Women and Babies

            In Half the Kingdom, the women studying the Torah find that by bringing a woman’s perspective to learning, there is more to be discovered and examined. Text study is “the most important point of all; Jewish life is a life of constant study. One’s Jewish learning is never complete” (JCM 134). There is more to be discovered and more meaning to still be found in Scripture. It thus gives support to the idea that there is space for women’s voices in the Jewish religion.

            When we spoke in class about how women are now starting to not only interpret but add a modern view of the Torah and how it is read. The Scripture was written for men and for men to read, but women are finding a way to not only interpret their text differently but create their own path within the Torah. This is giving them their own expression and a value they are working to make equal to men when it comes to the Scripture.

            I thought it was moving when they showed a baby girl being born and women gathered recited prayers together and bless the baby even though this is not the common tradition amongst Jews: Usually, just when a male baby is born does the Scripture get read within a group, with prayers for the health of the baby, like a religious baby shower.

            I would be interested in seeing how much more of a progression there has been within the Jewish culture and women’s role with Scripture since this movie was made. Based on my experiences with the strong feminist movement that things have continued to change for the better, but I know that religions can move more slowly.

I found it powerful that some women in the movie were struggling with the fact that Judaism is very patriarchal. Many of them were deciding to leave their temples and their faith. I found it impressive that women were taking it upon themselves to change this. I would hope that this could only continue as the years went on.