Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!njin!paul.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: levene@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Robert A. Levene) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: a dog, a woman and a prayer of a man Message-ID: Date: 25 Dec 90 05:58:32 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: JHU/APL, Laurel, MD Lines: 33 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article dvnspc1!tom@tredysvr.tredydev.unisys.com (Tom Albrecht) writes: [an excerpt from the weekday morning blessings:] > Blessed are you Lord God for you have not made me a gentile. > Blessed are you Lord God for you have not made me a slave. > Blessed are you Lord God for you have not made me a woman. > > The intent of these prayers is to remind the free Jewish male that he alone > was blessed in that he could observe all of the 613 mitzvoh, or > commandments, of the Torah. Roughly accurate. > According to Jewish tradition, a woman was > only required to keep the negative mitzvoh, i.e., "Thou shalt not ... ." > She was not required to keep all the positive commands, such as those > relating to the observance of sacrifices, feasts and holy days. That is not correct. Women are freed from most time-dependent obligations, i.e., praying at the set times daily, wearing phylacteries, etc. They are still subject to the other commandments, including observance of the kosher laws, the Sabbath, and the holy days. (This is an oversimplification, but details are not relevant here.) -- Robert A. Levene Internet: levene@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu Bitnet: RXL1@APLVM Disclaimer: I speak neither for my race, my culture, my country, my religion, my political party, nor my employer, but for me alone.