Excerpt Browser

This page displays the full text of excerpts.  When viewing a single excerpt, its “Share,” “Switch Article,” and “Comment” functions are accessible.

DEUTERONOMY — 6:18 right

DEUT305 The medieval commentator Nahmanides (Ramban, 13th-century Spain) offers a profound elaboration on the verse: “Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:18). He says that no amount of legislation can cover every single situation because there will always be one more variable or nuance to be considered. So the Torah offers a long list of specific and general instructions, and then tells us to “do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord.” That is, we are to build on both the general principles and specific laws that we see in the Tradition, and then extrapolate from them the guidance we need to do the right thing.... It is my call to the readers of this essay to consider these teachings and to guide themselves in a way that is “right and good.” Any pleasure, and certainly that which is gained by deceit, is momentary. But the satisfaction one gains from acting honorably, the self-esteem that comes from knowing that we live in accordance with our values, endures. (By Uzi Weingarten)

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUTERONOMY — 22:15 gave

DEUT1180 Changed Realities and the Relevance of Tradition. ... our reality regarding these matters [i.e., people’s backgrounds, and the assumptions they and their cultural environments make about romantic relationships-AJL] is so drastically different from that of the Sages that we need to apply the ancient teachings with great discernment. In the true process of halakhah, one doesn't just quote sources; one also applies them to current realities. This can be challenging, and when it comes to sexuality even more so, because the changes in this area, even in our own lifetimes, have been so dramatic. One major example is that, in antiquity, a father arranged for his children's marriage: “I gave this man my daughter to wife” (Deuteronomy 22:16). This was ideally done “close to their time,” that is, shortly after the children entered puberty. By arranging for the children's marriage at that age, the father provided a framework for ethical, sacred expression of the natural sexual urges that arise at that time: “The sages commanded that one marry off his sons and daughters close to their time, lest they come to sexual immorality or impure thoughts” (Maimonides [Rambam], Mishneh Torah, Laws of Forbidden Intercourse 21:25, based on the Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 62b, Sanhedrin 76b). A more commonly known teaching is: “At 18, to the wedding canopy” (Mishnah, Avot 5:21). There were times that, due to less abundant nutrition, women arrived at puberty later, sometimes even as late as 17. This may explain the suggested age for marriage. Regardless, marrying children off at 18, as is still common in the Hasidic world, usually prevents many, though not all, of the questions this essay addresses from ever arising. Today, however, young people wishing to marry at 18 or 20 would be hard pressed to support a family. Gone are many of the manufacturing jobs and family businesses that once allowed high school graduates to be financially self-sufficient. Increasingly, a college degree and even a graduate degree are prerequisites for a comfortable standard of living. Often, even those are not enough, and one needs a certain number of years at a given position to start earning a salary that could support a family with children. The Tradition itself reminds us of the folly of entering into marriage before finances are in place: “The way of the wise is to first find work that supports him, then buy a house, then get married... But the fools first get married, then look for housing, and lastly look for work” (Maimonides [Rambam], Mishneh Torah, Laws of Ethics 5:11). We thus have an almost unprecedented number of young adults financially unable to marry for a decade or more after puberty, a time of peak sexual desire for men, and often for women. How tragic that our wealthy society has brought about this situation, in which economics leave young adults with no choice but to delay marriage. Another changed reality has to do with the context in which physical intimacy takes place. There has been a huge shift in what society considers moral. This is partially a result of the diminished impact of religious teachings, and partially a result of the advances in accessibility of contraception. With the easy availability of birth control, which set the sexual revolution in motion, young adults are largely able to avoid the negative consequences that until recently accompanied, and often deterred, sex outside of marriage (i.e., social stigma and unwanted pregnancies). (By Uzi Weingarten)

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUTERONOMY — 22:21 stone

DEUT1185 Views of Women in Jewish and Mainstream Culture. As a feminist, a historian, and a Jew, I feel the obligation, in the interest of social justice, to look carefully at all these issues and more when attempting to answer questions like these. [Referencing case hypothetical--AJL]. I know from my intellectual and historical work that, in general, patriarchies (I use the word here in the anthropological sense to denote cultures whose order [Greek arche] is ruled by males [Greek patri]) have tended to limit women's sexual behavior in the interest of easing tensions among men about sex, property, and inheritance. This pattern clearly holds true within the traditional and much of contemporary Judaism. It is historically, as well as currently, true that notions of female sexual “virtue” in Judaism, or in any cultural group, often depends primarily on whether women conform to these patriarchal priorities. Not surprisingly, women who act with sexual autonomy have traditionally been vilified, although the degree to which this is true has changed overtime. We see it in Torah: Deuteronomy 22[:21-ajl] authorizes death by stoning of any woman “proven” to have falsely presented herself as a virgin at marriage, and the virtuous Tamar in Genesis 38[:24:ajl] is initially attacked for her “whoredom” until she manages to prove that her actions were purposeful and just. We still see it in stereotypes of “Nice Jewish Girls” who do not have sex before marriage (and even then only do it because their husbands want them to), and in depictions of “Jewish American Princesses” who use sex to manipulate men into giving up money and gifts. The deep-seated suspicion of how women use their sexual agency presents itself in numerous ways. We see it reflected in traditional rules and customs, many of which are not exclusively Jewish, that prohibit women and girls from doing things that might be construed as sexually charged self-presentation: singing or dancing in front of men, for instance, or sporting uncovered hair or legs. We see it in mainstream culture and stereotypes that get applied to sexually assertive women (e.g., that they are sluts, nymphomaniacs, or gold diggers), and those that get applied to sex workers (e.g., that they are sexually indiscriminate or habitual criminals). ... The fight against sexism, misogyny, and the refusal to grant sexual autonomy has for many years been part of my understanding of what is required for tikkun, the repair of the world we live in. The patriarchal attitude toward the “appropriate” relationship between biological sex (maleness/femaleness) and sexuality, which simultaneously insists that women accept the chore of tending to men's sexual desires and demonizes women's autonomous sexuality, represents one of the most fundamental manifestations of social injustice in human cultures. It is old, pervasive, and very slow to change. (By Hanne Blank)

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUTERONOMY — 23:18 prostitute

DEUT1271 Before the giving of the Torah, a man would meet a woman in the marketplace, and if he and she wanted, he would pay her wages and have sex with her … After the Torah was given, the k’deshah [prostitute, or possibly cultic prostitute] was forbidden, as it is written: “There shall not be a k’deshah among the daughters of Israel” (Deuteronomy 23:18). Therefore whoever has sex with a woman as an act of licentiousness without betrothal has transgressed the prohibition of k’deshah. Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah, Laws of Marriage 1:4

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

RSS
123
Back To Top