Chapter 5
HALAKHAH, MINHAG AND GENDER
Richard Rosenthal
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The subject is“gender,
"a word that comes to scholarship from the grammarians by way of the lawyers. A weapon in the political and legal struggles of our day for women’s rights, the term was invented to avoid using the word“sex.” Sex was a difficult word to use; its varied meanings damage it. It is a dangerous word threatening discourse, whereas gender is mild, lessening the danger. Who can be afraid of masculine and feminine nouns and verbs?“In grammar, gender is understood to be a way of classifying phenomena, a socially agreed upon system of distinctions rather than an objective description of inherent traits.” But the word has not stood still. Gender has left its innocent origins and become political. This should not disqualify it in our discussion, for a word that is political is alive. It reflects issues that are at the heart of our age.“Gender” positions are a real issue. This allows us to use our contemporary experience to look at the past.
A contemporary category becomes a new window to look at the past. Through this window we are allowed to see what was missed by those who came before us. This is not said in criticism. They had their world view that gave them their windows. Our
Notes for this section begin on page 127