ABSTRACT
In modern times women have gained an increasingly important role in Jewish life. In Biblical times, however, very few women were mentioned in Scripture, suggesting that they played a relatively insignificant part in the Jewish community. There are nonetheless several notable exceptions including the matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel; Miriam the prophetess; Deborah the judge; Huldah the prophetess; Bathsheba, who married King David; and Esther. In biblical times marriage and family law favoured men over women. In talmudic and midrashic sources very few women are explicitly mentioned, and none are known to have written a rabbinic text. With the Enlightenment and emancipation, the role of women dramatically changed. As Jewish women gained more rights, they took advantage of opportunities to improve society. Reconstructionist and Humanist Judaism similarly advocated equal rights for women and ordained female rabbis. Orthodox Judaism, however, proved the least responsive to women's demands.
