RE: Kol Isha

[Steven M. Singer <ssinger...>]

On Fri, 24 Sep 1999, Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky wrote:

> You are again mixing the movements up.  Egalitarianism is par course in 
> all movements except Orthodoxy.  

Webster defines "egalitarian" as .. "adhering to the philosophy of
political, economic, and social equality between all human beings."
Modern Orthodoxy certainly does not provide "equal" (read: identical)
roles and opportunities.  But I think that it would be unfair to say that
"egalitarianism" - as Webster defines it is absent from Orthodoxy.

-S




> 
> >Women hold a revered and
> >important place in the Orthodox theology and practice.
> 
> No more time to argue with this statement, but you should know that it's 
> highly specious.
> 
> Reyzl
>  
> 
> ----------
> From:  Steven M. Singer [SMTP:ssinger (at) orion(dot)it(dot)luc(dot)edu]
> Sent:  Friday, September 24, 1999 2:15 PM
> To:  World music from a Jewish slant
> Subject:  Re: Kol Isha
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, 24 Sep 1999 meydele (at) ix(dot)netcom(dot)com wrote:
> 
> > Do you make it clear to Orthodox groups that there are 2 
> > configurations of your group and they can choose the mixed one?  Would it 
> > hurt
> > your marketing to do so? 
> 
> When I feel that there is a possibility of having the mixed group perform,
> that is what I suggest.  However, sometimes it is clear as day that an all
> male group is needed.  At the present, none of our marketing materials
> show any bias to different audiences.  I simply put a line at the bottom
> of our newspaper ads that say "all male ensemble available".
> 
> > It took women in the US more than 50 years of organizing at all levels of 
> > militancy to get the 
> > vote.  But it was a movement started by women, not by men, that ultimately 
> > changed societal 
> > perceptions of what is appropriate.  Same thing with civil rights for 
> > African-Americans.  So, what 
> > can we as musicians and interested members of the greater Jewish community 
> > do to effect change, 
> > even if in small, incremental steps, on this issue?
> 
> I think that suffrage and civil rights arguments cannot be equated with
> the supposed "chauvinism" of Jewish Orthodoxy.  Women hold a revered and
> important place in the Orthodox theology and practice.  As far as "civil
> rights" progress, I think that the mere presence of the "egalitarian"
> movement has already established that women, and not just men can
> participate in the ritual aspects of Judaism.
> 
> -S
> 
> 
> > 
> > Shira  
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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