541-Year-Old Jewish Prayer Book Shows Women Can Be Equal

A siddur from 1471 has revealed an early example of egalitarian Jewish prayer, presenting historical attempts to battle gender inequality. “This Siddur proves that the degrading attitudes towards women, which we are seeing in certain extreme religious communities in Israel today, are a modern distortion of Judaism,” said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld. “Ironically, treatment of women in certain extreme sectors of the community is far more denigrating to women today than even the attitudes of the late Middle Ages."

Medieval siddur battles gender inequality via Jewish prayer
Siddur from 1471 alters morning blessing to 'Blessed Are You, God, For Creating Me a Woman and Not a Man.'
By Aimee Neistat • Ha’aretz

A siddur from 1471 has revealed an early example of egalitarian Jewish prayer, presenting historical attempts to battle gender inequality.

According to the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), the 600-year-old siddur replaces the traditional prayer recited by women, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, Master of Universe for Creating me According to your Will”, with “Blessed Are You Lord our God, Master of the Universe, For You made Me a Woman and Not a Man.”

The prayer offered by the 1471 siddur stands as a clear counterpart to the morning prayer recited daily by observant Jewish men: "Blessed are You For Not Creating Me a Woman".

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, Conservative Judaism’s official rabbinical association, discussed the prayer in light of current tensions between secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel.

“This Siddur proves that the degrading attitudes towards women, which we are seeing in certain extreme religious communities in Israel today, are a modern distortion of Judaism,” said Rabbi Schonfeld. “Ironically, treatment of women in certain extreme sectors of the community is far more denigrating to women today than even the attitudes of the late Middle Ages.

According to the JTS, the siddur was written by the scribe Rabbi Abraham Ben Mordechai Farissol, a well-known Northern Italian rabbi (1451-1525) who was a scholar, cantor, and physician. In addition, he wrote many interpretations of books in the Bible, and literature focused on comparing Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The rare siddur is part of a collection of the JTS library, a Manhattan based academic and spiritual center of the Conservative movement.

[Hat Tip: Shish.]

Comments

[CP]

This is very nice, but it hardly "proves" that the degrading attitude towards women is a "modern distortion." Is this siddur the authoritative siddur for all of Jewry at the time? And even if it is, how does this mean that women weren't treated badly back then too?

[Robert Wisler]

The Italian Jewish communities in the Middle Ages were well known for their liberalism (and I mean that in a good sense) including gender-mixed family seating in certain synagogues. Unfortunately, the picture of the prayer was too blurry in the picture to make out.

[shish]

Is this siddur the authoritative siddur for all of Jewry at the time?

Posted by: CP | January 08, 2012 at 03:29 PM

Oy yoy yoy. Do we really have to address this silly question? The answer is NO...the fact that this alternative Medieval blessing exists does not in any way imply that this was the "authoritative" text at the time. In fact, we know with absolute certainty that this was NOT the prevalent version of the blessing in Medieval times. What in god's name is your point?? Do you not realize that the entire point of brining this version to light is simply to demonstrate that a Medieval Jewish community was capable of being less chauvinistic than contemporary Orthodox communities? Do you not realize that the discovery of this siddur contributes significantly to our understanding of the Jewish people's varied history??!?

You have no point, sir...no point at all...stop asking stupid questions for the sake of asking questions.

[Rochel]

Love it!!! Yay!!!
Will be sure to include this version should I find myself reciting morning prayers.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I thank god for the brocha: sheloh osani isha.(that he didn't make me a woman)

It was this brocha that made me first question the religious stuff that I was being forced to learn.

I asked my teacher, why do we say this brocha? And he told me to be quiet.

I then asked my rabbi, and he gave me an answer that didn't fit right, like being a man give us the chance to do the mitsvos that are time based etc. and I thought to myself, this is a cop out. I am thanking god for not making me the same as my mother? A good, kind woman etc? Not me!

And I never said the brocha after that. Then I started seeing other things as well, like when I was taught tanya. (nefesh behamis etc).

