‘Women of Vision’ in the Jewish Renewal Movement: TheEshet Hazon[‘Woman of Vision’] Ceremony

Abstract

Since the 1960s, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal has envisioned a Judaism that affirms the spiritual power and creativity of women. The challenges raised by this commitment—how to formulate and foster women's gifts within Judaism—are exemplified in the Eshet Hazon [Woman of Vision] ritual, first celebrated in 1982. Incorporating Jewish texts and symbols, this ritual transformed their meaning to express a vision of women inspired by Shekhinah, the divine feminine of Jewish mysticism. The evolution of this ceremony since 1982 shows how views of women's spirituality have changed in relationship to the growth in membership and organisational complexity of ALEPH, and the increasing availability of other options, especially rabbinical ordination, for women's spiritual leadership. Influenced by the feminist spirituality movement, the Women of Vision hold a ‘gender-differentiated’ model of women's spiritual leadership, while others in Jewish Renewal have taken a more ‘gender-neutral’ approach.

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