Judaism to the wider circle of the world. These plain facts were
ignored through the centuries to the detriment of the Jewish faith, and
this neglect, in turn, engendered a false conception of Judaism, making it
seem ever more exclusive and narrow. Instead of becoming "our wisdom and
understanding before all the nations,"(1510) knowledge of the Torah
dwindled to a possession of the few, while the ceremonial laws, observed
by the many, were performed without any understanding of their origin or
purpose. But in the last century under the banner of Reform Judaism many
of these points were altered. The vernacular was introduced into the
Synagogue, so that the modern Jew might pray in the same tongue in which
he feels and thinks, thus turning the prayers from mechanical recitations
into true offerings of the soul, and bringing the Scriptural readings
nearer to the consciousness of the congregation. Likewise the
reintroduction of the sermon in the vernacular as part of the divine
service for Sabbath and holy days became the vehicle to awaken religious
sentiments in the hearts of the people, and thereby to revive the spirit
of the ancient prophets and Haggadists.(1511)

17. This Orientalism is especially marked in the attitude of the older
Synagogue to women. True enough, woman was honored as the mistress of the
home. She kindled the Sabbath light, provided for the joy and comfort of
domestic life, especially on the holy days, observed strictly the laws of
diet and purity, and awakened the spirit of piety in her children. Still
she was excluded from the regular divine service in the Synagogue. She did
not count as a member of the religious community, which consisted
exclusively of men. She had to sit in the gallery behind a trellis during
the service and could not even join the men in saying grace at table. A
few rare women were privileged to study Hebrew, such as the daughter of
Rashi, but as a rule woman's education was neglected as if "she had no
claim on any other wisdom than the distaff."(1512) More and more Judaism
lost sight of its noble types of women in antiquity; it forgot the
Biblical heroines such as Miriam and Deborah, Hannah and Hulda, and
Talmudic ones such as Beruria the wife of Rabbi Meir. Such women as these
might have repeated the words: "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only through
Moses? Hath He not also spoken through us?"(1513) Aside from the sphere of
religion, in which woman always manifests a splendid wealt