Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, Set

THE CASE FOR NATIVE LIBERATION THEOLOGY

THE CASE FOR NATIVE LIBERATION THEOLOGY l 1229 ritual, intellectual and political opportunities for women within the framework of halakha,” in the firm conviction that this will “enrich and uplift individual and communal life for all Jews.” Because the inability of women to initiate divorce within Judaism has the power to destroy women’s lives in concrete and immediate ways, advocacy for agunot is a central Orthodox feminist issue. JOFA, in conjunction with a number of other organizations specifically concerned with the plight of agunot, is involved in a multipronged program to ameliorate their situation. JOFA also publishes a journal and a series of booklets on women and ritual that keep members informed of issues and developments of interest to Orthodox feminists and that make available resources for women interested in bat mitzvah or wanting to participate more fully in mourning rituals, birthing ceremonies , and observance of the Sabbath. It is also working with schools and other communal institutions to advocate for the inclusion of girls and women to the full extent possible within the framework of halakah, and it is planning “a study on innovative synagogue architecture that provides equal and inclusive space for women” (on the JOFA Web site, http://www.jofa.org/). The fact that JOFA was established in 1997, almost twenty-five years after the first women’s conference, points to the evolution and liveliness of Jewish feminism as well as the divisions within it. From a liberal Jewish perspective, many of the issues central to Orthodox feminism could easily be resolved by stepping outside a halakic framework; yet the fact that Orthodox feminists seek to expand opportunities for women within the boundaries of halakah involves them in serious Torah study and careful analyses of particular legal issues that add depth and breadth to the overall Jewish feminist project. Whether, as Orthodox women gain fuller access to the public religious arena, they will then follow nonOrthodox women in creating new scholarship, new theology , and new religious forms remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen what the next steps are for nonOrthodox feminists in creating a Judaism fully inclusive of women. SOURCES: It is very difficult to select a small number of texts from the extensive bibliography of Jewish feminist work. Of the works quoted here, Rachel Adler’s frequently reprinted “The Jew Who Wasn’t There” is most readily available in Susannah Heschel’s On Being a Jewish Feminist: A Reader (1983). Judith Plaskow’s “The Right Question Is Theological” is published in the same volume. Marcia Falk’s “Notes on Composing New Blessings: Toward a Feminist-Jewish Reconstruction of Prayer,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 3 (1987): 39– 53, anticipates issues taken up fully in her volume The Book of Blessings: New Jewish Prayers for Daily Life, the Sabbath, and the New Moon Festival (1996). The prayer for agunot and information about JOFA are available on the JOFA Web site at www.jofa.org. Gail Twersky Reimer and Judith Kates discuss women’s Torah study in Beginning Anew: A Woman’s Companion to the High Holy Days (1997). Of the many other works mentioned, some of the more basic follow: Rachel Adler, Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics (1998). Rebecca Alpert, Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition (1997). Rachel Biale, Women and Jewish Law: An Exploration of Women’s Issues in Halakhic Sources (1984). Aviva Cantor, “Jewish Women’s Haggadah,” in Sistercelebrations, ed. Arlene Swidler (1974). Blu Greenberg, On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition (1981). Elizabeth Koltun, ed., The Jewish Woman: New Perspectives (1976). Elizabeth Resnick Levine, A Ceremonies Sampler: New Rites, Celebrations and Observances of Jewish Women (1991). Debra Orenstein , Lifecycles: Jewish Women on Life Passages and Personal Milestones, vol. 1 (1994). Debra Orenstein and Jane Rachel Litman, Lifecycles: Jewish Women on Biblical Themes in Contemporary Life, vol. 2 (1997). Judith Plaskow, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective (1990). Ellen M. Umansky and Dianne Ashton, Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality (1992). THE CASE FOR NATIVE LIBERATION THEOLOGY Andrea Smith WHILE THERE HAS been a proliferation of liberation theologies rooted in diverse communities of color, the development of Native liberation theology, particularly Native women’s theology, has been a slow process. Nonetheless, Native women’s perspectives on spirituality and social justice have much to contribute to the field of theology, particularly liberation theology. There are a number of reasons for the reluctance of many...