Government To Allow Women To Eulogize At Funerals

After years of blocking women who wanted to eulogize loved ones at their burials, the government decides to lift its haredi ban – but only after "discovering" a mysterious lost halakhic decision issued by Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi a year ago which permits it.

 

Israel ministry rules women are permitted to eulogize at funerals
Decision follows discovery of year-old halakhic ruling by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, after women complained they were being excluded from eulogizing.
By Yair Ettinger • Ha’aretz

The Religious Services Ministry instructed hundreds of burial societies across Israel Tuesday to refuse the exclusion of women from eulogizing at funerals.

The decision was made after numerous women complained that burial staff had prevented them from eulogizing at funerals of loved ones.

About a fortnight ago, the Religious Services Ministry said the issue would be resolved by Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar. A short time later, it was discovered that a halakhic ruling on the matter already existed, under the signature of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, and was approved of by the Chief Rabbinate.

Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi (Shas) decided to adopt a Rabbi Metzger’s ruling, which was released more than one year ago, stating that women must not be refused from eulogizing at a cemetery.

“We’ve picked up the gauntlet and unequivocally announced that there will be no exclusion of women,” Margi told Haaretz.

A ministerial committee to advance the status of women had decided a few weeks ago that the Religious Services Ministry should amend the licenses of the burial societies, known as hevra kadishas, to clearly state that women may accompany the dead to their graves and eulogize them at funerals.

"It is unthinkable that a halakhic ruling" - a rabbinic ruling on a point of Jewish law - "should dictate a government ministry's decision," Culture Minister Limor Livnat, head of the interministerial task force set up to deal with a recent spate of ultra-Orthodox violence and discrimination against women, said last week. "I will not allow it."

Margi’s decision to adopt the halakhic ruling was welcomed by Tzohar rabbis and Itim Institute, who provides religious resources to the needy.

Margi is a Shas member who answers to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and to the Sefardi chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar.

His sudden decision to follow Metzger's "lost" ruling is most likely meant as cover for Rabbis Yosef and Amar, to protect them from attacks by Ashkenazi haredim.

Comments

[Not Simple]

it was discovered that a halakhic ruling on the matter already existed, under the signature of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, and was approved of by the Chief Rabbinate.

Better late than never.

[Barry]

The Hareidi reasoning as to why women should not be present (let alone lead) a funeral because it is rooted in medieval misogyny and superstition.

According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 20a), women may (or even must) attend funerals:-

“Our Rabbis taught: Wherever it is customary for women to follow the bier, they may do so; to precede it, they may do so likewise. R. Judah said: Women must always precede the bier, for we find that David followed the coffin of Abner, as it is written, “And King David followed the bier” (2 Sam. 3:31).

The Zohar however rules otherwise (II Zohar 196a-b)

"R. Simeon further said: ‘I swear to you that the majority of people do not die before their time, but only those who know not how to take heed to themselves. For at the time when a dead body is taken from the house to the place of burial the Angel of Death haunts the abodes of the women. Why of the women? Because that has been his habit since the time that he seduced Eve, through whom he brought death upon the world. Hence, when he takes a man’s life, and the males are accompanying the dead body, he mingles himself on the way among the women, and he has then the power to take the life of the sons of men. He looks on the way at the faces of those who come within his sight, from the time they carry the dead body out from his house to the place of burial until they return to their homes. It is on their account that he brings about the untimely death of many people. Regarding this it is written: “But there is that is swept away without justice” (Prov. 13:23). For he, the Angel of Death, ascends and brings accusations and recounts man’s sins before the Holy One, blessed be He, so that the man is brought to judgment for those sins, and is removed from the world before his time.
What is the remedy against this? When the dead body is carried to the place of burial, a man should turn his face in another direction, and leave the women behind him. Should the latter pass in front he should turn round so as not to face them. Similarly, when they return from the place of burial he should not return by the way where the women are standing, and he should not look at them at all, but should turn a different way. It is because the sons of men do not know of this, and do not observe this, that the majority of people are brought up for judgment and are taken away before their time."

The Zohar therefore views women as being responsible for the presence of death in the world and that there presence at funerals is particularly effective in bringing about untimely deaths. The Zohar's influence was so great that the Shulchan Aruch ignores the Talmud and rules that women should not participate in the procession to the grave, lest they bring harm to the world (YD 359:1-2).

It is often claimed that the doctrine of Original Sin is a Christian doctrine and not a Jewish one based on what is found in the New Testament (Romans 5:12) where Paul says, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. By one man's disobediance many were made sinners."

In fact the Zohar shows that for Hareidim this is not so, in that whilst they do not believe in the 'Fall of Man', they believe that in the 'Fall of Woman'.

[seymour]

barry interesting

but why do they need to mention not to look at a woman at a funeral, since according to herdeim one may never look at a woman

interestingly from this story and other when the herdiem say we are not allowing them to practice their way of life,

what they really mean is that we are not allowing them to dictate to us how to live our life

[Friar Yid]

“We’ve picked up the gauntlet and unequivocally announced that there will be no exclusion of women,” Margi told Haaretz.

Way to strike an extremely circumscribed blow for equality! Here, have 1/18th of a cookie.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Despite the literary quality of some of its passages, I have come to the conclusion that the Zohar is a pernicious work that has had a deleterious effect on Judaism.

[Waiting4Moshiach]

These are the same sorts of women on the upper west side who ruined America with their feminizm back in the seventies ang gave us abortion, drugs, gays, reform, Mo and much more we do not need. A true Jewish woman knows her glory is that she was there at the beginning, and she is willing to leave the speaches to others at the end.

[A. Nuran]

Mighty White of them...

[tonda]

This is why theocracies are never a good idea and will never work.

The Government agrees to stop women from speaking at a specific place or occasion based on what a religious leader has decided.

What happens if a different religious leader opposes it in the future? Do women lose that right again?

Nobody should tell individual groups how to behave within those groups. That is between the members of that group, and members that disagree are free to leave or change affiliation. But when individual groups decide on matters affecting the entire population based on religious opinion, you have a recipe for disaster. Government opinions and dictates should be based on civil laws, not religious ones.

[Dave]

Yochanan, I agree with you 100%.
I have also come to the conclusion that the
Zohar indeed has had a pernicious influence on Judaism. I would further state, and I hope and think you would agree with me, that knowledge of the Zohar is absolutely NOT needed to become even the frummest of frum Jews.

[Gefilte Fish]

Does anyone know of Ortho rabbis in the US who ALLOW women to eulogize? I can't recall the last Ortho funeral I've gone to in which a woman was allowed to speak.

[Abracadabra]

I went to a Modern Orthodox funeral where a woman spoke - it was the daughter of the deceased.

[SweetAdoline]

Gefilte, you are obviously behind the times. There are many Orthodox rabbis in the USA who not only "allow" women to speak at funerals, but encourage them as well. Perhaps you should go out of your daled amos to see.

[Adam Neira]

I've only been to two funerals in my life both when I was boy so am not an expert on eulogies, but if a woman wants to speak and show respect to the deceased it seem pretty fair and reasonable.

[Gefilte Fish]

Sweet,

I regularly attend a conservative synagogue, so I do go beyond the dalet amos. I'm referring to funerals I've attended in Orthodox settings in which only men were invited to speak, no matter how ineloquent or distantly related they may be.

I'm glad to see that there actually are Orthodox rabbis who have not signed onto the misogyny that is running rampant throughout their branch.