Family, Philosophy, Fitness: On Female Education in a Chassidic Community

Abstract

This paper is about baalot-teshuva (women who “returned” to Orthodox Judaism) in Chabad Lubavitch community in Moscow. It explores their self-image and Lubavitch leadership’s approach to women’s question through the lens of one specific aspect of their lives — adult women’s regular education. Along with traditional lessons on the Torah and female religious duties Chabad encourages lessons on healthy diet and family psychology and fitness classes in order to support the women’s negotiating with modernity while retaining traditional values and patriarchal power hierarchy.