To Life!

Torah Portion

often is in the Torah; but it is quite
another when she is openly discrimi-
nated against. Why the differences
between the sexes?
Let us juxtapose this passage with
silent, then her vow shall be binding.
the end of next week's parashah,
In biblical society, a woman was
which is often read together with our
clearly subservient to a man —she
portion. Mattot begins with this sec-
lived either under her father's control
tion about women's vows, while next
or her husband's. Consequently, it is
week's
portion, Maksey, ends with a
easy to recognize that this text was
story
about
the daughters of
written in and for a different time.
Zelophehad:
Surely, for that reason
Five women challenge
alone, we can rationalize this
Moses and the entire com-
law away. We could say that
munity of Israel to permit
the ancient rabbis didn't real-
them to inherit land from
ly like the practice of taking
their father, and they are
vows for men or women, for
successful. While it is true,
vows were often made
the thrill of a woman's
impulsively or out of anger.
inheritance is contained by
We could say that vows,
the fact that she may only
particularly of abstinence
and denial, are antithetical
RABBI MARLA inherit if she marries within
the tribe, this success is,
to the Jewish way of life. We
HORNSTEN
nevertheless, a triumph for
could say a lot of things, but
Special to the
women.
none of them would recon-
Jewish News
So, we have two conflict-
cile the inequality represent-
ing
experiences within pages
ed here between men and
of
each
other. On the one
women.
hand, women are not given autonomy
• It is one thing when a woman's
by their society and on the other, they
voice is absent from the text, as it

A Woman's Vow

Shabbat Mattot:
Numbers 30:2-32:42;
Jeremiah 1:1-2:3.

U

nderstanding Torah is some-
times a challenging task for
the modern reader. Take this
week's Torah portion for example.
The opening verses concentrate on
the theme of vows, particularly of
women's vows and a father's or hus-
band's right to annul them. In a rather
long and descriptive passage, we learn
the difference between a man's vow
and a woman's. In short: If a man
makes a vow, it is binding. If a
woman makes a vow, her father or-her
husband may, on the day on which he
hears of it, annul her vow. If, however,
he waits until after sunset or remains

Marla Hornsten is a rabbi at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield.

take charge of their lives to ensure
that they receive an inheritance.
Perhaps the issue of the vows that
open the Torah portion represents a
time and a place that is limited to our
past, but the story of the daughters of
Zelophehad, which not only ends the
Torah portion but also the book of
Numbers, sets the stage for the future.
It is because of their initiative that
women were able to stand before a
court and plead a case; it is because of
their bravery and commitment to
their cause that women were allowed
to own property and to control their
own affairs.
Consequently, the daughters initi-
ated change and advancement for
women, not just in their own day, but
for 'women of all time. ❑

Conversations

Why are limitations placed upon
women in the Bible and in pres-
ent society? Is a woman less in
control of her vows? Is she truly
less capable of discernment?

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