From Exclusivism to Inclusivism in Jewish Prayers. The Case of the Morning Prayer: Blessed are You, Lord, for Not Having Made Me a Woman
From Exclusivism to Inclusivism in Jewish Prayers. The Case of the Morning Prayer: Blessed are You, Lord, for Not Having Made Me a Woman

Summary/Abstract: Jewish prayers and holy texts of religious rituals contain messages which are, from a contemporary point of view, highly exclusive and discriminating. However, Judaism treats its texts as sacred, bestowed directly from God, and therefore, unchangeable. Jewish Orthodoxy refuses to alter even one letter in the traditional texts. Nevertheless, since the reformation of Judaism in the mid-nineteenth century in Germany, and particularly since the mid-twentieth century in the USA, liberal and progressive Jewish communities have come to the conclusion that human dignity is more important than faithfulness to old texts, and therefore some changes have to be made. These have usually been slight alterations which eliminated exclusive and belittling meanings from the original text. Today, even Orthodox Jews feel unease with this situation, and are considering different solutions. The article deals with the case of the morning prayer “Blessed are You, Lord, for Not Having Made Me a Woman” and its interpretations and modifications from the Middle Ages to modern times.

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