When Can Women Serve as Witnesses?

🖨 Print

Women are entrusted with the most crucial roles in Jewish life. Raising and educating children, ensuring the standard of kashrut and a stringent observance of family purity are central to preserving Jewish families and communities – and these mitzvot rely on the reliability and dedication of women.

Why, then, are there cases in which women aren’t allowed to serve as witnesses or eidim? Two witnesses are required to validate Jewish marriages and divorces as well as to provide evidence in a rabbinical court. In these cases, there must be two adult male witnesses. Why are women excluded from being witnesses in these cases?

What Is Behind the Gender Requirement for Witnesses?

The basis of the requirement of two witnesses is in the written Torah¹. Regarding the tradition that these witnesses must be male, the Rambam cites the fact that the verse in Devarim says “V’Amdo Shnei Anashim.”² The masculine gender indicates that both of the witnesses should be male³.

We should also note that women are included on a list of types of people not eligible to be witnesses, along with children, slaves, those with certain sensory disabilities, and those who have wicked habits, such as drug addicts⁴.

The reason women aren’t allowed to be witnesses in some cases doesn’t seem connected with stereotypical notions of mental weakness or unreliability. How do we know this? Simply put, there are significant exceptions to the rule that show that women’s testimony is considered reliable.

Is including women on this list meant to disparage them and imply that women aren’t reliable or rational enough to give trustworthy testimony?

When Can a Woman Be a Witness?

It’s unfortunately a common misconception that women aren’t allowed to serve as witnesses at all. A woman can be called to give testimony if an event occurred suddenly and there were no other people around⁵. It may be necessary to cross-examine a female witness to verify the identity of another woman⁶. Also, women can be summoned as witnesses in certain non-criminal cases.

A woman’s testimony is allowed and even welcomed in cases related to subjects women have specialized knowledge about, such as kashrut or taharas hamispacha⁷ or identifying other women⁸.

For instance, a woman might have been called to testify in a case involving someone eating cheilev, a forbidden type of fat. Cheilev looks identical to kosher fat, and only someone who knows what part of the animal the fat was taken from can help determine if it’s cheilev. A woman who was directly involved in preparing the fat could testify which part of the animal it was taken from.

It’s important to emphasize that limitations on women’s requirement to serve as witnesses are not motivated by a mistaken belief that women aren’t reliable. Such a limited and inaccurate belief is directly contradicted by everyday Jewish life and experience.

The greatest talmid chacham won’t second guess his wife about whether the food she prepares is kosher. Women are entrusted with every stage of taharat hamispacha, from ensuring the end of menstruation to the proper procedure for preparing for and toiveling in the mikveh. The penalty for failure to observe taharat hamispacha, is karet, or being cut off from divine favor. It’s very clear from these examples that women’s testimony is reliable, and restrictions on a woman’s role as a witness aren’t based on an underestimation of her abilities.

The other excluded people on the list, including slaves, gamblers, and children, do not have exceptions. However, unlike the listed categories of people, there are many cases in which a woman can give testimony. This hints at the fact that not having women as witnesses isn’t related to a low opinion of them. In fact, the exemption of women from serving as witnesses in ordinary circumstances may emphasize their vital role in society.

Exemption, not Exclusion

The requirement that two witnesses can’t be related can help us understand why women don’t usually serve as witnesses. Tosafot brings the example of Moshe and Aaron as two people who wouldn’t be allowed to serve as witnesses together because they are related⁹. The notion is that relatives may be swayed into validating each other’s testimony.

In traditional society, as well as to some extent in modern Jewish life, tzniut and avoidance of yichud mean that there would be rare cases in which a woman would be together with a non-related male in a relatively private space with no other valid witnesses. It can be assumed that, regarding the issue in this light, there would be very few incidents that would require women’s testimony in the first place.

Also, a woman openly being cross-examined and providing testimony against someone else when a man could serve as a witness instead seems to violate the principle of tzniut and the notion that “all of the glory of the king’s daughter is within.”¹⁰ Just as it would be beneath the dignity of a king to testify, a woman shouldn’t be called upon to perform this role unless there is no other option.

The exemption of women from the requirement of serving as witnesses is yet another commonly misunderstood feature of Jewish life. While many dwell on the negative and quickly assume the reason is sexism, the reality is more complex. From the crucial mitzvot entrusted to women, including taharat hamispacha, kashrut, chinuch, and more, it’s clear that women are considered as competent and reliable. There are many cases in which a woman is called to be a witness. Therefore, the notion that women “can’t” be witnesses is merely a generalization. In fact, it’s clear that a woman’s testimony is often essential for the observance of mitzvot that affect families and communities.

¹ Deutoronmy. 19:15

² Ibid.

³ Mishneh Torah, Laws of Edut, ch.9

⁴ Mishneh Sandhedrin, 24b

⁵ Resp. Maharam of Rothenburg, ed. Prague, no. 920; Resp. Maharik no. 179

⁶ Yevamot, 39b

⁷ Ketubah, 72a; Ketubah, 2:6

⁸ Yevamot, 39b

⁹ Tosafot, tractate Zevachim 105e

¹⁰ Psalms, 45:14