Gender and Timebound Commandments in Judaism

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Judaism
Cover of the book Gender and Timebound Commandments in Judaism by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Elizabeth Shanks Alexander ISBN: 9781107065772
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: April 22, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
ISBN: 9781107065772
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: April 22, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

The rule that exempts women from rituals that need to be performed at specific times (so-called timebound, positive commandments) has served for centuries to stabilize Jewish gender. It has provided a rationale for women's centrality at home and their absence from the synagogue. Departing from dominant popular and scholarly views, Elizabeth Shanks Alexander argues that the rule was not conceived to structure women's religious lives, but rather became a tool for social engineering only after it underwent shifts in meaning during its transmission. Alexander narrates the rule's complicated history, establishing the purposes for which it was initially formulated and the shifts in interpretation that led to its being perceived as a key marker of Jewish gender. At the end of her study, Alexander points to women's exemption from particular rituals (Shema, tefillin and Torah study), which, she argues, are better places to look for insight into rabbinic gender.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The rule that exempts women from rituals that need to be performed at specific times (so-called timebound, positive commandments) has served for centuries to stabilize Jewish gender. It has provided a rationale for women's centrality at home and their absence from the synagogue. Departing from dominant popular and scholarly views, Elizabeth Shanks Alexander argues that the rule was not conceived to structure women's religious lives, but rather became a tool for social engineering only after it underwent shifts in meaning during its transmission. Alexander narrates the rule's complicated history, establishing the purposes for which it was initially formulated and the shifts in interpretation that led to its being perceived as a key marker of Jewish gender. At the end of her study, Alexander points to women's exemption from particular rituals (Shema, tefillin and Torah study), which, she argues, are better places to look for insight into rabbinic gender.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book The Hermeneutics of Christological Psalmody in Paul by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Climate Change as Social Drama by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Emotional and Sectional Conflict in the Antebellum United States by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book The Musicology of Record Production by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book A Sea of Debt by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Dostoevsky in Context by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book New Handbook of Mathematical Psychology: Volume 2, Modeling and Measurement by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Inside Mathforum.org by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book The Principle of the Common Cause by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Planetary Sciences by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Experimental Criminology by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to Cicero by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
Cover of the book The Cambridge Atlas of Herschel Objects by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy