[Avodah] Tzeni'us and gender roles

[T613K at aol.com]

> That is exactly what my father said about women  being  witnesses, that 
the 
> halacha protects their dignity.   He added that their  ne'emanus is not 
in 
> question, as a woman's  word is trusted in matters of  critical  halachic 
>  importance like taharas hamishpacha and kashrus. [--TK]
 
RYG wrote:



"she'ain ha'nashim be'toras edus, she'ha'edus zarich kivun  ve'yishuv
ha'da'as harbeh" (Hinuch #37). 
 
>>>>>
That is only the Chinuch's opinion -- his personal understanding of the  
reason for the halacha that women can't be witnesses in court.  His  
understanding fits with the common beliefs (or prejudices) of his time and place  -- 
13th century Spain -- but I don't know if the Gemara's own words suggest  
any reason. 
 
HOWEVER, having said that, I also remember another reason my father gave, a 
 reason that might be a bit more in consonance with the Chinuch (and I 
think  I wrote about this once before, a long time ago in Avodah years): 
 
He said that men will tend to testify to "just the facts" while women in  
their testimony are more likely to include things like the person's  
emotions, motives, background and so on.  My father said that in a  certain way 
women see things more the way Hashem Himself does -- the whole  picture, the 
background story, the shades of meaning and motivation -- and that  when Hashem 
judges, He takes all this into account and judges in a "womanly"  way, with 
compassion, but that a human court is not allowed to take all these  
"extraneous" things into account.  I know that some people will find my  father's 
words warm and wise while others will think they're just apologetics  and 
far-fetched.   Naturally I myself tend to the former view but  anyway.  I must 
also say that I am not transcribing my father's words very  accurately 
because I can't remember them exactly, and without his particular  eloquence his 
ideas definitely lose in the translation.  So if you like  what he said, 
good, and if not, blame me.
 
 
--Toby  Katz
==========



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