Women’s compositions in Jewish liturgy

Author: Rav Duvdevani of Bet Shemesh, Kislev 5765/Nov 2004

In this talk, Rav Duvdevani introduced a number of prayers, mainly hymns and lamentations, written by women over the centuries. The prayers come from and were recited in religious services of different national traditions.

It is accepted that the three forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob instituted the three daily services. Did women have a role? It is thought that women were responsible for the additional service on Rosh Chodesh (New Month). An indication of this is in the text of the Rosh Chodesh Amida prayer: Roshei Chodashim le amecha natati, ‘the beginning of months I assigned to your people’, where the initial letters of the first three words spell RaCheL, one of the four ‘mothers’ of the people. Rosh Chodesh is a special liturgical entity and has traditionally been associated with women.

Women’s prayers figure prominently in the Bible and in apocryphal texts: We know of the prayers of Hannah, Deborah, Judith, Esther and one attributed to the wife of Job. We now have manuscripts and texts from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century of prayers and prayer services and these include compositions by women. Many are lamentations on the destruction of the Temple, the kinot of the fast of the 9th of Av. Mourning was seen as a women’s role.

One such Lamentation, kina, was part of a prayer service of the Rome tradition, possibly composed by the daughter of the well known twelfth century writer, Rabbi Yehuda haLevi. It is written in rhyming quatrains and, as was usual, her name is written as an acrostic (Bat LeVI); in the last quatrain, where the acrostic CHaZaK (be strong) is usually found, we have CHaZeKI, the female form. Her Lamentation was recited in the community; so was another prayer, composed before the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain at the end of the fifteenth Century, by the wife of the Rabbi of Gerona, - again, her name, MaRZeNa, figures as an acrostic.

Scholars have found Manuscript texts of such compositions from a number of countries: from the Kurdish community in Mosul comes a composition by a highly learned woman who also wrote a commentary on the Book of Proverbs and who was able to take over a Yeshiva when its principal, her husband, died. Another comes from a fifteenth century Yemenite community, a prayer recited before the morning service. Yet another, a prayer for mercy, comes from a seventeenth century Moroccan community; it was probably recited on Rosh HaShana or Yom Kippur

An example of a cheerful composition is also extant. This was the ‘Simchas Torah Lied’ written by a Polish woman in the eighteenth century, in Yiddish. In this connection, we learn that that song may have been sung as part of a special traditional women’s activity that was kept until the first World War: The women of the Chevra Kadisha, the Burial Society, would be called to the Synagogue on the eve of Simchat Torah; they would take out the Torah Scrolls of the Synagogue and dress them with all the Torah ornaments in readiness for the festivities (Alfred Furst, Minhagei Kehilat Eisenstadt).

The picture that emerges confirms that religious services included contributions by women. Opinions differ as to the women’s knowledge. Some saw the women as ignorant. Clearly, some were learned. We know of one eighteenth century woman whose occupation was to copy Jewish texts (letter in the Cairo Geniza). In some places, the Jewish life of the community relied on its women. Rav Duvdevani pointed out that, in many places, the men were away for much of the year; indeed some would come home only three times a year. These prayers by women, dating from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, give us a glimpse of the inspiration and role of women in Jewish liturgy.

Baruch she patarani and celebrating a bar or bat mitzvah

Author: Rav Duvdevani of Bet Shemesh, Kislev 5765/Nov 2004

When a boy reaches the age when he is allowed and obligated to fulfil the commandments of the Torah and he is called to the reading of the Torah, it is usual for the father to recite the blessing: baruch she patarni mei onesho shel ze, blessed be He who has freed me from the responsibility (lit. the punishment) of this one – this child.

A number of questions are raised by our sages concerning the recital of this blessing: 

  1. Perhaps it is the son who should be making the statement.
  2. What about the mother? Should she be saying it concerning her son, perhaps her daughter?
  3. Should the blessing be said with the full formula of shem u malchut, mention of the name and the kingdom of the Almighty (God, king of he universe)?

Rav Duvdevani examined these questions in the light of commentaries and Rabbinical responsa . An associated topic, the merit of bar mitzvah celebrations is discussed. Rav Duvdevani extended the subject to include the bat mitzvah.

Since the father is responsible for the education of his son, the child’s wrongdoings are the father’s responsibility and any punishment incurred devolves on the father. That is our general understanding of the practice. Several sources explain why this practice was reserved for sons:

  1. Girls remained in their parents’ house until they married, not specifically at the age of twelve (Kaf haChayim).
  2. There is uncertainty as to the father’s responsibility, since a girl could be promised in marriage while still a minor (Peri Megadim).
  3. Girls’ education was limited (Responsa of the ROSH), so it is much less of an issue.

Shem u malchut

Because there is no mention of the recital of this blessing in the Gemara, opinions are divided on the matter of the full version of the blessing. The 15th Century Ashkenazi MAHARIL noted that the custom was to recite the full version. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim, 425) in the 17th Century states ‘it is good to say the blessing without shem u malchut’ In other words, it depends on how important the blessing is seen to be.

The blessing and its implications.

The earliest reference we have of the recital of baruch she patarani is the Midrash Bereshit Rabba (section 63). The Midrash is speaking of Esau and Jacob and tells us that, at the age of thirteen, one (Jacob) went to the house of (Torah) study and one (Esau) went to the house of idol worship. Rabbi Eliezer says that therefore a father should say baruch she patarani mei onesho shel zeonce his son is thirteen years old. This means that that the blessing releases him from being punished for Esau’s sins.

