Lubavitcher Rebbe and Women

Rebecca Honig Friedman at Jewess posted a clip of the Lubavitcher Rebbe talking about women's rights. The post title is, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe Was a Feminist?” followed by "Who knew?"

She quotes the Rebbe saying: “In the final analysis, the saving of the Jewish home, of the Jewish family, depends on the self-sacrifice of the Jewish woman.” and says, "Gee, thanks, Rebbe.But maybe obligation is empowering."

I wrote a long response, which I can't seem to post, so I'll put it here. (Fix your site folks. Or if you have a delay or a moderator approving comment, say so, so I don't hit submit 5 times!)

I find this video a little cheesy. The stock footage is awful and the clips of the Rebbe are given without any context. But technical quality aside, the message is that the Rebbe cared a whole lot for the comfort and also advancement of women. He also assigned a lot of the responsibility of sustaining Judaism to the women.

You say, Gee thanks, but take a careful look at that clip again. You'll notice the rebbe is speaking to a room full of men- Rabbis and important people included. He would often spend hours speaking to men about the importance and value and power of women. That's revolutionary because while it's easy to preach to women how important they are, here he was forcing the men to change their attitudes toward women.

About the meetings shown (incidentally, they're not on the East Side, they're in 770, the main shul), the rebbe often met with women in private meetings (yechidus) sometimes for hours discussing their needs and challenges; he gave equal time to seeing women as men on the Sunday dollar lines; he corresponded with women in letters; he always made eye contact and listened to the woman, etc., etc. These things may sound so obvious to you, but they aren't for an ultra-orthodox rabbi let alone a Chassidic rebbe! Where I went to school (RW UO but non-chassidic) our male teachers would not call us by our first names, or make eye contact, or take anything we said seriously. So it isn't a small deal.

As a result, Lubavitch women are a totally different breed than the rest of the ultra-orthodox female world. They are not feminist, don't get me wrong- their primary mission is still the old fashioned child rearing and home running- but they have the opportunity and are encouraged to do more. They are raised with the notion that the 'stay at home' era is over and that women have the same responsibility as men to change the world and make it a better place. They have equal access to learning all the same chasidic texts as men (not to be taken for granted in the chareidi world where many people still believe that women shouldn't be allowed near a gemora). They are encouraged to lead active public lives, be it running a Chabad House or school or in public speaking, writing, whatever... the point is, they aren't overlooked the way many chareidi groups women are and they aren't taught to be submissive or feeble under the pretense of tzniut.

I must be said though that you won't find chabad female Rabbis or minyanim or anything questionable. The rebbe was a strictly hallakhic feminist. It seems like a bit of a contradictory position to take, but the fact is that among ultra-orthodox women, the lubavitch ones are the ones most comfortable in their skin, most at ease with their place and power in the community, and also most outspoken, productive, and also hip and fun. So there must be something right...

One of my favorite Rebbe stories with regard to women is this:

Many years agos, the women's learning institute Machon Chana in Crown Heights had bought a building and set it up with dorms and classrooms and everything needed to run a complete program. They of course invited the Rebbe for a tour and hoped to receive a blessing for success. The Rebbe's comment after the tour was, "Why are there no mirrors in the dorm rooms? You must hang up mirrors- this is a school for women and a woman's appearance is very important."

This story says so much about the Rebbe's sensitivity and thoughtfulness to a woman's needs- not only spiritual but physical as well.