Lynn Davidman | |
---|---|
Born | 1955 (age 67–68) New York, US |
Spouse | Neal Horrell |
Awards | 1992 National Jewish Book Award for Contemporary Jewish Life & Practice |
Academic background | |
Education | B.A., psychology and religion, 1975, Barnard College M.A., religion and psychological studies, 1978, University of Chicago Divinity School PhD, sociology, 1986, Brandeis University |
Thesis | Strength of tradition in a chaotic world: women turn to orthodox Judaism. (1986) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Pittsburgh Brown University University of Kansas |
Lynn Rita Davidman (born 1955) [1] is an American sociologist. She is the distinguished professor of modern Jewish studies and professor of sociology at the University of Kansas.
Davidman was born in New York City to a Modern Orthodox Jewish family. [2] After her mother's death when she was 13 years old,Davidman began to question her religious upbringing,which caused a divide between her and her family. [3]
She majored in psychology and religion at Barnard College and later earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School and PhD from Brandeis University in 1986. [4]
After earning her PhD,Davidman was hired as an assistant professor of sociology by the University of Pittsburgh. [5] While there,she published Tradition in a Rootless World:Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism through the University of California Press. The book examined why secular women turn Orthodox by comparing the lives of those at a Lubavitch women's seminary in St. Paul,Minnesota,with members of the Lincoln Square Synagogue. [6] The book earned Davidman the 1992 National Jewish Book Award for Contemporary Jewish Life &Practice. [7]
She was subsequently hired at Brown University as an assistant professor of Judaic studies,American civilization,sociology,and women's studies. [5] In this position,Davidman collaborated with Shelly Tenenbaum to co-author Feminist Perspectives on Jewish Studies through the Yale University Press. Their book examined the development of feminist scholarship in various fields within Jewish studies with a focus on gender. [8]
She was shortly thereafter promoted to associate professor and began writing her following book,Growing Up Motherless:Stories of Lives Interrupted. [9] The book took her three years to gather data from 60 men and women from various backgrounds whose mothers died when they were 10 through 15 years old. The result of her lengthy research showed a common theme of feeling left out and religion not providing comfort in the face of loss. [10]
Davidman was promoted to professor of Judaic studies in 2002, [5] a role she stayed in until 2008,when she joined the University of Kansas as their Robert M. Beren Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Studies and professor of sociology. [11]
At the University of Kansas,Davidman conducted another research-based book titled Becoming Un-Orthodox:Stories of Ex-Hasidic Jews, where she surveyed 40 men and women born into ultra-Orthodox Hasidic communities who had become secular. [12] [13] She took a sabbatical following the publication of her book. [14]
Davidman is married to Neal Horrell. [15]
Haredi Judaism consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to halakha and traditions,in opposition to modern values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English;however,the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered pejorative by many of its adherents,who prefer terms like strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews,although other movements of Judaism disagree.
Jewish religious movements,sometimes called "denominations",include different groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today,the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements;modernist movements such as Conservative,Masorti and Reform Judaism;and secular or Hiloni Jews.
Bais Yaakov is a genericized name for full-time Haredi Jewish elementary and secondary schools for Jewish girls throughout the world.
Torah Umadda is a worldview in Orthodox Judaism concerning the relationship between the secular world and Judaism,and in particular between secular knowledge and Jewish religious knowledge. The resultant mode of Orthodox Judaism is referred to as Centrist Orthodoxy.
Rabbinic authority in Judaism relates to the theological and communal authority attributed to rabbis and their pronouncements in matters of Jewish law. The extent of rabbinic authority differs by various Jewish groups and denominations throughout history.
Blu Greenberg is an American writer specializing in modern Judaism and women's issues. Her most noted books are On Women and Judaism:A View from Tradition (1981),and Black Bread:Poems,After the Holocaust (1994).
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious,legal,and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements,with varying approaches and successes,have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.
Jewish education is the transmission of the tenets,principles,and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book",Jews value education,and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. Judaism places a heavy emphasis on Torah study,from the early days of studying the Tanakh.
