Introduction
This article, based extensively on the research by Professor Ada Rapoport-Albert (1945-2020)[1] traces the evolution of women within Chabad thought. While some leaders within the contemporary Chareidi and Chassidic world are not permitting women to drive, and are obscuring women’s faces in media publications, the views emanating from the last Chabad Rebbe are rather enlightening.
The early Chabad movement
From the writings of the early
Chabad Rebbes, there does not seem to be any departure from the way other
Chassidic groups were regarding women which was traditionally exclusive rather
than inclusive.
However, some have painted a
slightly different picture by claiming that, starting with the first Chabad Rebbe,
R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), known as the Alter Rebbe, we
begin to see the first sprouting of ideas that were moving away from the
typical religious views on women popular at those times. Three examples are
presented as evidence of this turn to more inclusivity:
a) There is an
internal Chabad tradition originating in the early twentieth-century, that R.
Shneur Zalman taught Chassidut to his daughter, Freyde.
b) In 1794, R.
Shneur Zalman’s Hilchot Talmud Torah was published in Shklov which
included the traditional view that women and girls do not study Torah, but he suggested
that “nonetheless, women, too, are duty bound to study the halakhot that
apply to them.”
c) In 1817 and
1820 respectively, two Yiddish works entitled Pokeach Ivrim and Seder
Birchot haNehenin were published by R. Shneur Zalman’s son and successor, Dov
Ber, also known as the Mitteler Rebbe. These were written, it is claimed,[2]
in a non-technical language accessible to women and is “evidence of the
desire to involve women in the hasidic path of Habad.”
Rapoport-Albert
challenges all these three arguments as unconvincing or even mistaken.
Firstly, while R. Shneur Zalman may indeed have taught his daughter Freyde,
there is a long tradition of rabbis teaching their daughters so this is no
indication of a radical departure from accepted norms.
Secondly, that women study laws
relating specifically to them is also a long-standing tradition and did not
indicate any official move towards broadening the education and literacy of
women. The fact that the last Chabad Rebbe, R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, did quote
this ruling often, is anachronistic in Rapoport-Albert’s view, and was what she
calls a:
“modern Habad projection of
contemporary concerns on to its eighteenth-century origins.”
This does not, however, detract
from the last Rebbe’s real and innovative attempts at the inclusivity of women
which we shall soon discuss.
Thirdly, the two Yiddish
publications were certainly accessible to those uneducated readers with no
knowledge of Hebrew, but there is no indication that they were directed
specifically to women or that women actively even engaged with them.
Hillel of Porich
A Chabad hagiographical story
tells of R. Hillel of Porich (Parichi), originally a Chernobyl chassid
but later joined the ranks of Chabad chassidim, who boasted:
“Let women and mad men travel to
Vilednik (Novyy Veledniki - the seat of Israel of Vilednik [c.1789-1850], a
miracle-working tsadik and disciple of Mordekhai of Chernobyl) while [‘real’]
men and pietists (hasidim) travel to Lubavitch.”[3]
R. Shneur Zalman and pre-20th
century Chabad
Rapoport-Albert
points out that all indications are that R. Shneur Zalman was no different
from most of the other Chassidic leaders of that time who had very
little to do with women. He is known to have rejected the common practice of
rebbes distributing brochas or blessings to the throngs of people
who came to visit, as this involved the expectation of some miraculous outcome.
He instead focused on disseminating his teachings or ‘torah’. In what
became known as the Liozna Ordinances, strict regulations were
formulated to contain and restrict the ‘distinct classes of chassidim’
who came to visit his court – and there is no reference to women. Also, women
were excluded from his ‘torah’ sessions.
This notion is bolstered by (granted later) hagiographical literature
which claimed that neither R. Shneur Zalman nor his early successors has
anything to do with women as a matter of policy. Again, this is to be
contrasted with the twentieth-century shift in Chabad policy to actively engage
with groups of women, and this continues to set them apart from most other Chassidic
sects even today.
In fact, in pre-twentieth-century
Chabad literature, women do not feature except for references to biblical
women, who are anyway allegorised away from human personalities to become
identified with kabbalistic sefirot or mystical spheres.
