Money, Power, Sex and Love: Gender and the Family in Modern Jewish History

Traditional Jewish society was patriarchal, though the forms this power took changed over time. It was also limited, even subverted, by various roles played by women. Since Jewish family life was very much under the control of Jewish women, the family was another place where women were able to wield power. Examining the history of gender and family allows us to examine the limits of patriarchal control and construct a new, often surprising picture of how Jewish society actually functioned. It also sheds new light on how the various forms of modern Jewish family we recognize today grew and developed.