Description
Book SynopsisOrthodox Jewish women are increasingly seeking new ways to express themselves religiously, and important changes have occurred in consequence in their self-definition and the part they play in the religious life of their communities. Drawing on surveys and interviews across different Orthodox groups in London, as well as on the author’s own experience of active participation over many years, this is a thoroughly researched study that analyses its findings in the context of related developments in Israel and the USA. Sympathetic attention is given to women’s creativity and sophistication as they struggle to develop new modes of expression that will let their voices be heard; at the same time, the inevitable points of conflict with the male-dominated religious establishment are examined and explained. There is a focus, too, on the impact of innovations in ritual: these include not only the creation of women-only spaces and women’s participation in public practices traditionally reserved for men, but also new personal practices often acquired on study visits to Israel which are replacing traditions learned from family members. This is a much-needed study of how new norms of lived religion have emerged in London, influenced by both the rise of feminism and the backlash against it, and also by women’s new understanding of their religious roles.
Trade Review'Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz's in-depth study of the religious experience of Orthodox women raises questions for the rabbinic establishment... an important new book.'
Simon Rocker,
The Jewish Chronicle'Taylor-Guthartz's precise academic writing, interwoven with her own personal knowledge and experience of the community, gives the women represented here agency and authority, exemplifying how traditional groups and practices do not exist at odds with the modern world, or even in parallel, but rather as an integral part of it, adding rich diversity and colour to the pattern of Jewish life today. This is a timely and important treatise, reflecting modern feminist values and shining a light on a previously unexamined segment of the community.'
Noa Gendler,
Jewish Renaissance'
Challenge and Conformity opens up for our understanding a subject of immense importance to Judaism and the Jewish community. The religious lives of Orthodox women is a topic that has previously attracted little research. Taylor-Guthartz approaches it with academic skill and real empathy for the women she interviews and their communities. We learn of the great variety of women’s beliefs, customs and practices that are spread across the Orthodox Jewish world and, through Taylor-Guthartz’s eyes, we gain a greater understanding and appreciation of Jewish life that might otherwise have remained hidden.'
Neville Teller,
The Jerusalem Post‘Challenge and Conformity serves as a rich chronicle of Orthodox British womanhood and the challenge of creating uniquely female Jewish spaces. It is well rooted in history, community context, and robust ethnographic data and will be helpful to bridge the lacuna on British scholarship of religious practices of Jewish women.’ Ilana C. Spencer, Religious Studies Review
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Studying Jewish Women
The Double Invisibility of Orthodox Jewish Women
The Scope of Women’s Religious Lives
Overlapping Worlds I: The Intersection of Men’s and Women’s Religious Lives
Overlapping Worlds II: Living in Jewish and Western Contexts
Power and Patriarchy: Do Orthodox Women Have Agency?
2. Setting the Scene: The Jewish Landscape
Jews in London: Historical Background
Community, Communities, Networks, and Identity
The Development of British Orthodoxy and the British Jewish Landscape
Jewish Religious Topography Today
Changing Moods among British Jewish Women
Defining Terms: Talking about the Anglo-Jewish Community
Previous Research on British Orthodox Women
3. The View from the Ladies’ Gallery: Women’s ‘Official’ Life in the Community
Women and the Synagogue
The Changing Place of Women in Other Communal Arenas
4. Contested Prayers and Powerful Blessings: Women’s ‘Unofficial’ Life in the Community
Creating Sacred Spaces
Nuturing the Community
New Developments: Sharing the Sacred with Men
5. Women’s ‘Official’ Life in the Family
The Sabbath
Food and Kashrut
Passover
Mikveh and ‘Family Purity’
Modesty
Visiting the Dead
Prayer and Relationship with God
6. Red Threads and Amulets: Women’s ‘Unofficial’ Life in the Family
Questioning the Community: Limitations and Caveats
Definitions and Status of Practices
Testing Stereotypes and Assumptions
What Customs Are Practised?
Who Practises These Customs?
Age as a Factor in Knowledge and Performance of Customs
Origins and Development
The Question of ‘Magic’
Women’s Understanding of Customs and Practices
Conclusion
Appendices: Background Data
Bibliography
Index
