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The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud by
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A. Housewife
is on page 204 of 249
in their stories of the named heroines of the Talmud, the rabbis time and again deconstruct anti-feminine archetypes, in a manner so consistent it cannot but be deliberate, a product of their carefully crafted storytelling
— Feb 17, 2026 01:54PM
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A. Housewife
is on page 195 of 249
The rabbis might have been anxious to preserve the integrity of the halakhic system, and justifiably so, but in their anxiety they impose on R' Eliezer a punishment disproportionate in its cruelty...God may be happy to let His sons defeat Him, but He will not forgive them for destroying one another.
— Feb 17, 2026 01:42PM
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A. Housewife
is on page 178 of 249
Here, too, Ima Shalom seems entirely passive, submissive, modest...Until we note that the discursive context for Ima Shalom's private midnight dialogue with her husband is a very public dialogue with unnamed questioners--presumably rabbis-- who are interested in the secret of her children's good looks.
— Feb 17, 2026 12:15PM
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A. Housewife
is on page 169 of 249
If the Destruction of the Second Temple is the foundational trauma of rabbinic culture, the oven of Akhnai is, in many ways, its founding myth.
— Feb 17, 2026 12:12PM
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A. Housewife
is on page 167 of 249
R' Kook! How could you!
>Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook warned that granting women the vote and enabling their participation in public debate would have a ruinous effect on shalom bayit (lit., peace within the home)..."When we demand of the woman that she go out into the political public domain...[then] raging differences of opinion will destroy shalom bayit, and the rifts in the family will fracture the nation."
— Feb 17, 2026 12:11PM
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>Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook warned that granting women the vote and enabling their participation in public debate would have a ruinous effect on shalom bayit (lit., peace within the home)..."When we demand of the woman that she go out into the political public domain...[then] raging differences of opinion will destroy shalom bayit, and the rifts in the family will fracture the nation."
A. Housewife
is on page 78 of 249
In this sense, her choice of words is instructive: 'I will go out and see' echoes the talmudic principle of go out and see [what the people do].' In times of halakhic uncertainty, the Talmud empowers rabbis to make decisions based on reality on the ground, however imperfect that reality might be.
— Feb 17, 2026 12:10PM
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