A modern responsa by HaRav Yitzhak Nissim comments that the Midrash does not mention girls here, since it was discussing Esau and Jacob. He believes that the blessing should also be recited for the bat mitzvah.

Who recites the blessing

This depends on who is being released from being punished for the wrongdoings of whom. Are the failings of the son the fault of the father? Is the son being freed from punishment due to the father because he ‘belongs to’ his father (Commentary on Decisions by the ROSH)?

And the mother? In the Book of Kings (1 Kings, ch.17) we read that the son of the widow whom Elijah has helped is dying and she says: ‘Have you come to me to call my sins to remembrance and to kill my son?’ (v.18). She clearly believes that her son is being punished for her sins.

The general practice is that the father recites the blessing.

Celebrations

Almost everyone approves of the festive meal of celebration: It is comparable to a wedding (Magen Avraham), to the inauguration of a house (Rabbi Shlomo Kluger). One responsa (Igeret Moshe) thinks it is somewhat frivolous, but accepts that it is the practice. He is firmly opposed to any bat mitzvah celebration in Synagogue at any time. Another responsa (Zaken Aharon) states that bat mitzvah celebrations entail Torah violations. HaRav Yitzhak Nissim quotes a decision that sees the festive meal as marking an acceptance of responsibility for mitzvot (commandments) and this applies to boys and girls; if one is invited, one should go. Rav Duvdevani mentioned that in one community in Altona, at an 18th century bat mitzvah, the bat mitzvah gave a speech. She may have been exceptional, but her community must have seen this as acceptable. As usual, it is the community that makes decisions. The sources show how varied Rabbinical views on this subject were.

Kevod ha tzibur – Respect for the Public

Author: Rav Duvdevani of Bet Shemesh, Kislev 5765/Nov 2004

In this talk, Rav Duvdevani examined a major argument against women’s participation in the public reading of the Torah, kevod ha tzibur. What is the meaning and function of the phrase, kevod hatzibur? Can a congregation waive the requirement of kevod ha tzibur?

1. Meaning

In the context of a religious service, tzibur, the public, is taken to mean a congregation consisting of a quorum of ten men, aminyan, in a place of worship. The tzibur represents the whole people, Knesset Israel, the Congregation of Israel.

Kavod is not as readily defined. Kavod is something weighty, of importance and denotes respect, honour and dignity. The dignity of a congregation may affect its code of conduct.

2. Function

The starting point here is a baraita (text contemporary with the Mishna) in Tractate Megilla (23A): ‘All are called to the seven [sections read from the Torah], even a minor, even a woman. Our Sages say: a woman is not called to the Torah mipnei kevod ha tzibur’. This indicates that kevod ha tzibur cancels a right which has just been stated as including women. It would seem to be, as Rav Duvdevani termed it, a technical impediment. If there is no tzibur, there is nothing to prevent women exercising this particular right.

Both the right and the objection are reiterated in the Tosefta (a collection of beraitot) on Tractate Megilla (section 3). The wording here has it that a woman is not brought to read to the community - la rabim.

Rav Duvdevani recalled that the public reading of the Torah fulfils a decision made by Ezra which does not obligate women ( see his earlier talk on women and the public reading of the Torah). The Tosefta text does not give a reason for its statement.

3. Implications

Not all the sources understand kevod ha tzibur in the same way. Maimonides (Hilchot Tefila, 8) states that one should choose someone to lead a service who is outstanding in wisdom or deeds and whose beard marks his seniority mipnei kevod ha tzibur. The dignity of worship, the quality of observance of the commandments are enhanced by the person who leads the congregation in prayer.

This is taken a step further in the Gemara (Tractate Sota 39B), where we read that, at the end of a service, the reader does not remove the cover of the dais mipnei kevod ha tzibur. Rashi comments on this passage to tell us that people used to take the Torah scrolls out of the Synagogue after the service and that the cover on the dais would not be removed immediately so that the congregation would not have to wait around, since this would cause a torach tzibur, trouble for the congregation, - it would be burdensome. Here, the concern is not so much the dignity of the service as concern for the congregants.

Yet another example was the practice of reciting by heart an extra Torah text which, nowadays, we read from a second Sefer Torah. One does not scroll to the extra second passage in public mipnei kevod ha tzibur (Tractate Yoma 70B). Rashi again sees this as being a nuisance because the congregation would have to stand in silence during the scrolling.

If not troubling the congregation is a feature of kevod ha tzibur, this might well apply to calling a woman to the reading of the Torah, since people would have to wait for her to come from the women’s section to the dais (Perush Bet-Chadash, Tur Orach Chayim, 53)

4. Waiving kevod ha tzibur

One might think that if kevod ha tzibur is a matter of avoiding an unnecessary burden (torach ha tzibur), a congregation might decide to waive the respect that is its due in certain circumstances. Is the dignity of the law or concern for the congregation involved? Do they go together?

The answer is that a congregation may not waive the kevod ha tzibur (Perush Bet Chadash, ibid.). A king may not waive the honours due to him on account of his status – he is there by command of the Almighty (Tractate Sota 39B). Neither may a Rav. And, since the congregation, the minyan, represents the whole people, Knesset Israel, it canot behave like private individuals.

Rav Duvdevani repeated that, where there is no formal service, there is no tzibur and the question of kevod ha tzibur does not arise. In support of this, he showed a picture of a scene in 19th century Poland, where a chazanit, a woman leading the service, is seen surrounded by a group of eight other women; the women are dressed most modestly with head coverings and long dresses.