First Wave: Do Feminism and Torah Go Hand in Hand?

Feminism is a complex and evolving social and political movement that has gone through several waves, each with its own focus and goals. In this feminism series, we will give a brief overview of each of the three waves and look at to what extent they are compatible with Torah thinking.

The first wave of feminism emerged in the late 19th century and extended into the early 20th century. This wave primarily focused on securing women’s legal rights and political representation, particularly in the Western world. The achievement of the movement included attaining women’s suffrage (i.e.the right to vote). The Suffragette movement in Britain, spearheaded by Emmeline Pankhurst, had as its key goal securing women’s right to vote. Full suffrage across the whole of the United States was granted in 1920, and in Britain, in 1928. 

In Israel, there was a disagreement between Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook, the Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi of Jerusalem, who made the case that women in the British Mandate of Palestine, shouldn’t have the vote, and Rabbi Ben-Tzion Meir Hai Uziel, the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Jaffa, who made the case that they should. In a letter written in 1919, Rav Kook set forth that public service lay within the men’s domain, and a woman’s role was less out of the eye of public service. In addition, for women to have more of a role in public service would entail a greater mingling between the sexes, which the Torah warns firmly against. Responding indirectly in 1920, Rav Uziel explained that a woman has an absolute right to participate in elections so that she be bound by the collective obligation to obey the elected officials who govern the nation. (Needless to say, both Rabbanim presented many other points than the few we have mentioned here). In the elections of 1925, women were able to both vote in the elections and be elected, though the Ultra-Orthodox factions boycotted this vote.

Since then, things have come a long way. In 1969, Golda Meir was appointed Israel’s first female Prime Minister. It is important to point out that many of the objections to women’s suffrage must be seen in the context of the society and gender roles of the early 20th century. In our present-day context, a century later, women’s suffrage is totally accepted, with women from all walks of life encouraged to exercise their civic duty.

First-wave feminists worked to change laws that discriminated against women in various areas, including marriage, divorce, property ownership, and employment. Part of their fight was to end coverture – the doctrine that subsumed the legal personality of wives under that of their husbands. First-wave feminists advocated for legal reforms to give women greater autonomy over their lives and choices and to be equal citizens in society. 

First-wave feminists worked to change laws that discriminated against women in various areas, including marriage, divorce, property ownership, and employment. Part of their fight was to end coverture – the doctrine that subsumed the legal personality of wives under that of their husbands. First-wave feminists advocated for legal reforms to give women greater autonomy over their lives and choices and to be equal citizens in society. 

We see the issue of women’s property ownership addressed in the Torah itself with the daughters of Zelophehad. A man died leaving behind five daughters and no sons, the women pleaded before Moshe, “Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” (Bamidbar 27:4). Moshe brings the case before Hashem who responds “The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just: you should give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them. 

“Further, speak to the Israelite people as follows: ‘If a householder dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter.” (Ibid. 7-8) Nevertheless, the inheritance was only passed onto the daughters in the absence of sons. Sons precede daughters in the division and acceptance of inheritance. The Rabbanim, however, ensured women’s financial security via the ketubah (marriage document). When a married man dies, his children inherit and not his wife. However the children must allow the widow to continue living in the family house until they either pay her the ketubah or she remarries. Daughters can and always could inherit property with a will, what has changed is that it has become more acceptable to give daughters an inheritance through a will. The Rabbanim did not change anything, society made it more acceptable.

In terms of marriage, there is sometimes a misconception with regard to Eirusin, the part of the marriage ceremony when the groom states, “Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the laws of Moses and Israel”, that this means that a woman is “owned” by her husband. What this, in actual fact, is referring to is the fact that she is exclusive to him in that only he can have an intimate relationship with her (upon her request), and she is off limits to other men. Exclusivity in this area is a sacred part of a marital relationship, and it in no way means that a woman is “owned” by her husband. Husband and wife are considered to be equal partners in income, in the sense that one spouse can’t make a major financial decision without consulting the other party. Furthermore, the ketuba acts as a prenup that guarantees a woman money if her husband dies or if they get divorced.

Laws in Judaism pertaining to divorce require an in-depth examination. Though a woman is also able to initiate the grounds for divorce, it is only the man who is able to give the get (the divorce document). A refusal to grant his wife this document would lead to the woman being an agunah (a woman who is stuck in her marriage, unable to get divorced or remarried). There are, however, a number of mechanisms that a Beis Din can do to prevent this from occurring, one of them being to have the couple sign a halachic prenuptial agreement. The Beis Din in Israel also has the ability to put a man in jail if he refuses to give a get over an extended period of time. While get abuse is an unfortunate (though generally uncommon) occurrence, Jewish law upholds that a woman be treated with respect and equality throughout the divorce process. According to halacha (Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, 119:6 Rama), a woman can also refuse a get and thus cannot be forced to get a divorce against her will. It is worth noting that the upshot of this is that get abuse isn’t completely one-sided (thus, men can be victims of it as well). A woman refusing a get can mean trapping her husband in a marriage, and the Beis Din can also jail her for doing so.

The first wave of feminism laid the groundwork for significant legal and societal changes. By securing voting rights and addressing some legal inequalities, first-wave feminists contributed to advancing women’s status in society, and much of this had a knock-on effect on Jewish communities in the British Mandate of Palestine and throughout the diaspora. As we have seen, much of the aims of securing women’s legal rights and political representation are not foreign to Torah thought.

The suffrage movement’s successes also paved the way for subsequent waves of feminism to address more complex and diverse issues, which we will go on to explore when we look at Second Wave Feminism.