Shift in eschatology[4]
From around the twentieth-century, an interesting shift relating to women begins to be evident.
Eschatologically, this is explained as a move towards messianic times
when, according to Kabbalah, the ‘feminine’ will be equated to, and even
dominate over, the ‘male’. This mystical spiritual concept translates into a
shift in gender perception that must also manifest in reality.
Of interest is the fact that although
R. Shneur Zalman does refer to ikveta deMeshicha, or first stirring
of the messianic age, messianism features marginally in his writings (Rapoport-Albert
2013:446).
He does, however, at least in
theory, expound upon this future eschatological shift in male and female roles.
R. Shneur Zalman explains the difference between the wording of the sixth and
seventh sheva berachot, or marriage benedictions as follows:
The sixth blessing concludes with
“blessed is G-d, who gladdens the groom and the bride” -while the
seventh concludes with “blessed is G-d, who gladdens the groom with the
bride.” These two blessings allude to the difference between the world now,
and the world in messianic times. In the sixth blessing - referring to the
world now - the woman is considered relatively inferior to her future position
in the seventh blessing - referring to messianic times - when she will become
primary and the groom secondary. In other words, in messianic times there will
be an inversion in the spiritual sefirotic realms and this will
eventually manifest in a more material reflection in the physical world as well,
when women will be more dominant.[5]
Rapoport-Albert (2013:446) writes
“But in the absence of any sense
of messianic urgency in Shneur Zalman’s teachings, which present a particularly
spiritualized brand of personal eschatology, and without a shred of historical
evidence that he was involved in active messianic agitation, there is no reason
to suppose that he expected the conventional gender hierarchy to be transcended
or reversed in the persisting “exilic” reality of his time.”
So, R. Shneur Zalman did not seem
concerned with the notion of imminent redemption. This, however, all changed as
the twentieth-century dawned.
Eschatology in the 20th
century and the change in policy
R. Shalom Dov Ber (1860-1920)
Rapoport-Albert (2013:447) shows that:
“Habad did not display a more
urgent sense of messianic mission until the early twentieth century.”
It is significant that from the
time of the fifth Chabad Rebbe, R. Shalom Dov Ber, women were beginning to be addressed
formally as an entity. They were no longer invisible to the Rebbes. R. Shalom
Dov Ber (or more accurately his wife, Shterna Sara) initiated a fundraising
initiative, which exclusively engaged women, and for the first time in Chassidic
history a Ladies’ Association was established. The Chabad movement was
experiencing the first effects of a modernisation process, something the rest
of the Chassidic world was shying well away from.
This was, however, not yet a
fully-fledged adoption of “inversion eschatology” only hinted to by the
previous leaders of the movement, because R. Shalom Dov Ber still displayed an
aversion to women who were influenced by - in his words - ‘satanic forces’:
“Satan dances first among the
women, to cast into them the filth of libertinism. They then run their
households in the spirit of libertinism, taking charge of the guidance and
education of their children. With their frivolous notions they prevail upon
their husbands to dismiss the traditional religious teachers and to send their
sons instead to the [secular] teachers who corrupt them.”[6]
Notwithstanding this, moves had
been made during his tenure and with his blessing, to establish a Chassidic Ladies’
Association.
R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson
(1880-1950)
Then things began to change under
the leadership of R. Shalom Dov Ber’s son, R. Yosef
Yitzchak Schneerson, the sixth Chabad Rebbe. In 1929, on a visit to
America, he set up a Ladies’ Association, not just to fundraise but to actively
further the cause of Orthodox Judaism. He promoted a campaign of ‘family
purity’ which he entrusted over to the women. He actively and officially
recruited women to further the cause of Judaism. He wrote:
“The most important thing is to
make every effort to ensure that the activists in this matter would be the
women themselves. They will be the ones who inspire and organize. One should
find young women who, with God’s help, have a great
capacity for influencing others. We have seen tangible evidence that when
they take upon themselves this kind of activity, they are successful.”
