Women Wearing the Tallit: Tracing Gender, Belonging, and Conversion of New Jewish Women

Abstract

This chapter draws on ethnographic fieldwork, to see how conversion materialises in daily ritual practice for Jewish women, within the ritual use of the prayer shawl (tallit). It starts from the argument that conversion is not merely a change in worldview, but is a material and bodily process. Conversion to Judaism involves learning of practices and commitment to synagogue life. This process of self-making is directly related to questions of gender and inclusion in religious practices, such as wearing the prayer shawl during shabbat service. Historically, women have been excluded from this practice in orthodox forms of Judaism, but it became a main marker of inclusion and gender equality in liberal synagogues in the Netherlands. For converted women in the Jewish diaspora of the Netherlands, wearing the tallit in service can be a confirmation of their Jewishness, but is more often met with ambivalence. This chapter starts from these various prayer shawl practices to trace broader questions of belonging. It asks not only how this object is used, but also which types of gender discourses, pious desires, and notions of agency are expressed through the use (or lack thereof) of a tallit.