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10 S. Cal. R. L. & Women's Stud. 451 (2000-2001)
Blood, Water and the Impure Woman: Can Jewish Women Reconcile between Ancient Law and Modern Feminism

handle is hein.journals/scws10 and id is 457 raw text is: BLOOD, WATER AND THE IMPURE WOMAN: CAN JEWISH WOMEN RECONCILE BETWEEN ANCIENT LAW AND MODERN FEMINISM? ILANA S. CRISTOFAR0 Why do I observe niddah and mikveh? Because I am so com- manded, because it is a mitzvah ordained by the Torah.' I. INTRODUCTION In the late 1970's and early 1980's a large number of Jewish women abandoned many female-centered rituals in Judaism. In the early stages of modem feminism, those political, social and religious institutions that both symbolically and literally place women lower on the social hierarchy than men, received serious rebuke from femi- nists.3 However, a current trend adopted by women in the Jewish community seeks to reinterpret some of those more traditional notions, arguing that these female-centered rituals are a source of empowerment and an example of the respect that Judaism has for women. These women envision themselves as committed to both the law and their modem selves, creating a new movement that changes the views about traditional Judalc rituals in order to make peace with * J.D., University of Southern California Law School, 2001; B.A., History, University of California, Berkeley, 1998. I would like to thank Professors Nomi Stolzenberg, Rachel Adler and David Ellenson for their guidance and knowledge of Judaic scholarship. I would also like to thank the entire 2000-2001 Board and Staff of the Southern California Review of Last and Women's Studies for their feedback and support. Finally, I would also like to thank the 1999- 2000 Board, especially Sandra Benlevy, for their vote of confidence in allowing this Note to be published. 1. BLU GREENBERG, ON wOMEN AND JUDAISM: A Vinw FRoM TR,,tnmo.N 118 (1931). 2. Ron Csillag, The Rock's Jews are Hardy, but Feel Forgotten, CANADIAN JEwtsH1 NEWS. July 29, 1999, at 23 (explaining that in 1985 the synagogue's inikrah went unused due to lack of participation among female congregates). 3. See, e.g., CATHARINE A. MACKINNON, TowARD A FEMINIST THEORY OF THIE STATE (1989) (discussing feminism's explanation for the subjection of women in Manist structural and methodological terms).