Jewish Women
Jewish Women questions and answers
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Q: What do Jewish women wear during the worship?
It's hard to recognize Jewish women today. I only recognize Jewish men because of their black attire and hats as well as dreadlocks while worshiping. How can you know that a woman is Jewish in her worship attire?
A: there is no "worship wear". orthodox Jewish men wear the suits and hats and orthodox women (married) cover their hair, wear long skirts and long sleeve shirts that cover the shoulders. but this is everyday clothes for the orthodox. most Jews, such as myself, dress like everyone else. we cover up to to to pray at the synagogue, but its out of respect...not "worship attire"
Q: Do Jewish women in America celebrate valentines day?
I have been visiting a Messianic Jewish church recently and I was thinking about asking one of the women to be my valentine, but i was wondering. Do jewish women celebrate valentines day?
Thanks.
A: There is a disconnect in your question. What does visiting a "messianic Jewish" church and thinking about asking one of the women there to be your valentine have to do with your question? I don't see the connection. Jewish women do not attend "messianic Jewish" churches. Christian women who CALL themselves Jews (but who are not really Jews) attend "messianic Jewish" churches.
Now to answer your question, yes, Jewish women (at least the ones who attend my temple), like most women in this country, appreciate receiving flowers, candy, and card on Valentines Day, although I wouldn't call that "celebrating" valentines day.
Q: I came across this book why jewish men do not marry jewish women anymore, it sounded?
kind of odd to me, seen as according to some source I tripped over, only about 1% of jews marry outside their own religion.
Jewish women, is it hard to get a jew and men do you avoid jewish women ?
A: The book is meant to be humorous. I found these two customer reviews on Amazon.com.
First, the favourable one:
"This is not your mother's book on marrying Jewish (or not). It's totally tongue in cheek, and I must say I laughed my way through the entire book. The biblical references are reworked to fit the book's concept of the trials and tribulations of being Jewish and seeking love and long term commitment in today's world. Very clever overall. "
And the less favourable one:
"This is not really a book, but a short booklet.
Rather two very short booklets - one for men about women and one for women about men - pasted together back to back.
the level of humor in this book is pathetic. I couldn't find ONE funny line. it is not informative. It is not funny. it offers nothing but a waste of about 30 minutes of your time"
The moral of this story is - don't assume something is serious; it may be entirely tongue-in-cheek.
Q: If a Jewish women converts to another religion, are her kids still Jewish?
And what about those people who are agnostic but have a Jewish mother, are they still considered Jews?
A: If the mother was Jewish, the children remain Jewish from the point of view that if they wanted to be part of the Jewish community they would not have to convert to Judaism, but just start practising Judaism and drop the other beliefs. teh same applies to the mother.
however- as long as they are members of another religion, they are not considered jewish, are not counted as Jews, not treated as Jews and cannot participate in Jewish religious life. Its easy for them to become Jewish- but it does require them to drop all foreign beliefs and to adopt Judaism as their one and only religion.
With agnostics, the situation is slightly different. They are not members of another religion, just not practicing any religion. For them, to return to Judaism is just as easy- adopt Judaism as their mode of worshiping G-d.
Q: What is the dress code for Orthodox Jewish women?
We know that 90% of the time the women wear black and cover up from head to toe, however, recently, we've seen the women wearing more modern clothes. Jean skirts, tank top, shorts, etc. A lot of the Jewish community have migrated from New York to our city, and so we are learning about their culture as we go. So, we are just wondering what is the dress code for the women, or is someone could explain to us the rules in the religion.
A: No Orthodox women that I know of wears black and covers herself head to toe. Are you thinking of Muslim women???
The requirements for dressing modestly are called tzniut.
Women wear blouses with sleeves below the elbow and skirts which cover the knees. Some women try not to follow the fashion, while others wear fashionable but modest clothing.
In Modern Orthodox practice it is generally accepted for sleeves to reach the elbows and shirts to cover the collarbone, skirts to cover the knees with or without tights, and not wear pants in the presence of men. Socks are considered optional, based on the concept of minhag hamakom (custom of the community).
