Jewish marriage resides at the confluence of two ideologically oppositional commitments that modern Jewish women and men struggle to navigate in their everyday lives, and will not readily abandon: exclusionary religious practices and modern ethical systems, such as feminism. Gender inequalities embedded in religious authority, practice, and marriage per se further present a moral problem, not merely a halakhic one. Melanie Landau’s book seeks to make these inequalities evident and to offer alternatives for Jewish partnership grounded in reciprocity and mutuality.
Landau’s main thesis is that marriage in Jewish law is a “unique form of acquisition” and is non-reciprocal. Betrothal—through the halakhically specified three means of money, a contract, or sexual relations—invariably amounts to ownership of a woman in a manner that is “unparalleled” in other human relationships. Subsequently, the formalization of acquisition through words and blessings acted upon a woman in the wedding ceremony solidify for Landau the “non-reciprocal” marriage concept.
This form of traditional heterosexual Jewish marriage results in significant legal and social consequences for women, particularly in instances of divorce. According to most rabbinic authorities, a divorce is considered valid only if a man gives the divorce (get) through his own free will. Under specific circumstances, a beit din may compel a husband to give a divorce. Both mechanisms have the potential to release a woman from the marriage without the deleterious effects on the social structure of the Jewish family (i.e., mamzerut), but neither method invests women with their own authority to divorce their husbands. A married woman’s exit options are a priori limited, and the process itself involves an unequal, gendered binary.
Landau’s analyses of rabbinic authority, the legal effects of marriage, and presumptions of intent to marry culminate in arguments for structural interventions to circumvent the legal effects of non-reciprocal marriage. In her final chapters, Landau discusses two halakhic constructs (also under debate) that do not have the same legal status as marriage: conditional marriage and derech kiddushin. These partnerships circumvent the requirement that a man issues a divorce of his own free will, which when not accomplished, further exacerbates the moral problem of agunot. In these and previous chapters, Landau exposes how rabbinic practice and interpretation are socially constructed and influenced by specific geographical, political, and social contexts. In so doing, she contends that rabbis have the power and historic standing to use contemporary social needs, patterns, and resources to modify halakha in ways that retain traditional authority but accommodate individual needs, particularly as they relate to women in marriage and divorce.
Tradition and Equality provides a solid resource for researchers and general audiences alike. Any shortcomings of the book have to do with the writing and organization of the material. At times, Landau over-explains her material in ways that unnecessarily impede a clear reading of her argument. There are also instances of poor organization. For example, concubinage is addressed multiple times in different chapters, yet could have had a section of its own, with section headers directing readers to the main ideas (e.g., “rebellious woman” or “licentious sex-exemptions”).
Landau never promises to resolve tensions among feminist thinking, modern values, and traditional beliefs, yet more of her original interpretation on alternative partnered relationships would have been welcome. Landau is at her best when she unapologetically explicates the negative legal ramifications of halakhic marriage for religious and non-religious audiences alike and demonstrates, using primary sources, instances of subordination of women in Jewish law, reduced levels of autonomy, and the difficult situation of the agunah. Most importantly, for all readers, Landau makes known that these are moral issues to address, not solely halakhic problems with individuated solutions.