Women of the Wall is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall,also called the Kotel,in a fashion that includes singing,reading aloud from the Torah and wearing religious garments. Pew Research Center has identified Israel as one of the countries that place "high" restrictions on religion,and there have been limits placed on non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. One of those restrictions is that the Rabbi of the Western Wall has enforced gender segregation and limitations on religious garb worn by women. When the "Women of the Wall" hold monthly prayer services for women on Rosh Hodesh,they observe gender segregation so that Orthodox members may fully participate. But their use of religious garb,singing and reading from a Torah have upset many members of the Orthodox Jewish community,sparking protests and arrests. In May 2013 a judge ruled that a 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from carrying a Torah or wearing prayer shawls had been misinterpreted and that Women of the Wall prayer gatherings at the wall should not be deemed illegal.
Off the derech (OTD) is a Yeshiva-English expression used to describe a Jew who has left an Orthodox Jewish community. Despite its negative connotation in insinuating that the exiter has left a single acceptable path,the term has been reclaimed and used by some OTD individuals and groups to self describe. "Off the derech" as a term applies to a broad range of formerly Orthodox Jewish individuals including those who leave Hasidic communities,other types of Haredi communities,and Modern Orthodox communities,and whose new lifestyles can be other forms of Judaism,or no religion at all.
Rachel Adler is professor of Modern Jewish Thought and Judaism and Gender at Hebrew Union College,at the Los Angeles campus.
Hashkafa is the Hebrew term for worldview and guiding philosophy,used almost exclusively within Orthodox Judaism. A hashkafa is a perspective that Orthodox Jews adopt that defines many aspects of their lives. Hashkafa thus plays a crucial role in how these interact with the world around them,and influences individual beliefs about secularity,gender roles,and modernity. In that it guides many practical decisions - where to send children to school,what synagogue to attend,and what community to live in - hashkafa works in conjunction with halakha or Jewish law.
Orthodox Jewish outreach,often referred to as Kiruv or Qiruv,is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life according to Orthodox Jewish law. The process of a Jew becoming more observant of Orthodox Judaism is called teshuva making the "returnee" a baal teshuva. Orthodox Jewish outreach has worked to enhance the rise of the baal teshuva movement.
Gender and Jewish Studies is an emerging subfield at the intersection of Gender studies,Queer studies,and Jewish studies. Gender studies centers on interdisciplinary research on the phenomenon of gender. It focuses on cultural representations of gender and people's lived experience. Similarly,Queer studies focuses on the cultural representations and lived experiences of queer identities to critique hetero-normative values of sex and sexuality. Jewish studies is a field that looks at Jews and Judaism,through such disciplines as history,anthropology,literary studies,linguistics,and sociology. As such,scholars of gender and Jewish studies are considering gender as the basis for understanding historical and contemporary Jewish societies. This field recognizes that much of recorded Jewish history and academic writing is told from the perspective of “the male Jew”and fails to accurately represent the diverse experiences of Jews with non-dominant gender identities.
In Judaism,especially in Orthodox Judaism,there are a number of settings in which men and women are kept separate in order to conform with various elements of halakha and to prevent men and women from mingling. Other streams of Judaism rarely separate genders any more than secular western society.
Bais Chana Women International is a Chabad non-profit organization that works to provide an environment for Jewish girls and women,ages 15 and up and from all backgrounds,to explore Jewish teachings and traditions.
Gail Dines is professor emerita of sociology and women's studies at Wheelock College in Boston,Massachusetts.
Feminist Jewish ethics is an area of study in Jewish ethics and feminist philosophy.
Abby Chava Stein is an American transgender author,activist,blogger,model,speaker,and rabbi. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community,and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder,the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015,she founded the first support group nationwide for trans people of Orthodox Jewish background.
Esther Farbstein is an Israeli historian,researcher,author,and lecturer. Considered the leading Haredi scholar of the Holocaust,she focuses on the spiritual responses of Jews to Nazi persecution. She has introduced new sources for academic research on the Holocaust,and has also shepherded the incorporation of Holocaust education in Haredi girls schools. In 1994,she founded and became head of the Center for Holocaust Studies at Michlalah–Jerusalem College in Bayit Vegan,Jerusalem. She is the author of numerous books,articles,and monographs in Hebrew and English.