June 26, 2021
Prof. Adler’s insightful book is challenging because of the sophistication of her ideas and the high bar she sets for herself - wrench Judaism from its patriarchal roots while leaving a structure that worth practicing. And she refuses to take the easy way out - teasing out the few female heroins in the Bible and talmud. Indeed, she sees this oft quoted examples (e.g. Tamar, ruth) as examples of a women treated as property in a patriarchal world. This is the way of most progressive Jews have taken - change some terms, emphasize certain stories, but not address the central concern Judaism - the law. Rather, she would have us rename and redefine “halachah as praxis—a holistic embodiment in action...of the values and commitments inherent to a particular story” (p. 26).
Rejecting and ignoring is easy enough but how to build?
Adler turns to Robert Cover, an American legal theorist. Law, according to Cover, is generated by “a nomos, a universe of meanings, values, and rules. It is “a world to inhabit” (p. 34). Traditional rabbis created an imperial world imperial, or world-maintaining. So much did they want their world to stay the same that Skotsl had to climb all the way to heaven to try to change it.
Adler seeks a nomos does not have to be imperial but proactive or paidaic, that is, world creating, and here is the crux of Adler’s argument. To engender Judaism, Adler looks at the same stories and creates a new nomos, a new universe of meaning, values, and stories in which to live. She sees
“Engendering” Judaism is thus a two-tiered endeavor: becoming “fully attentive to the impact of gender on the texts and lived experiences of the people Israel,” and addressing “the questions, understandings, and obligations of both Jewish women and Jewish men” (p. 24). To bridge the gap between current understanding and an engendered one is a dialogical approach, incorporating the diversity of Jewish communities. A central component of this praxis, then, would be a commitment to “nishmah, [that is,] we will listen” (p. 44). Listening, reflecting on all sides the “spectrum of meaningful human differences” (p. 40)—male and female—is of utmost importance. What is required, then, is a community committed to speaking and listening, envisioning, creating, and enacting nomos or law towards an engendered Judaism.
Her approach incorporates something similar to what Friere uses in his liberation pedagogy. For authentic liberation, then, the student must be actuated by their own ‘conscientizacao’ and be an active ‘subject’ of their own liberation and not an ‘object’ to be liberated. And this makes the capacity and willingness to dialogue not a choice but an imperative for liberation.
I found the chapter on worship the most useful. Adler shows our the traditional liturgy “normalizes masculinity as sacred metaphor is invisible….. its what makes there culture not culture but part of the normal world. ... Only the oppressed look in the mirror and don’t see themselves.” 66
Instead of Adler sees prayer as “enactment, not text” (75). Worship is a “ritual event” a “rehearsal of cultural categories” 76 It can “counterpose the pattern of predictability” 77 . Religious systems are models for how the world is and should be. 85. If “stories are body for god” (96) can the stories be saved. Adler rejects de-genderred language as enough. Similarly Adler rejects essentialism deeming inauthentic attempts to incorporate the goddess religions. In the end, Adler sees a practice that a must incorporate both men and women together but I was never quite sure what that would look like.
I was also intrigued by her re-imaging of the strict sexual codes. Linking diversity embraced in Genesis and with the practice of separating found in Leviticus, Adler asks “how would we read the laws about sexual boundaries if we saw them as a subset of lies about justice to our neighbor? We could think of them as rules to make trust possible. … where ever power is an equally distributed, the sexual integrity of the less powerful party must be guarded.” 132-33. Thus the seemingly anti-homosexual laws of Leviticus must be reinterpreted or overridden if they do not create a sexual integrity worthy of someone who is created in the image of god.
Rejecting and ignoring is easy enough but how to build?
Adler turns to Robert Cover, an American legal theorist. Law, according to Cover, is generated by “a nomos, a universe of meanings, values, and rules. It is “a world to inhabit” (p. 34). Traditional rabbis created an imperial world imperial, or world-maintaining. So much did they want their world to stay the same that Skotsl had to climb all the way to heaven to try to change it.
