In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

J Einat Ramon A “Woman-Human” A. D. Gordon’s Approach to Women’s Equality and His Influence on Second Aliyah Feminists U ntil the appearance of contemporary Jewish-feminist thought, there was one Jewish philosopher for whom the feminine image was central in his perception of Divinity; it was from this image that his perception of ethics and religion derived. This thinker was A. D. Gordon (1856–1922), one of the first leaders of the Second Aliyah and the kibbutz movement.1 This article focuses solely on the practical ramifications of a theological worldview: Gordon’s social and political perception of women’s status in society and in the family and the extent of Gordon’s influence on the spiritual world of Second Aliyah women and on their political perception , particularly on that of the women’s laborers’ movement leaders, such as Rachel Katznelson and Ada Maimon. Ideological Positions Gordon’s statements on “personality and family closeness” that appeared in the article “Foundations for the Regulations of the Moshav Ovedim,” published in 1921—a few months before his death—illustrate the degree of nebulousness and complexity of his thought on the issue of equality between men and women: The entire structure of her soul, like the entire structure of her body and its shape, as well as her role in nature, situate the women’s personality as one of the primary components in the creation of the family and the next generation. . . . In this respect the woman’s power is much greater than the man’s, since she is the one who carries the baby, gives birth, and suffers through the process of the offspring’s formation and raising the child, she is a mother. This is her most supreme freedom and right. However, she has not yet achieved it and, therefore, has not yet found herself. Until today she was, and still is, the man’s disciple. She regards man’s life as a symbol and a model for her own rights, and she values her rights so long as they resemble the man’s, so long as they allow her participation in man’s public life. In this attitude one can see to a certain degree the spirit of our time, the wish to instill the spirit of public life into family life instead of introducing the spirit of the family into public life. Nevertheless, in order for the woman to liberate herself from man’s tutelage, so that she may know these things for herself from life, from her own experience and failures, one must not deprive her of her complete freedom and right to participate in all aspects of life, private and public.2 A similar argument, on the importance of stressing feminine uniqueness in the feminist message, is cited today by many feminists such as Gilligan, Noddings , Irigaray, Kristeva, and others. But Gordon, in contrast to today’s feminists , does not indicate how women should be involved in public life after attaining self-awareness. Apparently, Gordon was the first to recognize the obscurity and complexity regarding the subject in the article itself, which appeared in Ha-Po’el ha-Tza’ir in November 1921, while Gordon was in Vienna for treatment for cancer. His correspondence with his daughter, Yael Gordon, at that time attests to his doubts and perhaps even to second thoughts about the article’s contents, from the minute the issue reached him. His article appeared, apparently inadvertently on the part of the editor, alongside the piece by Ada Fishman (Maimon), “On the Question of the Woman Laborer.” Fishman complained in her article of the sweeping discrimination against women among the laborers in Eretz Israel. She cast historical blame for the discrimination between men and women on the women for not participating in earning a living. She summed up her thoughts as follows: “All of us clearly see (we believe in it) that the fulfillment of our ambition to create a working society without exploiters or exploited can only become possible if the daughters like the sons, the men like the women, will bear the yoke of labor and life to the fullest extent.”3 In a letter to Yael that Gordon sent from Vienna, he wrote that “the remarks in Ada’s article are essentially just and her claims are legitimate in the main, in light of today’s situation, yet I allow myself to think that a woman who is her own student would express things...

Share