Celebrating Jewish Womanhood

A personal account of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's attitude towards Feminism

Before we can understand the differences between men and women, we must first understand the differences between masculine and feminine.

The Hebrew name of the first woman, Eve, is Chavah, which means "the source of life." It was Chavah who participated first in the primordial sin, which introduced death to the world. Chavah is the archetypal woman; every woman can thus rectify the primordial sin...

Those who refer to the biblical story of Eve as a Divine endorsement of sexism are overlooking a simple truth: a curse is not something that should to be the way it is -- it's something that should not be the way it is...

Man seeks woman and woman yearns for man. But the trick is learning to contract in order to come together...

First tries are usually chaotic. Yet the Torah offers us different methods of capturing the chaotic energies of beginnings and turning them into productive and stable states that can be used over and over again.

To an ancient Greek or a Hindu, passive stillness is masculine, activity and motion are feminine. To a Taoist, action is masculine and passiveness is feminine. In other words, if it is a virtue it is masculine. The Jew turns the pyramid on its head

When G-d created Adam, at the moment Adam opened his eyes, what was his psychological profile? He had no Oedipus complex because he had no mother. He didn't have a birth trauma, because he wasn't born. He had no sibling rivalry... What was this man like?

Is it true that G-d in Jewish teachings is patriarchal--that is, thoroughly imbued with male characteristics and values?

This week I attended a prayer service with a difference. It was a Torah reading conducted entirely by women. Most were wearing tallises and kippas. Isn't is positive that women are participating more in their Judaism?

Behind every successful man... stands his wife—or so goes the proverbial saying. But what about behind every successful woman?...

Kabbalistic writings insist that females possess a higher soul of superior quality. How so, and what does this mean to us?

The Jewish Woman has a unique mission specific to her special qualities and sensitivities. The very future of the Jewish people depends on her success.

Why is Judaism passed down through the mother? I understand in olden times it was easy to know who your mother was and there was no way of proving fatherhood. But these days we have DNA testing, so why can't someone be Jewish even if only their father is Jewish?