Adler seeks a nomos does not have to be imperial but proactive or paidaic, that is, world creating, and here is the crux of Adler’s argument. To engender Judaism, Adler looks at the same stories and creates a new nomos, a new universe of meaning, values, and stories in which to live. She sees
“Engendering” Judaism is thus a two-tiered endeavor: becoming “fully attentive to the impact of gender on the texts and lived experiences of the people Israel,” and addressing “the questions, understandings, and obligations of both Jewish women and Jewish men” (p. 24). To bridge the gap between current understanding and an engendered one is a dialogical approach, incorporating the diversity of Jewish communities. A central component of this praxis, then, would be a commitment to “nishmah, [that is,] we will listen” (p. 44). Listening, reflecting on all sides the “spectrum of meaningful human differences” (p. 40)—male and female—is of utmost importance. What is required, then, is a community committed to speaking and listening, envisioning, creating, and enacting nomos or law towards an engendered Judaism.
Her approach incorporates something similar to what Friere uses in his liberation pedagogy. For authentic liberation, then, the student must be actuated by their own ‘conscientizacao’ and be an active ‘subject’ of their own liberation and not an ‘object’ to be liberated. And this makes the capacity and willingness to dialogue not a choice but an imperative for liberation.
I found the chapter on worship the most useful. Adler shows our the traditional liturgy “normalizes masculinity as sacred metaphor is invisible….. its what makes there culture not culture but part of the normal world. ... Only the oppressed look in the mirror and don’t see themselves.” 66
Instead of Adler sees prayer as “enactment, not text” (75). Worship is a “ritual event” a “rehearsal of cultural categories” 76 It can “counterpose the pattern of predictability” 77 . Religious systems are models for how the world is and should be. 85. If “stories are body for god” (96) can the stories be saved. Adler rejects de-genderred language as enough. Similarly Adler rejects essentialism deeming inauthentic attempts to incorporate the goddess religions. In the end, Adler sees a practice that a must incorporate both men and women together but I was never quite sure what that would look like.
I was also intrigued by her re-imaging of the strict sexual codes. Linking diversity embraced in Genesis and with the practice of separating found in Leviticus, Adler asks “how would we read the laws about sexual boundaries if we saw them as a subset of lies about justice to our neighbor? We could think of them as rules to make trust possible. … where ever power is an equally distributed, the sexual integrity of the less powerful party must be guarded.” 132-33. Thus the seemingly anti-homosexual laws of Leviticus must be reinterpreted or overridden if they do not create a sexual integrity worthy of someone who is created in the image of god.
July 9, 2021
This book took me back to the feminist textbooks I read as an undergrad in the mid 1990s. There is a lot of post-structuralism and love for Adrienne Rich -- and that's a good thing! This book spends some time focusing on how Jewish tradition sidelined female participation in texts and in ritual, and suggests ways that this could be amended. I feel that many of these recommendations are not unusual in worship today. The author also examines the complicated relationship between the religion (in texts and in Jewish law) and female desire, sexually, romantically, and for autonomy. There is also a chapter about making marriage vows and ceremony more egalitarian, and another chapter discussing the difficulty in adapting prayer to a more inclusive society when one of the hallmarks of the religion is a strong reliance on tradition and the connection to our past, however many millennia ago. It was very stimulating to read how prayer could be reinterpreted or even retranslated to take gender (and even gendered words) out of the conversation. If the subject of this book interests you at all, you will probably find at least a few of the chapters energizing.
August 14, 2021
I read chapter 5, Adler's detailed proposal for a Brit Ahuvim ceremony for egalitarian marriage. Her proposal is based in Jewish covenant/partnership law rather than the acquisition law of the traditional kinyan/kiddushin. Gender equity is built in with a partnership of equals who each play active roles.
Her proposal is fantastic. Meticulous. It's energizing. It's painful, because it doesn't seem to have taken off since its publication in the 90s, but I want to see a world where this is mainstream in Jewish ritual life. But hopefully it just takes time...
