Skip to product information
1 of 1

Women and Change in Jewish Law Responses

Regular price $3.00
Regular price Sale price $3.00
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

A contentious 1974 symposium on women's participation in Jewish religious practices sparked fierce debate when psychiatrist Dr. Mortimer Ostow claimed increased female involvement in synagogue services would lead to sexual perversion and social disorder. Analysis of responses from rabbis, psychologists, and feminist organizations reveals widespread rejection of Ostow's psychoanalytic interpretations, which argued that women's religious participation would undermine male authority and encourage antinomian tendencies. Critics demonstrated how Ostow relied on outdated Freudian determinism, misrepresented kabbalistic literature, and presented unsubstantiated psychological theories about menstrual taboos, sexual arousal in worship settings, and feminine religious symbolism as established facts. The research documents a broader pattern of psychiatric authority being inappropriately invoked to validate conservative religious positions, while alternative psychological perspectives supporting gender equality were systematically ignored. The findings emphasize that religious and political issues require authentic halakhic discourse focused on concepts of religious obligation, rather than psychiatric validation of traditional gender restrictions. Moreover, the evidence suggests women's spiritual potential represents an untapped resource for Judaism that cannot be dismissed through simplistic psychological theories.

View full details
  • Physical Description

  • Publication Information

    Published 1975

    ISBN

  • Publication Credits