WOMEN IN JEWISH LIFE by Ellen M. Umansky
In the past century, feminism has been a popular and powerful force of change in the Jewish religious revival. Tremendous change has been observed in the role of women in the Jewish communal life. Ellen M. Umansky of Fairfield University describes these changing roles in terms of; increased numbers of educated Jewish women, women's rights, and persuasive feminists dissolving many ancient traditional limits. Up through the early nineteenth century, women had only three main roles in the Jewish communal life: baking the braided loaf called Challah, lighting the Sabbath candles and following the laws of purity, which regulated the ...
