Tamar Ross (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: תמר רוס) is a professor of Jewish philosophy at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...

and a specialist of religious feminist philosophy.

Work

Ross makes a vital contribution to philosophical questions around gender in Judaism by arguing that feminism is not external to Torah but rather integral to it. She argues for the concept of evolving revelation, that is, that people learn more as history evolves and societies develop and mature, and argues against the concept of Yeridat ha-dorot, the idea that knowledge of Torah diminishes with time. She also argues against approaches of more liberal movements which address perceived flaws by challenging the divinity and religious validity of sacred texts and traditions, arguing that such an approach only undermined the foundations faith. She develops the metaphor of "Expanding the Palace of Torah", originally an idea of

Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one ...

, for an approach seeking to address contemporary concerns by expanding rather than undermining religious tradition. Her areas of scholarly expertise include the thought of

, the modern Musar movement and the ideology of Mitnaggedism, and Judaism and gender. She is the author of books and articles on Jewish

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, contemporary issues in traditional

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

thought, philosophy of

halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

, and

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. Ross is on the Advisory Council of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA). Ross has published widely on many topics relating to Jewish thought and the philosophy of halakha and was selected by the Israeli government as torchbearer in the Independence Day ceremony of 2013 for her contribution to women's learning. Ross attended

JOFA Jofa, originally short for ''Jonssons Fabriker'' (Jonsson's Factories) is a maker of sporting equipment for sports such as ice hockey, bandy, and horseback riding, based in Malung, Sweden. History Niss Oskar Jonsson founded Jofa in 1926. It can ...

's conferences over the years.

Selected works

*"The Cognitive Value of Religious Truth Claims: Rabbi A.I. Kook and Postmodernism", in ''Hazon Nahum: Jubilee Volume in Honor of Norman Lamm'', December 1997, pp. 479–527. *"Modern Orthodoxy and the Challenge of Feminism", in ''Studies in Contemporary Jewry'', edited by Jonathan Frankel, Eli Lederhendler, Peter Y. Medding and Ezra Mendelsohn. Institute of Contemporary Jewry and Oxford University Press, 2000, pp, 3-38 *"Orthodoxy, Women, and Halakhic Change" (Hebrew), in ''The Quest for Halakha: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Jewish Law'', edited by Amichai Berholz. Yediot Aharonot/Bet Morasha, 2003, pp. 387–438. *''Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism''. Brandeis University Press, 2004.

References

External links

Professor Ross Page at Bar Ilan University, Philosophy Department FacultyOrthodox Israeli Feminists Meet Our American Cousins by Tamar Ross
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Tamar 1938 births Living people 20th-century Israeli philosophers 21st-century Israeli philosophers Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Israeli ethicists Feminist theologians Feminist writers Israeli feminists Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli women philosophers Jewish feminists Judaism and women Philosophers of Judaism Jewish ethicists

Work

Selected works

See also

References

Further reading

External links