The synagog, a man’s business?

Debates and discussions at Lieu Unique

For our third event in the IPRA-LU “Labo Utile – questions de société” program, Béatrice de Gasquet and Vincent Vilmain will discuss onthe topic “The synagog, a man’s business?”.

In Orthodox Judaism, the Jewish religion may seem like a man’s business; many commandements do not apply to women including that of the study of the Torah. The role of women consist mostly in procreation and the upkeep of an environment that is fit for the man’s respect of mitsvot (religious commandements). At the synagog, the rule that prevails is that of separation of genders. However mixing have slowly become the rule in the reformed and ‘conservative’ synagogs from the non-orthodox orientations born in the 19th century. Many women in several countries have received the semikhah
(they became Rabbi). Orthodox Judaism has also undergone changes concerning gender even though the expression of a religious feminism remains difficult.

Béatrice de Gasquet is associate professor of sociology at the Université Paris Diderot. Her doctoral thesis, defended in June 2011 at the EHESS dealt with the question of gender in French contemporary Judaism.
Vincent Vilmain is associate professor at the Université du Maine and member of the IPRA. He will publish in 2017 Féministes et nationalistes ? Les femmes juives dans le sionisme politique (1897-1921), Paris, H. Champion, coll. « bibliothèque des études juives ».

Le Lieu Unique

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

20:30

Free entrance

Podcasts from last year’s conferences and debates, as well as those for the upcoming program, are available at our resource centre.