So, the brocha was my eye opener.

[who knows]

We are lucky that this historical siddur was in posession of Conservatives. Had this book was in Haredi hands it would either been burned or hidden so that nobody would ever know that it had existed.

[Fleishike Kishke]

This is why we have to demonstrate against all digging. You see the shit they find when they dig??? Art&Facts was buried for a reason. Next they'll find a Jewish hat that isn't a streimel. Maybe even a menorah with curved branches.

[Lo Kedarkah]

I heard once of an even older sefer that contains a story about a man and a woman who lived together in a garden and didn't wear anything; the sefer goes on to describe women who inherited property, women who led armies into battle and women who were the spiritual advisers to monarchs and the nation. This sefer even frequently describes God in feminine terms.

[Jack Meoff]

I heard Chabad is printing a sidur which says "shelo asani scotty"

[Rebitzman]

@Lo Kedarkah

Obviously a liberal rag.

[Malka Gittel]

@Lo Kedarcha, such a dangerous book, surely we should be sure no Yidden ever learn it. Obviously the haredi are careful not to teach it!

[ah-pee-chorus]

amazing find. wow.

[Hal]

shelo asani charedi

[ca]

Yes, Hal that should definitively be added! And I say that even though many would consider me haredi. B"H I don't live in a closed community.

[just shut up already]

Shelo asani putz would cover all the above.

[Barrygoodlife]

One siddur does not a liturgy make...perhaps the fact that this is such an unusual text is an indicator of how much of an outlier it is. Non traditional, and not accepted by even the liberal Jewish communities of Italy, it never became normative. New Coke, anyone?

[Hombre]

"Rabbi" Julie. LOL. Let the Jew-hating "rabbi" be raped and spat on (perhaps not in that order), then vomited out of the Land if she ever attempts to go there, G-d forbid.

Would make a great story on www.failedmessiag.com LOL

[Adam Neira]

This would make interesting reading. I think there may have been pockets of enlightened attitudes towards women throughout history but generally a certain paradigm reigned. I also have trouble with the title "Rabbi" for a woman.

['Yechiel']

OK...
1) all that one shall legitimately deduce from the altered text is that both sexes praise the L-rd for creating them the way He did. Both have their respective purposes and places on this 'wonderful' planet... She'asani kirtzono does not imply otherwise. If the point you are driving was true, why did the lovely scribe delete the blessing in its entirety?
2) how about shelo asani nakhrith? How dares he?...

['Yechiel']

Oops...
I meant ...why did not the lovely scribe delete the blessing in its entirety?

[Shmarya]

"Rabbi" Julie. LOL. Let the Jew-hating "rabbi" be raped and spat on (perhaps not in that order), then vomited out of the Land if she ever attempts to go there, G-d forbid.

Would make a great story on www.failedmessiag.com LOL

Posted by: Hombre | January 09, 2012 at 01:00 AM

"Raped and spat on"?

You're a very sick person and a good example of what religious fundamentalism often leads to.

May the Land and the People vomit you out.

[Malka Gittel]

Aside from the fact that very-much-Rabbi Julie has been in Israel several times, including, I believe, as part of her ordination studies, might we ask, Shmarya, that people be warned about banning for these kinds of things? As I recall, another female poster recently had rather disgusting sexual comments made about her until everyone in the dispute was called on their comment war. Posting these kinds of sexually derogatory and threatening comments about women can't be allowed, I hope. This space, please tell me, is not becoming a new Beit Shemesh.

[Rebitzman]

@Malka Gittel

All female rabbis the the Conservative movement have done a years study in Israel, and they all have been subject to derogatory, sexual and vulgar comments from the "religious". If they are lucky - words are all that are thrown.

That said - Shmarya has gone out of his way to NOT censor too many people(some simple have gone too far) preferring to let their own words damn them. I think he's correct.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I use the bracha found in the Italian nusach, in my case "sh'asani ish." I was never comfortable with the conventional version or the apologetics around it.