Then, writing from Poland in
1936, R. Yosef Yitzchak said:
“It is the duty of the wives and
daughters of the hasidim . . . to stand at the forefront of every enterprise
that would strengthen religion and Judaism in general, and in particular family
purity.”[7]
Unlike his father, R. Yosef Yitzchak did not blame the women for the religious decline but rather used “the wives and daughters of the hasidim”
and their ladies’ associations to promote Judaism. Women were not yet Chassidim
in their own right – only wives and daughters of Chassidim.
In 1937, he established another
association, this time to promote the study of Chassidut by women and girls,
entitled Achot haTemmimim (which may have been meant to be in the plural
“achyot”) Sisters of the Temmimim (Temmimim or ‘wholesome’
were what the male yeshiva students were called). He even met with one such
girls’ group in Riga and spoke to them the same way he would have addressed
their male counterparts. This was very unusual for that time. After 1942,
operating now out of Brooklyn, New York, he established his network of girls’
schools known as Beit Rivka (and Sarah) which incorporated the former Sisters
of the Temmimim.[8]
Having witnessed the events of
the Second World War, his writings take on a very messianic and apocalyptic
tone. He expresses allegorically that:
“the present time is the Holy
Sabbath’s Eve, just prior to the lighting of the candles.”[9]
He spoke of a “fiery awakening” of universal
repentance which was to herald the redemption. This became a slogan:
“Le’altar liteshuvah, le’altar
lige’ulah” (“forthwith repentance, forthwith redemption’’).
Nevertheless, from his writings, it does not seem that he was prepared to evoke the kabbalistic and
messianic imagery of “inverted gender” yet. His motivation seems to have been more
pragmatic and simply to counter the effects of assimilation, but the end result
was that his movement had become even more inclusive of women.
R.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994)
Things changed dramatically under
the leadership of the last Rebbe. We witness, for the first time, the
emergence, not just of “wives and daughters of chassidim”, but of female
Chassidim in their own right. Husband and wife teams were sent
throughout the globe to work together as a unit. This was a far cry from the
earlier generations, where R. Shalom Dov Ber once teased his mother by saying:
““Mother, surely you are a
hasidic Jewess [a khsidishe yidene]” she replied: “Whether I am a
hasidic Jewess I do not know, but that I am of hasidic stock [fun khsidim
shtam] is certain.” The rebbetzin clearly could not seriously entertain the
notion that she was herself a hasid. As a woman, her connection to Hasidism was
entirely a matter of genealogy” (Rapoport-Albert 2013:463).
This was in stark contrast to the
ideology of R. Menahem Mendel Schneerson. In 1952, soon after becoming Rebbe, he
founded a women’s organisation which was significantly called Agudat Neshei
uVenot Chabad, the Association of the Wives and Daughters of Chabad.
This name is ambiguous because it could just as well read, the Association
of Women and Girls of Chabad. No longer are they just “wives and
daughters of the Chassidim”, but now they were recognised as being Chabad
Chassidim with their own identity.
However, unlike his father-in-law
R. Yosef Yitzchak who was more pragmatic, the new Rebbe:
“framed his own empowerment of
women in eschatological terms that invoked all the earlier Habad references to
the inverted gender hierarchy of the messianic future” (Rapoport-Albert
2013:465).
The Rebbe himself wrote:
“As is well-known and explained in
kabbalistic and hasidic books, in the messianic future the supremacy of the
[female] sefirah Malkhut [the lowest of the ten gradations of the divine
emanation] will be revealed, because its root lies above all the other sefirot
[the male ones, which emanate and bestow], as Scripture says: “a woman shall
encircle a man,” and “an excellent woman is a crown to her husband.””
Analysis
This is a fascinating discussion because, for some people, this ‘liberation’ of women is too much - while for others, this is not enough. Either way, what is noteworthy is that these innovative moves took place within the unlikely and traditionally conservative setting of a Chassidic movement in the first place. Of course, much more has happened in the world since 1994 and gender issues are no longer just male and female. Our focus here is simply to trace the 'feminist revolution during the era of Chabad Rebbes and we have seen a slow but formidable progression of ideas throughout:
· R. Shneur Zalman
acknowledges, in theory (al pi Kabbalah) at least, a time when gender
priorities will change, but it was not yet the time for “gender inversion”
theology.
