Educating in the Divine Image: Gender Issues in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools

2 | People of the Book

Chapter Two People of the Book Gender in Jewish Books and Curricula jews, the “people of the book,” probably understand as well as any other cultural group the power of the written text in transmitting culture. Texts hold the treasures of the heritage, and are one of the central tools used for educating the next generation about the values and ideals of Jewish life. Texts can reproduce and legitimize the culture, but they can also challenge the culture. Consider, for example, how the books of Maimonides werereceivedduringhislifetime.AlthoughtodayMaimonidesisbelieved to be one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of all time, his writings were so confronting to some of his contemporaries that he was branded a heretic by some Spanish Jewish leaders.1 The very texts that ultimately became cornerstones of tradition were the very same texts that pushed the community to stretch its own boundaries. Texts thus serve a vital function— especiallyinJewishlife—fortransmissionofculturealongwithprodding its evolution, for capturing the essential values, while urging the community to think beyond and advance through historical change. Texts preserve and create, depict and reshape, sculpt and reimagine, the culture and society. Yet, many of the values and ideas transmitted via texts are unintentional . Texts have multiple layers of messages that reflect conventions and values, and socialize readers into roles and expectations beyond the specific , direct intention of the writer. It is that set of unintentional messages via texts that we examine in this chapter. In our work with young teachers in training, we have found considerable tension between texts as tools of cultural transmission and texts as confronting. For example, in September 2007, in Jerusalem, Elana was shopping for educational materials for teaching the Jewish holidays and 62 educating in the divine image came upon a colorful workbook on the topic of Sukkot. The twenty-­ page, full-­ color booklet is full of illustrations of people happily engaged in various activities, such as learning, talking, walking into synagogue, building a sukkah, holding a lulav, and engaging in business transactions to purchase materials. The booklet is clearly aimed at the religious public because all the men in the pictures are wearing colorful kippot, and several have beards. Yet, it is impossible not to notice that in the entire book, there is not a single picture of a woman. Elana showed this book to her class at a religious teacher-­ training college in Israel—a dozen or so religious women in their early twenties taking a seminar in gender and education. She wanted to hear their thoughts and impressions as they confronted these images. They were nonplussed. “What’s the big deal?” was a typical response. “This is the way it’s supposed to be,” was another. “Why would you fight nature?” one student persistently asked. “This is how God created us, and this is the way it is.” The conversation, taking place as it did in a modern religious institution , not in an ultra-­Orthodox one, took Elana by surprise. Even accounting for the possibility that the religious Zionist community in Israel is less progressive about gender issues than American Modern Orthodoxy, the women in the class were unequivocal in their presentation of retrograde ideas about gender. To be sure, all these twenty-­two-­year-­olds had graduated from state religious high schools and received a standard secular education. They were women living modern lives—working, pursuing teaching careers, and presumably planning to earn a living—but they were unable to even consider the most basic aspects of gender equality. The messages promoted in the workbook—that men are responsible for religionandfinance—all conflated into acomprehensiveimageofgender that they completely internalized and even defended. Still, perhaps it is not so surprising. The book apparently reflected a lived reality for them, and therefore posed no conflict. In their culture, Elana was the one with the conflict. Yes, they were going to be working women, and yes, they had a modern education, but apparently these realities did not impact their expectations of gender relationships. The book was not confronting—rather, it was affirming to them. Thetextthus becamean unintended tool forbothconfirmingandconfronting gender identity. On the one hand, the illustrations in the book people of the book 63 reflect the value system of the author and publishers—a value system shared by the students, thus serving as a tool for further reinforcing those values, especially the gender culture involved. On the other hand, it is possible that the book is a...