Hasidic Women: Equal or Abused?

Back in 1923, S.A. Horodecky, a noted scholar on hasidism, made the claim that hasidism confers complete equality on the Jewish woman.[1] Ada Rapoport debunked his theory approximately sixty years later, but up to then, the understanding among scholars was that hasidism boasted a more egalitarian gender perspective than did other branches of Judaism.[2] This theory was mostly unexamined; scholars merely accepted Horodecky’s findings as fact and built their own work upon this alleged fact.

I point out this tidbit not because I want to re-investigate the Horodecky/Rapoport argument (I find modern hasidism such a different creature from the original hasidic movement that I see no point in using the movement’s early attitudes as a yardstick for measuring today’s), but rather because I revel in the irony. Namely, the irony of the contemporary acknowledged “fact” of hasidism’s gender inequality.

Nowadays, the regarded theoretical norm—unexamined, mostly, much like Horodecky’s findings—by both Jewish and non-Jewish pseudo-scholars and laymen is that women within the hasidism construct hold a lowly position in every aspect. It seems Horodecky’s findings have become irrelevant: not only is hasidism not regarded as affording women more equality than other Jewish denominations do, but the “pitiful, subjugated, mistreated second-class hasidic woman” has become the modern stereotype.

Part of the reason for this stereotype, I believe, is a trickle-down effect of feminists’ struggle within Judaism. Their valiant efforts to make a place for women in formal Judaism has led to numerous discussions, writings, and debates on the matter, all of which have helped some women achieve positions as Rabbis, Talmudic scholars and other capacities of status in Judaism’s public space, albeit mainly in non-Orthodox denominations. But the constant criticism of Orthodox Judaism’s lack of opportunity for female status positions led the general public—who most likely have but a shallow interest or understanding of the matter—to ascertain that OJ treats women shabbily in general. And who is the most conspicuously orthodox of the Orthodox? The hasidim, of course. Ergo, hasidism views and treats women as second class.

To the world at large (barring some scholars, sociologists, or anthropologists who have taken the time to actually observe and/or participate in the contemporary hasidic society instead of just buying into stereotypes, but absolutely including people who comment “knowledgably” on facebook, twitter and online blogs), this generally means that girls and women have less value as people within hasidic society, that hasidic husbands mistreat and abuse their wives[3], that women are treated as cattle and don’t get a say in how they and their families live their lives.

How the gender theory on hasidism has moved from Horodecky’s radical egalitarianism to women being consistently abused in less than a century is one of the marvels of  modern day technology, where everyone may espouse authoritatively on every topic on the world wide web, regardless of veracity or her/his expertise on the subject. Furthermore, film-makers, novelists, and even journalists tend to take the easy path when depicting hasidim, simply presenting them according to the prevailing stereotype. Although Orthodox Judaism forbids spousal abuse, and although—as hasidic insiders know—most hasidic wives “rule the roost,” the stereotype of the docile, submissive, abused hasidic woman remains  the conventional truism. Perhaps it is time for another Ada Rapoport to dig deep enough to actually discover the truth.

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[1] See Ha-Hasidut vehaHasidim, the chapter entitled “The Maid of Ludmir” by S.A. Horodecky

[2] See “On Women in Hasidism, S.A. Horodecky and The Maid of Ludmir Tradition” by Ada Rapoport-Albert

[3] See Wendy Graf’s interview about her play Behind the Gates