Skirts with slits are avoided, as are overly eye-catching colors, especially bright red. Some communities insist on closed-toe shoes and always wearing stockings, the thickness of which varies by community. In some communities women wear loose vests over shirts. Men must wear shirts with sleeves. Modern Orthodox men will wear shorts, but Haredi men will not, and many[citation needed] will not wear short sleeves at all. Sandals without socks, while generally not worn in a synagogue, are usually accepted in Modern Orthodox communities in Israel for daily dress. Haredi Ashkenazi practice discourages sandals without socks both in and out of the synagogue. Some communities tend to accept sandals at least outside of synagogue and sometimes in synagogue as well. Dress in a synagogue and, according to many, in public should be comparable to that worn by the community when meeting royalty/government.
Following marriage, a woman is expected to cover her hair when in public, either with a hat of some sort or, in some communities, with a wig.
See the link below for more information.
Q: Why do Jewish women have a greater tendency to develop facial hair?
This is an oddity which i have observed over many years.
In relation to the source I direct you to my above statement.
A: I've also noticed that Italian women (Jewish or not) also do the same. What's yer point.
(not sure if the above is true, but I would take your generalization and figure out WHERE these women are from - I suspect, if you are correct, that it's a location thing and not a religious thing).
Bad hypothesis.
Q: Why are jewish women considered to be filthy and dirty when they have their monthly cycle?
I heard that people are not allowed to touch them, or anything that they come in contact with. Is this true?
A: Because they are. Have you ever seen what goes on down there during their period? My wife knows to stay away during this time.
Q: What are some of the cruel things that jewish women and children had to go through during the holocaust?
I am doing a project on the holocaust and i need some answers or even pictures would be helpful so i can start my sculpture.
A: Children under the age of 15 or 16 where sent to the gas chambers right away. They where told they where about to take showers. Woman who chose not to leave there children where also gased.After they where gased gold was taken out of there teeth and other people had to burn them in something like an oven. People where beaten or just shot randomly. Tons of other things to. Read voices of the holocaust,Night, and children of the holocaust
Q: Are the Jewish women segregated when they have their menses ?
Is that true , or that was in the past only ? How do they segregate them ?
A: Not true.
When the Temple was standing, there were many reasons that a person, male or female, would be temporarily considered ritually impure and required to undergo a waiting period before being allowed to enter the Temple. For women, menstruation was on this list. For men, the list was much longer, including all seminal emissions. Even with menses happening every month, in those days it was far more likely that a man would be in a state of impurity than a woman. As those laws no longer apply, I am not certain of how exactly they were kept, other than at the end of the proscribed waiting period, they would go to the mikvah (ritual bath), and then rejoin the community.
Nowadays, there are still occasions when a person can be considered ritually impure, and menstruation is still on that list. But since we no longer have a Temple, there is no need to segregate from the community - a synagogue is not considered a holy place in and of itself, and being "impure" does not disqualify a person from attending. But even without the Temple, women who have their period are still required to refrain from sexual relations with their husbands until the waiting period ends and she goes to the mikvah. Orthodox Jews still keep these laws, and there is a certain amount of "segregation" within the home - during that time, the couple will not sleep in the same bed, will not pass objects to one another, and some will not even sit side by side on the same sofa, until after she goes to the mikvah. This is not because she is considered unclean - a menstruating woman can still sit on a sofa next to or hand things to any man who is not her husband - but as special separations to help ensure that they will not become aroused during the waiting period, and have sex despite the prohibition.
The state of ritual impurity in general, and when a woman is in it because of menstruation in particular. is considered a very private matter - between the person and G-d, and her husband. So calling it segregation isn't accurate - because there is no need to keep separate from the community, from prayer services, or from any other everyday activity, and while they are separated from their husbands in private, publicly no one generally will ever be able to tell the difference. Orthodox Jews generally do not allow even casual physical contact between members of the opposite sex, and public displays of affection are frowned upon, so you simply wouldn't notice when a couple is in a state of separation. And unmarried women are not obligated to go to the mikvah after menses, so for them life is the same as if they are not considered impure at all.
