Page:The old paths, or The Talmud tested by Scripture.djvu/378



"He delighteth not in the strength of the horse; he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man." (Ps. cxlvii. 10.) "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Ps. li. 17); no matter whether it be male or female.

But the oral law is not content with degrading women by refusing to number them as a part of the congregation, it actually prescribes a form of daily prayer expressive of their contempt. Every day the men say—

"Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God! king of the universe, who hath not made me a woman." Whilst the women are directed to say—

"Blessed art thou, O Lord our God! King of the universe, who hath made me according to his will." (Daily Prayers, p. 6.) The proud benediction of the men is founded altogether on the oral law, which promises rewards not to the state of the heart, but to the external operation of keeping God's commands, and as many of them cannot be kept by the women, intimates that the men will have a greater reward. This prayer, or rather thanksgiving, refers especially to the study of the law, from which they suppose the woman to be dispensed, and for which they expect no small reward in the world to come, and upon which they pride themselves, particularly in this present life. The man who remembers the day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, or bears in mind that the distinction of sex, like the difference of rank or office or nationality, is only for this world, will find but little reason for offering up any such thanksgiving. He knows that God will render to every human being, not according to sex, but according to deeds; and feeling that all, both male and female, are sinners, will see that such arrogance is unbecoming at all times, and particularly odious at the moment when he comes to ask pardon of Him "who spieth out all our ways." Instead of despising others, under the pretence of thanking God, the truly devout man will be much more ready to take up the language of David, and say—"Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified."

It appears, from these quotations, that Maimonides did not learn his contempt for womankind from the Mahometans, but from the oral law and the prayers of the synagogue. Modern Judaism disqualifies a woman from giving evidence, shuts her