The Gemara in Bava Basra (16b) brings down the following story
A daughter was born to R. Shimon, the son of Rebbi. He felt bad.
...
It says in a Baraisa The world needs males and females, but happy is one who has sons, and woe to the one who has daughters. The world needs perfumers and tanners. Happy is a perfumer, and woe to the tanner (he absorbs the odor of excrement, which is used in tanning).
There are all kinds of apologetics to explain this Gemara. For example it is quoted in the name of the Gra that since a man can marry many wives he can have many more children then a woman. However, we can't escape the simple meaning of the words, that Chazal felt that it was good to have sons and bad to have daughters and this (and many other statements) shows that Chazal felt that women were inferior to men. (see also my post The Maharal's view of women - inferior). This should surprise no one as that was the general opinion of women at the time of Chazal and after
"...since a man can marry many wives he can have many more children then a woman."
ReplyDeleteBut if the number of females being born is kept to the barest minimum, where are all the "many wives" going to come from?
So much for 'Gaonic' logic.
They don't suggest that one should keep daughters to a minimum. They had no way to do that, anyway.
DeleteThis was the common attitude in most places and times. Aristotle and Plato say similar things.
ReplyDeleteYes, and we see clearly that chazals attitude was influenced by the society around them.
DeleteThe ancient Israelites and Judaism was influenced by the cross currents in the Ancient Middle East. And the Jews and Judaism have always been influenced by their neighbors.
Deletehttp://altercockerjewishatheist.blogspot.com/2016/09/oral-tradition-part-2-treatment-of-women.html
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