Toldot 5771 Women's rights and Alina Treger Rabbi Aaron Goldstein 5 November 2010

In some traditional family units there is a certain dynamic in which one perceives that the dominant partner is the male. There others where it seems less clear. Still others depict the female of the house as ‘wearing the boots or the trousers.’ This terminology is slightly puzzling. Surely, the woman should be described as being the powerhouse in the castle wearing a fetching ensemble of yellows and browns to suit her and the season’s best palette, manifest in a poncho that covers her simple white blouse, labelled jeans and simple but elegant low-heeled slip-ons. Why resort to describing a woman in man’s clothing? Because of course, the society that coined these phrases perceived the power in the home to be a male attribute and it therefore to be extra-ordinary for a woman to fulfil that role.

In Parashat Toldot that Jessica will read tomorrow, Rebekah has to act in a certain manner that we might interpret negatively. Not being the head of the household, she lacks the authority to give Jacob the blessing that will activate her perception of the divine plan. Rebekah must work through Isaac and uses subterfuge, a tool that Eskenazi and Weiss describe as being, “what women and men in positions of powerlessness, or of limited power, use to meet their rightful needs.”

The society that dresses power in boots and trousers and the ancient Biblical society that forces women to be devious to exert influence are not enlightened. A society that does not describe women in female terms and men in male terms is not enlightened.  Tuesday, this week was Equal Pay Day 2010. Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1970, full time working women on average are still paid less than full time working men by around 16%. This means, figuratively, that if the average man and woman both work a full year, the man gets paid for the full year whilst the woman’s last paycheck comes today.
Reasons for the paygap are complex and may differ from case to case, but include the following factors:

• “women’s work” is undervalued compared with “men’s work” - so jobs of similar skills levels which are traditionally female (cleaning, caring) are paid less than similarly skilled jobs which are traditionally male (transportation, construction

• individual level direct and indirect discrimination still exists

• women still pay a “motherhood penalty” in terms of career progression and salary

• women are more likely to work part time, which is relatively undervalued by employers; and

• the recession is making things worse - a higher proportion of the female workforce has been made redundant than the male workforce

An enlightened society?
Maybe not but in the western world, the treatment of women is seen as a major measurement of a society’s well-being. Hence the wide-spread concern for Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the Iranian mother still in danger of being stoned to death having been convicted of adultery.  And the election this week of Brazil’s first female President, Dilma Rousseff shows a slow but continuous growth in countries that have advanced women in politics. In her acceptance speech, she stated: “Equal opportunities for men and women are an essential principle of democracy. I would like for fathers and mothers to look into their daughters’ eyes today and tell them: ‘Yes, women can.’ I would like to register my first post-election commitment: to honour Brazilian women so that this unprecedented fact becomes a natural event.”

In the pews of Liberal Jewish Congregations in the UK, there being a female Rabbi has become a natural event. Whilst some of our members who come from a traditional background might take some time to become accustomed to a female Rabbi, Liberal Judaism from its outset in 1902 allowed for full equality for women in the pews and on the pulpit. However, we were not the first Jewish Movement to welcome a female Rabbi. That honour rests with the pre-war German Jewish Community who ordained Regina Jonas in 1935. She had difficulty in finding a Rabbi to ordain her despite holding a thesis that concluded that there was no theological bar to a halakhic smicha for women. Five years after finishing her studies, she was finally ordained by Max Dienemann but mainly practiced as a teacher, failing to find a congregation which would allow her to preach. She did not have much time in her life to practice as a Rabbi but in Terzin, she provided pastoral support before she was murdered in Auschwitz in August 1944, aged 42.

In 1972, Sally Priesard became the first woman ordained in the United States and in 1975 Jackie Tabbick became the first UK female Rabbi. Now, with roughly 50% of our Progressive Rabbis in the UK being women, Europe celebrated another milestone yesterday. With dignitaries present ranging from the President of the country to the chairman of the European Region for Progressive Judaism – Dad! – Alina Treiger was ordained at the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam. Another milestone for Jewish women and a blessing for the Congregations which will be served by Alina!

Tonight, as we sit side-by-side, female and male, male and female, let us celebrate the huge strides that have been made by and for women. May we not judge women or men by the narrowest of gender measurements but have the power that is divine to open our minds and our hearts to encourage each one of us to be who we can best be, striving to achieve the divine through our actions. May we not need to resort to subterfuge rather the force of commonsense and humanity, to achieve emancipation and then the enlightenment for all women in the world.

Amen