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258 JEWISH WOMEN IN BIBLICAL TIMES.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
It Has Been Observed That Of The Three G...
Its turn caused her to neglect the religious instruction of the chil- _^ dren . On the other handthe _^ reform commenced five and twenty ;
, years ago , by which women have been restored to their true position in the synagoguehas been attended with the happiest
, results . The Margaret Street Synagogue aimed from its commencement
to bring about this desirable change . The introductory discourse preached at its opening , January , 1842 contains the following
, passage . " Woman , created by God as a helpmeet for man , and in every way his equal ; endowed by the same parental care as
man , with wondrous perceptions , that she might participate ( as it may be inferred from Holy Writ that she was intended to
participate ) in the full discharge of every religious and moral obligationhas been degraded below her proper station . The
, power of exercising those exalted virtues that appertain to her sex has been withheld from her , and since equality has been
denied to her in other things , as a natural consequence it has not been permitted to her in the duties and delights of religion .
It is true that education has done much to remedy this injustice In other respects , yet does its memory live in the too frequent
indifference manifested for the religious instruction of females . " Having re-admitted the Jewish woman to all the rights of '
worship as they were enjoyed in the times of the Bible , having brought her face to face with the altar for the rite of confirmation ,
having also placed her before the altar during the solemnization of the covenant of marriage , and allowed her to take a full and equal
share in the service , it would be entirely out of place at this day to * raise any difficulty with respect to the equal position woman _,
ought to occupy , should it be deemed expedient to have her assistance in the choir . The right of equality once conceded , there is no
necessity to debate _sxich details as far as the principle is concerned . " For my own part" added the preacher" I am prepared to accept
, , all the consequences arising from the principle which'I propounded twenty years ago . For if in Biblical timeswoman was held
, qualified to give out the oracles of God , and to read and expound the Scriptures , not merely for herself , but for the whole of the
commonwealth , as in the days of King Josiah , she must , by parity of reasonbe considered equally entitled with man to participate in .
, every rite and privilege -which the synagogue offers to its common . worshippers . "
The few ] facts passed in review bearing upon woman In relation to the socialmoraland reliious duties of lifeare l
illustrated in the , _* of the g Bible . In that , Hol amp Book y the effects of religious pages training are strongly marked y in the
character of the Hebrew woman . In her heart abides the most intense affection . She is meek in iritand impatient of
selfish desire . To her parents she is sp all devotion , , to her childr every en _,
her tenderness rises even to poetry , and to him to whom she has
258 Jewish Women In Biblical Times.
258 JEWISH WOMEN IN BIBLICAL TIMES .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 258, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/42/
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