Jewish Theology in Feminist Perspective

Abstract

Jewish feminist theology is not an academic field in the same sense that feminist history is. This chapter looks at some of the implications of women's experience for the concepts of God and Torah. An important focus of feminist theological discussion is the nature and meaning of Torah. Obviously, there is a connection between the concept of Torah and the concept of God, for the assertion that God is the giver of Torah is central to Jewish theology and, like many important theological assertions, justifies itself through its circularity. Because God is the giver of Torah, it reliably testifies to the nature of God, and the faithfulness of God is warrant for the believability of Torah. But if feminists are suspicious of traditional metaphors for God because they reinforce larger patterns of male domination, this suspicion in turn implies a critique of Torah as itself in bondage to patriarchy. Keywords: Jewish feminist theology; Jewish God; Judaism; Torah