PS Ketubot from the Cairo Geniza show a precedent for ancient Jewish marriage as a partnership! Find this and other fun facts in this book :)
Her proposal is fantastic. Meticulous. It's energizing. It's painful, because it doesn't seem to have taken off since its publication in the 90s, but I want to see a world where this is mainstream in Jewish ritual life. But hopefully it just takes time...
PS Ketubot from the Cairo Geniza show a precedent for ancient Jewish marriage as a partnership! Find this and other fun facts in this book :)
May 5, 2020
Wow. Rachel Adler is nothing short of brilliant. As someone already relatively well-versed in Jewish feminism, this book taught me so much and gave me an immense amount of food for thought. Not only is it a thorough and beautiful academic text, but reading it also felt like a form of therapy, catharsis for the Jewish woman torn between traditional theology and contemporary ethics.
May 21, 2018
A groundbreaking book that opened a new era in thought about women and halakhah, Jewish law. Dr. Adler argues for a feminist reading of Jewish legal questions and explores the possibilities, including a new covenant of marriage, the brit ahuvim.
December 25, 2021
I’ve read selected chapters of this book over the years, but this was my first time reading it all the way through, and it was hugely helpful and restorative during a semester where my classes were all focused on the most misogynistic texts of the Jewish legal canon. It’s brilliant and angry and powerful, and Adler uses her deep knowledge of Jewish law and lore to interrogate the parts of the tradition that have been used to silence and marginalize women, and then to recover and/or reimagine alternatives. I particularly appreciated the final chapter, which lays out the misogyny of traditional Jewish marriage practice, discusses more egalitarian Jewish wedding practices from earlier eras, and then offers a modern alternative built from other parts of Jewish law to create a sacred and binding covenant between equals.
March 18, 2024
This book was the source for many things I've seen out in the wild, and I'm glad that I read it. If you want to know more about how we got where we are in our path towards a feminist/egalitarian Judaism, this book is an essential part of that.
June 29, 2022
Extremely thought-provoking and thorough, though occasionally a bit dense.
November 30, 2015
This book does a very good job of identifying the problematic aspects of the roles of women in the Torah and in traditional Judaism. In some instances (like the chapter on inclusive language in worship) it is better at identifying the problems with making the necessary reforms than with proposing said reforms. However, the chapter on marriage does an excellent job of proposing a system that transforms marriage from ownership to partnership-- and in such a way to benefit both heterosexual and homosexual couples (pretty good for a book written in 1998). I went into this book looking for proof that Judaism isn't as sexist as I was taught and this couldn't do that, because, well, it is that problematic. But it does a very good job of giving name and voice to the problem, of validating my feelings of isolation (and naming the ones I probably recognized subconsciously but not consciously, such as the use of male gendered Hebrew words with reference to G-d* as well as male imagery), and attacked them, head on, with other traditional sources. You kind of have to come at things sideways, but when you realize that the Torah and the accompanying bodies of Jewish law are products of their time as well as divinely inspired, you begin to wonder if G-d* was planting the seeds for these reforms when we, as a society, became mature enough to begin to look for them.
*I can't even remember the rational for why we don't write out the whole name, and in fact this book does, but my conservative (and somewhat sexist) Hebrew school drilled it into me and I can't for the life of my type that o. This book has helped a lot with some of the less innocuous things I picked up there, however.
*I can't even remember the rational for why we don't write out the whole name, and in fact this book does, but my conservative (and somewhat sexist) Hebrew school drilled it into me and I can't for the life of my type that o. This book has helped a lot with some of the less innocuous things I picked up there, however.
December 23, 2011
I read excerpts of this book for a course on Women in Jewish Law, and had to go back and read the whole thing because I liked it so much. Chapter 4, "Justice & Peace Shall Kiss: An Ethics of Sexuality and Relationship" is especially interesting to those studying religion and gender/ sexuality as a whole; I found it applicable to a wide range of subjects outside of Judaism. And of course, Chapter 2, "Here Comes Skotsl", is required reading for everyone interested in feminist Jewish theology.
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September 12, 2016not at library
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