· With R. Shalom Dov Ber,
women were actually recognized as an entity. Granted they were used to
fundraise for the men’s yeshiva, but the Chassidic world now had
its first Ladies’ Association.
· There was further
progression under R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, albeit first only allowing
women to further the cause of ‘family purity’ (but at least this was more
radical than fundraising). Women were noted for their “great capacity for
influencing others”, but they were still only considered “wives and
daughters of the Chasidim”.
· With R. Menachem Mendel
Schneerson women actually evolved to become Chabad Chassidim in their
own right, and this was deemed necessary because of urgent messianic and
kabbalistic considerations which called for some form of anticipated
practical “gender inversion”.
What is also striking is that we
witness a liberalisation of women that has no ostensible connection to
the parallel movements simultaneously taking place within modernity, but is instead
framed entirely within mystical and eschatological imagery. This way it is not
a radical wing of women’s liberation that is bringing about a societal change,
but rather a manifestation of kabbalisic ideology that is simply being
applied to what was deemed a messianic requirement of the age.
Then, in a talk he delivered in
1982 on the twentieth anniversary of his mother’s passing, he further emphasised
this messianic concept of “gender inversion”. While, according to technical
kabbalistic ideology, the main flow of the divine energy is through the
male, which only applies to the spiritual realm. It does not yet translocate to
the physical realm unless there is the intervention of the female. He explained
that:
“This is affected by the [female] sefirah
Malchut above, and in the same fashion below by every Jewish woman.”
This is very significant because
in previous Chassidic thought this function was the proclivity of the Rebbes,
who intermediated and caused the 'energy flow' to manifest in physicality through their
blessing. Now, however, the earlier Rebbes' previous exclusivity had been somewhat overshadowed
if not replaced by “every Jewish woman”.
Later in 1982, he went further and used terminology that had previously only been applied to Rebbes and tzadikim;
the notion of bestowing the blessings of “banai, chayai umezonai”
(children, life and sustenance) with both its physical and spiritual connotations –
and now applied it to women.
Women had, evidently, transcended
their already radical role of becoming Chassidim to a much higher status, that of “tzadikim”,
who form the link between heaven and earth, the spiritual and the physical:
“and how much more so as regards
the drawing down of the true good, the general good, and the inner good — the
true and perfect redemption by means of our righteous Messiah.”
This is to be, and can only be, brought about by women.
Further reading
Kotzk
Blog: 176) WHAT HAPPENED TO MOSHE, SON OF THE BAAL HATANYA?
Kotzk
Blog: 189) SUCCESSION BATTLES WITHIN CHABAD:
[1] Rapoport-Albert,
A., 2013, ‘From Woman as Hasid to Woman as “Tsadik” in the Teachings of the
Last Two Lubavitcher Rebbes’, Jewish History 27,435-473.
[2]
Rapoport-Albert is referring to an article written by Naftali Loewenthal, ‘Women
and the Dialectic of Spirituality in Hasidism.’
[3]
Kahan, Shemu'ot veSipurim, vol. 2 (Kfar Habad, 1974), 50 § 49.
[4]
Eschatology is defined as having to do with the end of time, the Messiah and
the afterlife. It is used here purely in the sense of messianism.
[5]
See Seder tefilot mikol hashanah al pi nusah ha’ari zal (Kopys, 1816),1:
Derushim lehatunah, 36c-d, 40d; Birkat erusin venisu’in, 43a-d.
[6]
Igerot kodesh . . . Shalom Dovber (Brooklyn, 1982), 1:274 § 117.
[7] Igerot
kodesh . . . Yosef Yitzchak, vol. 4 (Brooklyn, 1983), 13 § 873.
[8] His
attempts at creating women’s organisations was not successful by his own
admission. A small number of women joined the Sisters of the Temmimim
and the schools were not yet particularly teaching Chabad ideology.
[9] Igerot
kodesh . . . Yosef Yitzchak 2:531 § 633.
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