Distinguishing Between Sexism and Religion

INTRODUCTION

One of my first assignments after my arrival to Florence was to keep a journal of my direct experience of Italian society and culture, with a special focus on gender. Subsequent to receiving the assignment I remember thinking to myself that I had no idea how to do that, but figured that I would catch on. On the contrary, it took me longer than I thought it would to understand this project. Staring off I did what was easiest and wrote about my culture shock; looking back on it now, the most difficult part was the transformation from culture shock to noticing normal everyday occurrences. I was finally able to do this towards the end of September, which was also around the same time I went to the synagogue. When I arrived for the services I was overwhelmed with things I noticed. Approaching the synagogue I noticed it was a spectacular building that was clearly built with elegance. I moved towards the doors and realized that I was not able to sit with the male friend I arrived with. We parted ways as I made my way to the corner of the hall and passed through two red curtains. Walking through these curtains was like walking into another world; this world was bizarre to me because it made me feel isolated. The women were located all the way to the right of the synagogue, where there was a fence like divider put up between the men and women. It was extremely hard to hear, let alone to see anything. This was probably the reason why all the women were chatting and not bowing their heads in silence like the men. I could not understand why the men had the privilege of seeing the rabbi, was this an example of sexism? This incident made me extremely curious to what the Jewish society, especially women, thought of this separation and how women are treated with in the religion overall. My curiosity was the reason I chose Jewish women in the Florentine society as my focus point for my research paper. I make the hypothesis that the Jewish women of Florence are offended that they are so separated from the men and the center of prayer in the synagogue; I am going to investigate whether this is true or not?

RESEARCH METHODS

To investigate these opinions of the Jews, my best option was to talk to them on a first hand basis. I had to admit, this idea was not very appealing to me. My nerves and shyness towards strangers caused me to be skeptical about this process. After I could not procrastinate any longer, I built up my courage and walked towards the synagogue. My first stop was a restaurant called Ruth's and to my surprise the restaurant was closed until Monday; the doors to the synagogue were also closed with no one around them. Slightly panicking on the inside I was looking for my next best plan of action. I saw a rabbi and his wife walking into something that looked like an office and asked them if they knew of anyone I could interview. This man and woman were so welcoming that they calmed my nerves as they talked to me about where I am from. Ironically they were also from New York and their son lives in the same town as me! The rabbi blessed me, which completely rid me of my cowardice, and I asked his wife if she would mind if I interviewed her. Being the wife of a Rabbi, I figured she would have a fascinating perspective on my hypothesis. Her name was Julie and right away she made me feel a sense of comfort when she invited me to come to dinner that night at the Shabbat House. Watching her interact with her husband I could tell she was a strong woman and definitely had power within her family.

Towards the end of my interview with Julie, the owner of Ruth's Restaurant, Gerry, came to talk to the Rabbi. The Rabbi explained to him that I was doing interviews for a school project and Gerry volunteered to be interviewed. I walked over to Ruth's with him and started my interview as he cooked with his wife, Amy, who I also interviewed afterwards. I thought interviewing both a husband and wife would generate very interesting answers whether they were similarities or differences. Also I thought that having a man's point of view would help develop my project from the different point of views. Both Gerry and Amy were puppet players in the puppet theater before owning and managing Ruth's Restaurant, which they have owned for the last ten years. Gerry is from Prague and has lived in Italy for the last thirty years of his life, while Amy was born and raised in a small town near Siena. Right away I could tell Gerry was a kind man, he offered me tea and coffee many times throughout the interview. Amy was not as easy to read since she was very quiet when I first met her; she kept herself busy cooking and cleaning while I interviewed her. I noticed that towards the end of the interview she was more relaxed because she was starting to laugh and make jokes.

To develop my interview I started off finding background information on my informants. This background information included where they were born, where they are living now, and what their profession is. After learning a little bit about them personally, I moved onto questions that I developed from my curiosity after visiting the synagogue the first time. I started off asking about Judaism in Florence with questions like, what is the Jewish community like in Florence and what is it like being a Jewish Italian? I then moved onto the topic I was most interested in, men and women in the Jewish Religion. I asked my informants if they saw any major differences between men and women in the Jewish religion and then if they saw any major differences between men and women in the Italian society. I inquired about the divider put up between the men and women's side, questioning how they felt about it. I also questioned if they have ever heard someone make a negative comment about this divider. The last question I asked my informants, which created a surprising look on their face, was if there was anything that they do not agree with in their religion.

ANALYSIS

Julie and Amy answered similarly when asked about the Jewish community in Florence. Julie pointed out that it is mostly elderly people and both ladies mentions that their community is very small, only about 500 Jews. These responses were very different from Gerry's who talked about the responsibilities within the synagogue. Gerry's response related the Jewish community to the Catholic community; he stated that in the Catholic religion people do not have obligations but instead they obligate the priest to do things and in Italy the Jews give more importance to the Rabbi. Gerry thinks that in the Italian Jewish community the rabbi acts similar to the priest. Considering Gerry is from Prague, he answered the question what is it like being a Jewish Italian in a way of comparing it