Jewish Education Then
I too have been thankful for having learnt Hebrew at school. It has given me a foundation and a head-start. Now, more importantly, my appreciation has to do with remembering so spontaneously what I learnt long ago, but having no idea what it was I learnt yesterday.
In retrospect, at KDS religious education and the twice daily prayers seemed to be incidental, probably included to appease the Jewish Board of Education. Zionism ? that was something to be passionate about. Trips to Israel were encouraged, as well as involvement in Zionist youth movements. It seemed that South African Jews identified themselves mostly with Zionism and the Jewish culture. For the majority, ?orthodox? Judaism was just a word, with little thought or debate attached to it.
In the aftermath of the holocaust, many were denying the existence of a God. The Nationalists were using religion to rationalize their treatment of the Blacks. Some of our most respected and admired teachers were political activists, and communists. How could we not have picked up their views on religion?
As well, many of the Hebrew teachers were just not on our wave-length; some were traumatized holocaust survivors, some were old-school educators, and many probably weren?t religious themselves (was Sandler?) or were ambivalent. How inspiring could they be?
Religion Today In North America
I can count on one hand the number of pupils from KDHS who then would have been considered orthodox in the Toronto of today. Had we bothered to debate it, or inquire more fully into what the reform movement was really about, (we were quite a dismissive and prejudiced bunch ourselves) we might have called ourselves reform, or conservative, or reconstructionist.
I didn?t feel comfortable in the orthodox community in Toronto, and spent many years disinterested in religion. Then we joined a synagogue mainly because of my need to join somewhere, and because of the warmth and welcoming approach of the congregation and of the rabbi.
Upon joining, I had no strong conviction about being treated equal to men at shul. I didn?t particularly mind sitting separately. I had no desire to have an aliya, and , most certainly did not want to have to deliver any dvar torah. I preferred the idea of a wise grey bearded old man as a rabbi than that of a woman. I liked the comfort of the familiar. In apartheid South Africa feminism was very much on the back burner. From my perspective, there were far more relevant issues, like racism, to battle, and besides which, white women in South Africa were hardly stuck at home rearing their children and in the kitchen. They had far more opportunities than most.
However, I have come to appreciate enormously the egalitarian aspect of religion here.
I hadn?t banked on the experience of feeling included. Of the learning from both sages of the past and women scholars of today. Of the the mixing of the intellectual knowledge of the old-school rabbis with the heartfelt knowledge it is acceptable to express today. Of the emotional solace of saying Kaddish with co-mourners. Of being counted as one the the ten necessary at a shiva house. Of being called upon to read from the torah. Of the difference between being preaching at from the pulpit vs being taught by a rabbi conscious of the impact of his/her words on the congregants, and encouraging of debate and feedback.
I remember now the boys at school joking about thanking God every day for not making them a woman. Then there was the Pirkei Avot teaching, that one should not keep the company of women because they were idle gossips. And there was the story of chassidic Chaim ha-sabal, the porter, who was told that he would get to heaven even tho? he wasn?t learned, and he didn?t have to worry about his wife; she would be at his feet, like a footstool. And there was the delegation of the women to the ?Ladies Committee?, whose primary task was to see to the catering and the kiddush meal. I know these are minor examples, but they do add up, often unconsciously, nick by nick.
I hadn?t even realized the exclusion, until being included, and having the good fortune to hear the voices of wise women who included themselves.
Actually, there has been an enormous shift in the practice of religion here. There are now more women in rabbinic schools than there are men. Far more women now attend services. And fewer men are going.
Food for thought. Have any of your daughters considered becoming rabbis? And by the way, the word rebbetzin is fast becoming outmoded