The late Middle Ages produced Maimonides, Aquinas, Ibn Ezra, and Avicenna, to name but a few. There were some rationalists in that time period, who sought to reconcile science and reason with religion, unlike now. Fundamentalism is de-evolution.

[Al]

This simply proves that there were liberals in the 1400's. I think most of us knew that ! These were the people called Apikusim (heretics). Still whoever published this siddur had to "change" the words. This is simply proof that in the 1400's some community decided the words historically used were offensive and needed to be changed. Let me ask you this ? How many orthodox shuls use the these 500+ year old new words ? None that I know of. Fact: Orthodoxy generally resists any revision to its dogma !

[HeshMan]

"For You made Me a Woman and Not a Man"

why the redundancy?

[Yochanan Lavie]

The siddur was written by men. It was not handed down at Sinai.

[DBSesq]

Well, this is interesting as it lends some historic credence to the view of the Vilna Gaon that a woman can say ". . .sheasani ishah," an option contemplated in the Talmud. But the Gaon was a da'at yachid, a single opinion on the subject, and we generally do not rely on such opinions gainst the weight to countervailing thought. There are some left leaning rabbis who have suggested that we should rely on the GR"A as a matter of necessity. But this siddur has no bearing on that Halachik argument. At most all this siddur demonstrates is some level of fluidity of the liturgy nearly 700 years ago. But two things have to be remembered. First there is no evidence presented that this nussach was ever accepted by anyone other than the scribe who penned it. Second, the liturgy has since been fixed and changing it is not so simple. Prof. Daniel Sperber authored a book on the subject, but from what I understand it hasn't gained too much traction among poskim.

[Sonny Felderhammer]

Shmarya said to a poster he disagreed with, "May the Land and the People vomit you out." How nice and tender.

What a horrible curse to throw at a Jew. He and his groupies went on to advocate banning and censuring comments they don't agree with.

I guess Shmarya doesn't know what lol means and isn't familiar with the use of sarcasism for effect. This exchange provided opportunity for him and his Jew-hating followers to show their true colors.

Shmarya and his sheep complain about hate speech from and censorship by religious Jews while they feel free to take to the next level what they claim to detest.

Pretty sick.

[Shmarya]

Shmarya said to a poster he disagreed with, "May the Land and the People vomit you out." How nice and tender.

What a horrible curse to throw at a Jew. He and his groupies went on to advocate banning and censuring comments they don't agree with.

I guess Shmarya doesn't know what lol means and isn't familiar with the use of sarcasism for effect. This exchange provided opportunity for him and his Jew-hating followers to show their true colors.

Shmarya and his sheep complain about hate speech from and censorship by religious Jews while they feel free to take to the next level what they claim to detest.

Pretty sick.

Posted by: Sonny Felderhammer | January 09, 2012 at 05:47 PM

Idiot.

This is the comment I responded to:"Rabbi" Julie. LOL. Let the Jew-hating "rabbi" be raped and spat on (perhaps not in that order), then vomited out of the Land if she ever attempts to go there, G-d forbid.

Would make a great story on www.failedmessiag.com LOL

Posted by: Hombre | January 09, 2012 at 01:00 AM

And I wrote:

"Raped and spat on"?

You're a very sick person and a good example of what religious fundamentalism often leads to.

May the Land and the People vomit you out.

Posted by: Shmarya | January 09, 2012 at 04:44 AM1. He's clearly making fun of the fact that she is a rabbi.

2. He's calling for her rape.

3. That you can't understand the simple English used is pitiful.

4. That you think it's okay to joke about rape is even worse.

5. You're a sick man. Get help.

[Dave]

Yochanan, I agree 100% with your comment,
"the siddur was not handed down at Sinai."

[shish]

Posted by: Sonny Felderhammer | January 09, 2012 at 05:47 PM

You're a complete moron. Your reading comprehension skills, and your powers of analysis, are nil...