Gender and Timebound Commandments in Judaism

Download or read book Gender and Timebound Commandments in Judaism written by Elizabeth Shanks Alexander and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-22 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a key tradition in Judaism (the rule that exempts women from "timebound, positive commandments"), which has served for centuries to stabilize women's roles. Against every other popular and scholarly perception of the rule, Elizabeth Shanks Alexander demonstrates that the rule was not intended to have such consequences. She narrates the long and complicated history of the rule, establishing the reasons for its initial formulation and the shifts in interpretation that led to its being perceived as a key marker of Jewish gender.