Meanwhile, Reform Jews and most Conservative Jews (the majority of Jews in America and most of the western world) do not keep these laws at all, so for them it is more a vestige of Temple times than something relevant today.
Q: Unmarried Jewish women during biblical times?
What became of the unmarried Jewish women in biblical times?
For example: If a woman of 25 from a rather wealthy family was unmarried in Nazareth during about 30 AD, would she be able to hold a place in the community or would she be shunned because of not being married?
Also, if she had an extensive knowledge on herbs and healing but was not married, would she be considered a sinner or a harlot?
Please elaborate.
A: Jewish women always were engaged in commerce and jobs- the Talmud in masechta Kesubos and Gittin discuss the procedure for a wife to be financially independent of the husband and to maintain herself rather than letting him administer their joint finances! As such, a single woman could support herself by working and it was not seen as unusual or disgraceful for the woman to be working.
Q: Why do othrodox Jewish women often wear long black skirts and stockings?
And mostly black shoes and sweaters? Why the black?
Sorry, it's Orthodox.
See what happens when you don't check your work?
A: The poster above me gave a pretty good answer, but I will elaborate a bit.
Being modest or dressing in a tzniut manner is an important aspect of Orthodox Judaism. The concept of modesty not only applies to one's dress but how genders interact with each other and how one behaves in life. There are some specific laws in regards to these things, but I will cover apparel.
Women and men in Orthodox Judaism are required to cover their bodies in certain ways.
For women, that means wearing shirts that have sleeves which reach the elbows and a collar that covers the collar bone. With skirts it means ones that cover the knees and stalkings that cover skin.
As far as black, women in different communities have different interpretations of how these laws translate. Some communities find bright patterns which would attract people into glaring against the concept of being modest (these vary on whether women are modern orthodox or not).
Other women tend to like black because it's a slimming color. If you live in certain areas, it's practically the unanimous female dress code. We are sort of known for wearing lots of black here in New York for example lol.
When women are married, they are supposed to cover their hair in some shape or form. Women wear tischels (scarves), shietels (wigs), snoods, or hats to show that they are married.
This video does a pretty awesome job of explaining the concept:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6bUAtrnHfU
With men, they have to wear shirts with sleeves on them and long pants (although this varies in the modern orthodox communities, same for women). Shorts are kind of a modern Orthodox thing, you won't see it in Haredi communities.
Men married or not, usually cover their heads with a kippah or yamulke, while some wear black hats. This is to show respect and reverence to God above. It also helps to show that someone is proud to be Jewish.
PS: Don't worry about the typos -> It happens.
Q: Are Jewish women considered to be the head of the household?
A Jewish friend told me this years ago but I wanted to check it out.
I'm familiar with the stereotypes but i wanted to know if the mother is simply accepted as the 'final-decision-maker in the family in the same way as a man/father (used to be) considered the FDM and sat at the head of the table etc
A: Probably just like us, Italian women in the household. I have heard no complains since 9 years though !
Q: Question about Jewish women during the Holocaust?
Were they raped by the Nazis and the others?
A: I recently had a trip to the Imperial War Museum, and yes theres considerable documented evidence of the soldiers raping Jewish women.
Not just written evidence either, but you can also so photographic evidence on show there. Considering that they were considered to be sub-human it does make you wonder. But I guess human nature can be stronger that ideological beliefs.
Rassenschande did mention mating / marriage between, the Aryans and Jews, but it didn't particularly include or stipulate cases of rape.
Q: do jewish women hate all other women who are not?
this is a serious question. why are jewish women so mean to me at my predominately jewish workplace?
A: having a jewish father and a non jewish mother, i understand what you mean. but the reality is- jewish women don't hate all other women any more than women hate other women. it might just seem that way, or they might be directing it at you...some jewish women are aggressive towards non jewish women because they see them as a threat.
Q: Why were pregnant Jewish women first on the list?
To die once they were unloaded at Aushiwitz?
And other concentration camps.
A: The easiest way to exterminate a population is to make sure they are not having babies.
No, there weren't "thousands of babies born at Auschwitz." Women were in no condition to have babies.