View source for Tamar Ross

{{Short description|Israeli philosopher}}
{{jf}}
'''Tamar Ross''' ({{Langx|he|תמר רוס}}) is a professor of [[Jewish philosophy]] at [[Bar-Ilan University]] and a specialist in religious [[feminist philosophy]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-09-18|title=Orthodox Scholars Try To Reconcile Biblical Scholarship With Traditional Beliefs|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/reconciling-biblical-criticism|access-date=2021-03-17|website=Tablet Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

== Work ==
Ross addresses philosophical questions about gender in Judaism by arguing that feminism is not external to Torah but rather integral to it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Irshai|first=Ronit|date=2016-01-01|title=Tamar Ross: An Intellectual Portrait|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004317376/B9789004317376_002.xml|journal=Tamar Ross: Constructing Faith|language=en|pages=1–40|doi=10.1163/9789004317376_002|isbn=9789004317369 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> She argues for the concept of evolving revelation, that is, that people learn more as history evolves and societies develop and mature, and  argues against the concept of [[Yeridat ha-dorot]], the idea that knowledge of Torah diminishes with time. She also argues against approaches of more liberal movements which address perceived flaws by challenging the divinity and religious validity of sacred texts and traditions, arguing that such an approach only undermined the foundations faith. She develops the metaphor of "Expanding the Palace of Torah", originally an idea of [[Abraham Isaac Kook]], for an approach seeking to address contemporary concerns by expanding rather than undermining religious tradition.

Her areas of expertise include the thought of [[Abraham Isaac Kook]], the modern [[Mussar movement|Musar]] movement and the ideology of Mitnaggedism, and Judaism and gender. She is the author of books and articles on Jewish [[Jewish ethics|ethics]] and [[Jewish theology|theology]], contemporary issues in traditional [[Jewish]] thought, [[philosophy]] of [[halakha]], and [[Orthodox Jewish]] [[feminism]].

Ross is on the Advisory Council of the [[Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance]] (JOFA).<ref>{{Cite web|title=JOFA|url=https://jofa.org/sites/default/files/uploaded_documents/jofa_scroll_of_honor_final.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905151357/http://www.jofa.org/sites/default/files/uploaded_documents/jofa_scroll_of_honor_final.pdf|archive-date=2015-09-05}}</ref>

Ross has published widely on many topics relating to Jewish thought and the philosophy of halakha and was selected by the Israeli government as torchbearer in the Independence Day ceremony of 2013 for her contribution to women's learning.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=jofa 2013|url=https://www.jofa.org/sites/default/files/uploaded_files/site/Community/jofa_program_2013_final.pdf|access-date=|website=|publisher=}}</ref>

Ross attended<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jofa.org/sites/default/files/uploaded_documents/1997_conference_program.pdf|title=jofa 1997|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> [[JOFA]]'s conferences over the years.<ref name=":0" />

==Selected works==
*"The Cognitive Value of Religious Truth Claims: Rabbi A.I. Kook and Postmodernism", in ''Hazon Nahum: Jubilee Volume in Honor of Norman Lamm'', December 1997, pp.&nbsp;479–527.
*"Modern Orthodoxy and the Challenge of Feminism", in ''Studies in Contemporary Jewry'', edited by Jonathan Frankel, Eli Lederhendler, Peter Y. Medding and Ezra Mendelsohn. Institute of Contemporary Jewry and Oxford University Press, 2000, pp, 3-38
*"Orthodoxy, Women, and Halakhic Change" (Hebrew), in ''The Quest for Halakha: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Jewish Law'', edited by Amichai Berholz. Yediot Aharonot/Bet Morasha, 2003, pp.&nbsp;387–438.
*''Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism''. Brandeis University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|1-58465-390-6}}

==See also==
* [[Jewish feminism]]
* [[Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance]]
* [[Role of women in Judaism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Yoel Finkelman, "A Critique of Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism by Tamar Ross". [http://www.edah.org/backend/coldfusion/journal_images/ACFFA6.pdf Edah Journal 4:2] 2004
*[[Aryeh Frimer|Aryeh A. Frimer]], [http://www.lookstein.org/articles/treasure_frimer.pdf Guarding the Treasure. Review of Tamar Ross, Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism]. ''BDD - Journal of Torah and Scholarship'', 18, English section, pp.&nbsp;67–106 (April 2007).
*[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/812082.html God subjugates man, and man subjugates his wife.] ''[[HaAretz]]'', January 11, 2007
*Daniel Reifman, "Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism (review)" ''Modern Judaism'', 26, pp.&nbsp;101–108 (February 2006)
*Claire E. Sufrin, "Telling Stories: The Legal Turn in Jewish Feminist Thought" in Marion Kaplan and Deborah Dash Moore, ed., ''Gender and Jewish History'' (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011), pp.&nbsp;233–250.
* Ephraim Chamiel, Between Religion and Reason - The Dialectic Position in Contemporary Jewish Thought, Academic Studies Press, Boston 2020, part I, pp. 159-167.

==External links==
*[http://www.biu.ac.il/HU/pj/jphi-staff/ross.html Professor Ross Page at Bar Ilan University, Philosophy Department Faculty]
*[https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/orthodox-feminism-blu-greenberg Orthodox Israeli Feminists Meet Our American Cousins by Tamar Ross]

{{Authority control}}
{{Women in Judaism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Tamar}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Israeli philosophers]]
[[Category:21st-century Israeli philosophers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University]]
[[Category:Israeli ethicists]]
[[Category:Scholars of feminist theology]]
[[Category:Feminist writers]]
[[Category:Israeli feminists]]
[[Category:Israeli Orthodox Jews]]
[[Category:Israeli women philosophers]]
[[Category:Jewish feminists]]
[[Category:Judaism and women]]
[[Category:Philosophers of Judaism]]
[[Category:Jewish ethicists]]