Book

Educated and ignorant: ultraorthodox Jewish women and their world

Lynne Rienner PublishersBoulder • Published In 1994 • Pages:

By: El-Or, Tamar, Watzman, Haim.

Abstract
This ethnography investigates the meaning of learning in the lives of ultraorthodox Jewish women. Presenting a vivid portrayal of the Gur Hasidic community in Israel, El-Or explores the relationship between women's literacy and their subordination. What she finds is a paradox: ultraorthodox women are taught to be ignorant, a role which they perform as only educated women can do. Preserving their social and emotional ties with their community, these women are at the same time able to observe their surrounding and even their own worlds as if from the 'ouside.' This duality creates the social and personal conditions that allow the women to accept their subordination and help to perpetuate it, even at the end of the twentieth century (p. 228).
Subjects
Informants
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Observation in research
Life history materials
Cultural participation
Cultural identity and pride
Settlement patterns
Conversation
Public lectures
Gender status
Social relationships and groups
Behavior toward non-relatives
Congregations
Religious denominations
Ethnosociology
Education system
Liberal arts education
Gender roles and issues
culture
Israelis
HRAF PubDate
2005
Region
Middle East
Sub Region
Middle East
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Types
Sociologist
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 2003
Field Date
1985-1988
Coverage Date
ca. 1900-1990s
Coverage Place
Israel
Notes
Tamar El-Or ; translated by Haim Watzman
Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-219) and index
LCCN
93013332
LCSH
Israelis