In her research to write Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism, author Lynn Davidman found something quite curious: women who elected to join the modern Orthodox Jewish faith generally did not express a strong faith in God, or even a desire for such faith, as part of their religious experience (Davidman 103). Unlike their female counterparts in traditional or conservative Christian religions, who regularly cite personal spiritual experiences and their relationships with God as a major motivation to continue religious life, the women Davidman interviewed rarely spontaneously spoke about God, and most said that they had never had a spiritual experience, and didn’t really know what that entailed. Davidman writes that she thinks this absence of a relationship with God experienced by newly modern Orthodox women may be a result of the roles prescribed for women in this faith. She states, “Orthodox Judaism mandates that men have greater obligations in prayer and study, while women’s primary role is in the family. Therefore, women do not participate as much in those ongoing rituals that create a relationship with God” (Davidman 105).
In contrast, the newly Hasidic women that Davidman studied regularly cited belief in God and spiritual experiences. While they did not engage in lengthy theological talks, belief in God was either explicit or implicit (106). Hasidic Judaism is a charismatic, spiritual sect that emphasizes personal relationships with God and that the everything a person does has sacred value. One possible reason that these women were attracted to Hasidic rather than modern Orthodox life is that their spiritual experiences and encounters with God were validated and expected in that particular religious environment.
In the previous post, I wrote about Horton’s definition of how people come to know God – through rhetorical experiences including reading sacred texts, praying, viewing iconography, engaging in religious ritual, or through the mediation of other cultural artifacts. The modern Orthodox women Davidman studied may feel a lack of relationship with God because they do not engage in these rhetorical experiences as often as or in the way that Orthodox men do. Davidman notes that more research is needed to understand how differences in texts, beliefs, ritual, law, and practice within different religions shape the gendered nature of the religious and spiritual experiences of men and women members (106).
This question is one that I hope to address through my research. It is an appropriate question to think about when examining religious life, text, and experience through the lens of rhetoric and discourse theory.
Davidman, Lynn. Tradition in a rootless world : women turn to orthodox Judaism. Berkeley u.a.: Univ. of California Press, 1991. Print.
Ah, a methodological question! I'm glad, because I think I'm beginning to have the same question. And how exciting that Davidman has provided an invitation for you to do more research.
ReplyDeleteThis time, my question is prompted by the following observation:
"The modern Orthodox women Davidman studied may feel a lack of relationship with God because they do not engage in these rhetorical experiences as often as or in the way that Orthodox men do. Davidman notes that more research is needed to understand how differences in texts, beliefs, ritual, law, and practice within different religions shape the gendered nature of the religious and spiritual experiences of men and women members (106)."
What makes these experiences rhetorical? Whose or what understandings of "rhetorical" do you find yourself returning to in defining them that way?
Looking forward to reading on,
-Dr. Graban
I am using Kathleen Horton's definition of faith (the naming, understanding,and enacting of a relationship with a diving being) as rhetorical construction. She states that acts of faith are rhetorical because they consist of people "giving adherence to persuasive appeals made by textual, material, or abstract cultural artifacts that present arguments about God." (Horton iv).
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I am trying to expand and complicate this definition, and considering Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's explanation of rhetorical acts as well. I am finding three categories of religious/rhetorical actions, and trying to develop a sort of theory of how each works. Campbell's definiton and Horton's definition are both helpful, but I am running into issues when certain kinds of religious acts, like personal spiritual experiences (where a person of faith believes that he/she has had a direct message or direct contact from God) are examined rhetorically.
Does this make sense?