The Status of Women in Jewish Tradition

[...]if essentialist ideologies and stereotypes for women are anchored in a historical, time-bound set- ting and, on the other hand, intrinsic equality between men and women is a foundational belief to some extent and for some authorities, Jewish tradi- tion can then contain, in principle, gender justice for women. [...]it is not possible to simply sweep the problem of women being exempted from commandments under the rug by employing the usual clichés offered by Orthodox Judaism, including the supposed spiritual superiority of women, which means they have less need to perform all the commandments, or that their role as mothers outweighs the importance of fulfilling certain commandments.